CRTC tariff COVID relief

MP Rempel Garner calls for action to safegard Internet access - Apr 14, 2020

OAKVILLE - April 14, 2020: With more and more people now working from home due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, SkyChoice Communications fully supports the Shadow Minister for Industry and Economic Development MP Rempel Garner's call for action to the Minister for Industry for temporary wholesale rate relief to ensure smaller Internet Service Providers (ISP) are able to afford adding network capacity to continue offering services during these unprecedented times.

As the large incumebnt telecom providers are continuing to resist and appeal the CRTC's decision to lower wholesale rates back on August 15, 2019, smaller providers such as SkyChoice Communications are forced to invest an exorbitant amount of money in additional network capacity to ensure their network is able to continue handling the increased residential bandwidth demand during these unprecedented times.

MP Rempel Garner issued the following statement:
“At a time when everyone is being required to work and attend school at home, it is no longer a choice to have a reliable and affordable internet connection. Yet, frozen wholesale rates are forcing Canada’s smaller internet service providers (ISPs) to hike prices, lay off staff, may ultimately have to close shop, and may have to cut service off to existing customers.

“Under capacity based billing (CBB), smaller internet service providers pre-purchase the amount of network capacity that they expect to need to serve their retail customers from the big telcos. Since the rates are usage based, the increasing demands on the servers caused by the need to work from home mean that ISPs are now paying astronomical fees to the big telcos to use their networks. If these ISPs are forced to close shop, thousands of Canadians may have to go without internet.

“We can’t allow this to happen. The Minister of Industry must immediately direct CRTC to address this issue. For example, the CRTC could issue an emergency COVID-19 directive to the big telcos to respect the August 2019 rate decision given the seriousness of the situation; or do away with the existing billing model altogether and move to flat-rate billing. Another option is to request the big telcos to accept interest-free deferral of payments from ISPs on their networks until the end of COVID-19.

“I will continue to call on the government to ensure Canadians have internet access during this crisis. In addition to the impact this could have on the competitiveness of our telecommunications sector, I will be raising the issue of rural internet access and network capacity in the coming weeks.”


About SkyChoice Communications
Since 2013, SkyChoice has been offering innovative and value added television, home phone and high speed Internet services across Canada. In addition to DSL and Cable, SkyChoice also offers Internet service direct to the home or business via its own WiFibe wireless fiber network which continues to expand on a regular basis. For more information, please visit: www.skychoice.ca