CRTC declares broadband internet access a basic service

[RagnarokDel]

Quote

In a ruling handed down today, the national regulator ordered the country's internet providers to begin working toward boosting internet service and speeds in rural and isolated areas.

 

"The future of our economy, our prosperity and our society — indeed, the future of every citizen — requires us to set ambitious goals, and to get on with connecting all Canadians for the 21st century," said Jean-Pierre Blais, the CRTC's chair, at a news conference in Gatineau, Que.

"Today's decision signals a fundamental shift in our regulations for basic services from voice-related issues to broadband-related issues."

Until now, local landline telephone service was the only service deemed "basic" or essential by the CRTC, although Blais has previously called internet service "vital" and essential to life and success.

The CRTC estimates two million Canadian households, or roughly 18 per cent, don't have access to those speeds or data. The CRTC's goal is to reduce that to 10 per cent by 2021.

To achieve that, the CRTC will require providers pay into a fund that's set to grow to $750 million over five years. The companies will be able to dip into that fund to help pay for the infrastructure needed to extend high-speed service to areas where it is not currently available.

The fund is similar to one that subsidized the expansion of local landline telephone service in years past. Providers used to pay 0.53 per cent of their revenues, excluding broadband, into that fund. Now they'll pay the same rate on all revenues, including broadband.

 

I live in a rural area but within the limits of a city of a population of 50k. None of the major ISP connect here. I hope this is going to fix this.

source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/crtc-internet-essential-service-1.3906664

[Guest lilbman]

That's liberal policies for ya.

 

No, I'm not hating on liberals, as I myself am a liberal.(I'm American tho)

[vanished]

Looks like this just focuses on rural areas so probably won't affect me but for those it will, about time!  

[Trik'Stari]

Goddamnit Canada. Stop having semi-intelligent leadership.

 

We need some serious public backlash against Trump over Net neutrality, pre-emptively.

[Lurick]

24 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

Goddamnit Canada. Stop having semi-intelligent leadership.

 

We need some serious public backlash against Trump over Net neutrality, pre-emptively.

Don't worry, soon the FCC could be dismantled completely because "Most of the original motivations for having an FCC have gone away. Telecommunications network providers and ISPs are rarely, if ever, monopolies.", so you won't need to worry about net neutrality getting in anybodies either if that happens. (Quote is from a telecom advisor to Trump, so I really don't think he'll listen to public backlash on the issue)

[themaniac]

now I wonder how good is the internet

[mcraftax]

Its funny, ISPs and marketing. We have Super Fast Fibre (FTTC 2km+ way) which we get 4.5/0.2Mbps. When we had copper we got 6.9/0.8Mbps.

Some countries don't get it (UK)

https://www.statista.com/chart/7246/the-countries-with-the-fastest-internet/

[RagnarokDel]

3 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Looks like this just focuses on rural areas so probably won't affect me but for those it will, about time!  

Yeah but it also dictates what is broadband: 50/10 mbps up/down

[vanished]

7 minutes ago, RagnarokDel said:

Yeah but it also dictates what is broadband: 50/10 mbps up/down

About time we get that!

[WkdPaul]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

About time we get that!

We already have those plans, it's just that they charge an arm and a leg for it!

 

I'm looking to change ISP and a 50/10 connection is the highest they have! (Current one is 10/1 max )

[vanished]

12 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

We already have those plans, it's just that they charge an arm and a leg for it!

 

I'm looking to change ISP and a 50/10 connection is the highest they have! (Current one is 10/1 max )

We may have them but we also have plans slower than that, and frankly ISPs should be prohibited for charging for any plan slower than this  

[WkdPaul]

3 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

We may have them but we also have plans slower than that, and frankly ISPs should be prohibited for charging for any plan slower than this  

Yes, but what annoys me the most is data caps, big ISPs have fast plans but have ridiculous caps!

 

How can you still have caps of 200GB per month???

Steam, YouTube and Windows updates are more than that for me!!! I don't even have Netflix yet.

 

But yeah, I totally agree, it's about time ISPs get a bit of a push in the right direction!

[Mr.McMister]

It's nice to finally see a semi-significant positive move from the crtc compared to their pitiful contributions in the past. The lack of any pricing or data cap regulation and latency+jitter targets worries me as we're likely to see really poorly implemented wireless solutions with overloaded towers and saturated backbones.

 

In any case, as a resident of semi-rural Ontario (on a 98 acre lot, but only 15km from the centre of the nearest town) I should eventually benefit from this. For me the "fastest advertised" speeds available are 25/1mbps 500GB cap from a provider(xplorenet) with whom your lucky if you can get 1/50th of that during peak hours and anything but netflix and basic browsing is throttled to oblivion. I'm currently on a 10/1mbps 300GB plan with another wisp(storm) as they actually provide that speed 24/7, although I do get issues with jitter during peak hours. Saddest thing about my situation is there is fibre optic cabling literally running underneath my front lawn 25 metres from the house that serves a school 2km down the road and some denser (2 acre lots) neighbourhoods another 2km further.

[Paranoid Kami]

Good move.

[Yoinkerman]

20 hours ago, Trik'Stari said:

Goddamnit Canada. Stop having semi-intelligent leadership.

 

We need some serious public backlash against Trump over Net neutrality, pre-emptively.

Don't worry. "Broadband" access will be cell based and plans will start at $50mo for 1gb.  For home internet