I was a little intimidated by your introduction, Madam Chair. As a former soccer player, getting a yellow and a red card flashed in front of me made me very nervous.
Thank you, Madam Chair, for inviting us to appear before your committee.
As you indicated, I'm joined by two of my colleagues. Renée Doiron is the director of broadband and network engineering, and Nanao Kachi is the director of social and consumer policy at the commission.
I'd like to begin by applauding your members for your study on the accessibility and affordability of telecommunications services. We take this opportunity to reiterate the need to close the digital divide by ensuring universal access to high-speed Internet and a high-quality cellular network. All Canadians—and I repeat, all Canadians—need fast, affordable and reliable broadband Internet and mobile access to participate fully in today’s economy and society.
This is something the CRTC has been actively advancing since declaring broadband Internet a basic telecommunications service a few years ago.
The CRTC’s universal service objective calls for all Canadians to have access to fixed broadband at download speeds of at least 50 megabits per second and upload speeds of 10 megabits per second, as well as an unlimited data option. It also calls for the latest mobile wireless technology to be available to all Canadian homes and businesses and along major roads.
While meeting this standard has been a priority for some time, the profound economic and social upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for broadband in communities that are underserved.
At the CRTC, we want all Canadians to have access to broadband Internet services on both fixed and mobile wireless networks so they can work, learn and access health care and civic institutions. We expect them to have this access.
It is currently not the case, as many rural and remote communities are underserved by Internet technologies. According to the latest data, 45% of households in rural and remote areas had access to the CRTC's universal service objective by the end of 2019. While that's progress from the 41% who had access in 2018, far too many households are being challenged by poor Internet connections.
To help resolve this unfortunate reality, the Commission launched the CRTC broadband fund to improve services in rural and remote regions that lack an acceptable level of access.
The $750 million fund—spread over five years—is designed to help build or upgrade access and transport infrastructure to provide fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet service in underserved areas. The key word here is “help”. The fund is a complement to existing and future private investment and public funding.
Up to 10% of the annual amount will be aimed at satellite-dependent communities. Special consideration may also be given to projects in indigenous or official-language minority communities.
Our first call for applications was issued in June 2019. The call targeted the hardest-to-serve areas in the country: the territories and the satellite-dependent communities.
This past August, we announced the first recipients of this targeted funding. Five projects will share a total of $72 million to improve Internet access for more than 10,000 households in 51 communities in the Northwest Territories and northern Manitoba. The majority of these communities are indigenous.
These projects will serve some of the most remote areas in Canada, where the geography and climate present unique challenges to providing broadband Internet access and mobile services. The prices committed to by the recipients must be maintained for at least five years after the infrastructure is built.
I'll finish, Madam Chair.
In terms of affordability, recipients must provide services at a price that is no higher than the broadband services provided by service providers in major urban areas in the same territory.
Would you like me to stop there? If so, we are available for questions.