The Yukon government is urging Canada’s telecommunications regulator to ensure northern residents have access to the same internet service quality as the rest of the country at comparable rates.
Sean McLeish, assistant deputy minister of information and communications technology for the territory, told a CRTC panel on Tuesday the quality of internet service in Northern Canada, especially in rural and remote communities, is inferior to what is available throughout the rest of Canada.
“What we would like to do is see a regime that encourages competition — viable competition, sustainable competition. But we recognize that we live in a vast area with few people and that it can be challenging to provide services in some areas,” he told the commission.
“So where competition doesn’t arise, we’re looking for the commission to provide a framework for comparable affordability, reliability, quality, innovation because the market may not take us there.”
McLeish’s remarks came on the second day of a CRTC hearing being held this week in Whitehorse. The regulator is seeking feedback on actions it should take to improve telecommunications in communities in the Far North and to further reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
He said until there are viable market forces to provide incentive for quality improvement by the private sector, public sector intervention is needed to ensure Yukoners do not get “left behind.”
An annual report released in February by Wall Communications Inc. found fixed internet prices in the Far North are “considerably higher than the rest of Canada,” particularly as download speeds increase.
The report noted that options for consumers are “very limited,” as Northwestel, which is owned by Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., is the only company that provides a comprehensive suite of internet services in Northern Canada.