Evidence of meeting #15 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was spectrum.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Marie-Hélène Labrie  Senior Vice-President and Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer, Cogeco Inc.
Leonard Eichel  Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs, Cogeco Inc.
Dean Prevost  President, Rogers for Business, Rogers Communications Inc.
Tony Geheran  Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.
C.J. Prudham  Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, Xplornet Communications Inc.
Charles Beaudet  Vice-President, Eastern Canada, Xplornet Communications Inc.
David Watt  Senior Vice-President, Regulatory, Rogers Communications Inc.
Stephen Schmidt  Vice-President, Telecom Policy and Chief Regulatory Legal Counsel, Telus Communications Inc.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

Majid Jowhari Liberal Richmond Hill, ON

Okay. Thank you, all.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado

That's perfect timing. Our next round of questioning goes to MP Gray. You have five minutes.

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Geheran, on Telus's website you say you have an unlimited data plan, but I've heard from people that many of these unlimited plans slow down or throttle the speed of data after reaching a certain threshold. Do you think that constitutes an unlimited data plan?

6:10 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

I think it constitutes a plan that is clearly identified and articulated to customers before they sign. It gives a very large bucket of data, after which the package will slow down, or there will be plans that you can sign up for beyond that. It depends on trying to find a price point that fits a market need and offers the usability that customers want. The expectation is that a limited number of users will either abuse that capacity, constantly streaming 24-7, and you also have to have some control in it, but I don't think it's a misuse. I think it is quite clearly articulated, and we make sure customers have the right size for the plans they sign up for.

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

Okay, thank you.

I know that Telus markets itself is having a high degree of network coverage across Canada, but some people would say it doesn't meet a consistent 50 down 10 up speed throughout the country and especially in our rural areas. Is that a correct assessment?

6:10 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

First of all, the 50/10 is relating to fixed networks, typically a fixed connection. That's variable, depending on the infrastructure serving that area. But the majority of our customers would be far in excess of a 50/10 bandwidth download/upload speed criteria.

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

Telus's website advertises 99% coverage across Ontario. Does that also include one bar or low signal connection?

6:10 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

An average good quality signal would be accessible to 99% of the population.

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

What would an average signal be? Would that be two bars or...?

6:10 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

That would be a call that is audible, clear, and the caller can transmit data.

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

Would that also include people being able to be on email or on Zoom? What would that mean?

6:10 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

Yes, it should.

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

It should. Okay.

6:10 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

I can't speak to one isolated point of a one-bar signal, but certainly what we do is monitor our network and look to ensure that the coverage plan and the densification of the cell towers or small cells fill in any areas where the signal strength is not as strong.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

How many rural customers does Telus serve?

6:15 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

I don't have that answer off the top of my head.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

Would it vary? Would it be 5%, 10%, 50%?

6:15 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

Are you talking about a fixed network or a mobile network?

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

I think you could include either. Also, you mentioned earlier how you define “rural” customers. Would those small towns, or would it be based on population per square kilometre?

6:15 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

Our definition is based literally on population, so we would consider small or rural as being anywhere between 40 to 5,000 people. We would say that on our fixed network we have voice coverage available to the high 90s, as a percentage of the population. In terms of data, we'd say we have high-speed broadband available to about 88% of the population, and in-between, there could be some low-speed, old DSL technology that is supporting relatively lower data streams.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

I've noticed that Telus has waived home Internet data overage charges until the end of June, but I've read that some telecommunications companies may not have done this for rural customers. Would that be accurate?

6:15 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

I can't speak for other companies. It's certainly accurate for us.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

Okay. That's good to know. Thank you.

Also, I've read that some rural Canadians have to rely on hubs or sticks for Internet connections and are therefore still facing overage charges. Would you say that this is accurate?

6:15 p.m.

Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer, Telus Communications Inc.

Tony Geheran

Are you still on me?

Sorry, I missed your question.

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

I read that some rural Canadians have had to rely on hubs or sticks for Internet connections, and they're still facing overage charges. Would you say that would be accurate?