Manitoba premier blames CRTC rate change for Bell's cuts to rural internet program

A decision by telecom giant Bell Canada to scale back its rural internet expansion program has Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister pointing blame at the CRTC, while critics say the responsibility lies with the company.

Bell says it will cut roughly 200,000 households across Canada, including some in Manitoba, from the program after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decreased the wholesale broadband prices major telecom companies can charge smaller internet providers.

It's not yet clear what impact Bell's decision will have on Manitoba's rural internet customers.

A spokesperson for Bell MTS — the Bell subsidiary in Manitoba — confirmed the reduction would happen, "but we're still determining the specific locations that will be impacted."

When Bell completed its takeover of Manitoba Telecom Services in 2017, the company pledged to spend $1 billion on infrastructure over the following five years.

CBC News asked Bell to provide an update on how much of that $1 billion has been spent, but the company said no one was available for an interview.

Bell's rural internet program is designed to provide wireless internet access to homes that are hard to reach by fibre or traditional cable access.

The CRTC requires that large telecom companies like Bell and Rogers sell access to their infrastructure to smaller internet providers, at rates set by the regulator, as a way to improve competition and lower prices.

After years of review, the CRTC set final wholesale rates earlier this month that were up to 77 per cent lower than the interim rates set in 2016.

The cut to Bell's program comes as Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government is seeking re-election in a Sept. 10 provincial vote.

Four weeks after being elected in 2016, Premier Brian Pallister held a news conference alongside Bell executives, pledging support for the merger between Bell and MTS.

The PC government awarded major contracts to the company in the aftermath of the merger.

• Manitoba government signs new group contract for wireless services with Bell MTS
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Bell also received $2.7 million from the federal and provincial governments in 2018 to boost rural high-speed internet access.

'Disappointed' with CRTC: Pallister

At a recent campaign stop, Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister blamed Bell's decision to slow down the expansion of rural internet service on the CRTC decision.

"We are still far ahead of where we were. I would also tell you, of course, I am also disappointed when I hear the decision of Bell MTS, but that being said I am most disappointed with the decision of the CRTC, which has caused this consequence," Pallister said.

"They have reduced opportunity to profit from the investment that [telecom companies] make, or even recover their investment."

His government would "address that in due course" if re-elected, Pallister said.

When pressed about his support for small businesses over larger ones, such as Bell MTS, Pallister declined to make a distinction.

"It's not about a big company, little company situation," Pallister said. 

"It's amazing [Pallister] would blame the CRTC," said Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont.

"The Pallister government has just basically handed stuff to [Bell] MTS and said, 'Well, you can do whatever you want,' and whatever they wanted was not providing service in rural areas."

He says a Liberal government would exploit Manitoba Hydro's existing fibre optic system and support smaller service providers to extend rural internet capacity.

The New Democrats weighed in on the issue by blasting the PC leader and also promising to boost rural internet services if elected.

"It's clear Pallister's choice to cheerlead the Bell-MTS merger was more about helping his corporate friends in Toronto make money than sticking up for rural Manitoba families," said Selkirk NDP candidate Mitch Obach.

"Bell Canada made a decision to cut services to rural Manitobans and Brian Pallister is supporting it."

Bell 'holding communities hostage'

The information technology manager for Manitoba-based Clear Sky Connections — which calls itself the largest Indigenous-owned telecommunications network in Canada — says large telecoms such as Bell MTS  "should get out of the way so others can provide the service at acceptable rates."

Bill Murdoch says Bell's reaction to the CRTC decision lacks any detail and shows the company shouldn't have the control it does over internet expansion.

Bell's decision to make cuts without being clear on what areas will be impacted is "once again holding rural and remote communities hostage," Murdoch said.

Many First Nations want the service and the economic opportunities that come with being home to smaller service providers, he said, and governments should start funding communities and their organizations "instead of giving in to unreasonable wholesale high-speed access rates."

Rural internet investment hard to track

Manitoba's rural communities lag behind their urban counterparts in internet speed and competitive costs, says Wayne Kelly, a researcher at Brandon University's Rural Development Institute who co-authored a submission to the CRTC on rural internet services.

"Right now there is a digital divide in rural Canada and rural Manitoba, and rural Manitoba is one of the provinces that is further behind," says Kelly.

A 2018 CRTC report says just over 30 per cent of Manitobans are without access to minimum standards of essential internet services.

Kelly says speed and access haven't improved much in rural areas in the province in recent years. Getting unlimited data plans is another problem rural internet users face.

While it can be hard to track the growth of internet services in rural Manitoba based on data from companies such as Bell — because there isn't much available publicly — Kelly says there have been pockets of growth across Manitoba, either through expansion of Bell's fibre optic network or communities that have built their own systems, such as Morden and Hamiota.

He thinks the CRTC ruling could boost internet access by allowing more competition in the market.

"I do think that increased competition for rural [internet service providers] is a good thing generally, and increasing the ability of small ISPs to deliver internet services in rural Manitoba would be a positive outcome."