10/1/12 NunatsiaqOnline 2012‑09‑25: NEWS: SSI dumps on Northwestel’s modernization plan

NEWS THIS WEEK’S ADS FEATURES EDITORIAL JOBS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TENDERS TAISSUMANI NOTICES COMMENTARY ADVERTISING NEWS TIPS PRIVACY POLICY RATE CARD/MEDIA KIT NEWS: Nunavut September 25, 2012 ­ 6:14 am SUBSCRIBE EMAIL AD DEPARTMENT SSI dumps on Northwestel’s modernization plan “They’ve come up with a half­cocked proposal”

JIM BELL

One of Northwestel’s biggest competitors in northern Canada, the SSI Group, wants the CRTC to kill a Northwestel proposal to build fast wireless and beefed­up Internet services for consumers across the three territories.

Under the plan, presented to the CRTC this past July 3, Northwestel would use $40 million from a “public benefits” fund to be created by its parent company, BCE Inc., the owner of Bell Canada Search Custom Search That fund would flow from BCE’s proposed $3.4 billion purchase of the Astral Media Inc. empire, which controls numerous English­ and French­language television channels and radio stations.

Under CRTC rules, BCE must set aside 10 per cent of the purchase price for a “public benefits” fund to pay for things the free market cannot normally supply.

The SSI Group competes with Northwestel by way of its Qiniq Internet service in Nunavut and its Airware service in the Northwest Territories, and also plans to offer an Internet­based voice­phone service in Nunavut.

Earlier this month, they told the CRTC that Northwestel’s proposed use of the $40 million is for the benefit of Northwestel and Bell Canada, not the public.

“If money set aside for the public good is used to allow the largest player in the market to beef up its assets to compete with other players in the market, that, on the face of it, is an unfair use of public benefits,” Dean Proctor, SSI’s chief development officer, told Nunatsiaq News in an interview.

In its pitch to the CRTC, Northwestel said they would use $40 million from its parent company’s Astral benefits fund to pay for part of a $273­million, five­year modernization plan.

Under it, Northwestel would offer either 3G or 4G wireless service in all 96 communities it serves, which means residents of every community in the three territories would be able to use smart phones and tablet devices that run on the Apple or Android operating systems.

And in 79 currently under­served communities, Northwestel would offer broadband internet at download speeds of at least 5 Mps.

But SSI, in its submission to the CRTC, said BCE and Northwestel have not proven that these highly­sought­after services would even be affordable for northern residents.

“It’s wonderful to have the latest technology and the latest infrastructure available. But it’s another thing to be able to afford to use it. The bottom­line is, they’ve come up with a half­cocked proposal,” Proctor said.

Proctor said the “real issue up north” is not the cost of communications infrastructure, but the cost of satellite transponder space.

For example, he said the wireless modems that SSI supplies to Qiniq customers in Nunavut are capable of combined download and upload speeds of up to 6 Mbps.

“If we opened those things up, you could be uploading and downloading like crazy. But nobody could afford to do that. Everybody would go bankrupt before they knew what happened,” Proctor said.

And Bell has not indicated in its proposal how satellite costs could be made affordable, Proctor said.

“They don’t have a solution for it,” he said.

As for Northwestel’s plan to put in highly­touted 4G equipment, Proctor said SSI’s system is already capable of those speeds — but no one can afford to pay for them.

And in SSI’s opinion, that means Nunavut residents will continue to require subsidies and that an entirely new system ought to be designed, Proctor said. www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ssi_dumps_on_northwestels_modernization_plan/ 1/4 10/1/12 NunatsiaqOnline 2012‑09‑25: NEWS: SSI dumps on Northwestel’s modernization plan Another big objection to Bell’s proposed use of the Astral public benefits fund in northern Canada is that such funds are normally used to pay for things like independent television production, Proctor said.

(8) Comments:

#1. Posted by Opinion on September 25, 2012

So let me get this straight….SSI does NOT want us to get better services unless there is something in it for them? I dont give a damn about their competition and NO I am not saying I like monopolies. What I AM saying is whomever is going to give the north the best service and ASAP should be allowed to. However, I smell a rat as I also think this play by Telesat and the looking for money seems to come at a conspicuous time? So Telesat provides 40 mil of mostly already there stuff, NWTel uses Astral funds to pony up a bunch and THEN they both say we can’t do it because NU and the Feds wont cough up the other 80 million? Hmmmm I wonder

#2. Posted by Think about it on September 25, 2012

I’m not normally the sharpest tool in the shed, but after I took out my calculator and did the math, 10% of 3.4 billion is NOT 40 million, but 340 million, more than enough to cover the complete planned upgrade. Maybe it is not my calculator that is broken, maybe it is BCE’s and that is why my cell phone bill is never correct either.

#3. Posted by Nunavutmiut on September 25, 2012

I just want the iPhone to work up here. I hate the ugly very outdated Blackberry up here.

#4. Posted by Danny on September 25, 2012

Come up with plans for tablets already!

#5. Posted by The Old Trapper on September 25, 2012

#2, Suggest that you sharpen your reading skills.

The 10% refers to the set aside in reference to BCE’s purchase of Astral Media. It does not say that all of the money would go to Northwestel (a subsidiary of BCE).

The $40 million is the portion of the $340 million that would go to Northwestel. The remaining $300 million would be used on other “public benefit” ideas, or probably just wasted.

#6. Posted by Mark on September 25, 2012

Can someone informed please tell me if i’m interpreting this correctly?

BCE plans to upgrade the infrastructure so that it can support 3G or 4G and high speed devices, but we would still suffer the constrictive bandwidth limitations because their plan doesn’t implement any means to pipe more bandwidth into Nunavut?

In other words: Access, in terms of bandwidth caps and speed restrictions, would still have to be in place just as much as before. That’s a complete waste of public money. All their doing is using the public funds to hire themselves to do busywork, keeping themselves and their suppliers happy, but not really doing anything significant to improve the bandwidth situation here.

I for one don’t need a smartphone if it’s just as slow and effectively useless as my blackberry dumbphone.

Any news on the Arctic Fibre cable? Why couldn’t they throw the money into that project to pipe it into at least some Nunavut communities? http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674is_fibre_optic_cable_on_its_way_to_the_canadian_arctic/

If we could get even a few communities serviced by a land based connection (or through microwave relays, or somesuch), then we’d free up significant satellite bandwidth to better serve those communities who cannot be reached.

#7. Posted by Disgruntled NWTel User on September 25, 2012

#6 Mark good points.

I read in another article that Telesat put on some grand show where southern internet speeds were demonstrated. Southern internet speeds are at least 10 times what they are here in Nunavut. I also read that because satellite data transfer is so expensive, any company offering southern data speeds to consumers would go BANKRUPT. So is Telesat suggesting that Nunavummiut pay 10 times what they are now to get southern quality internet? I already pay $100 a month for garbage internet, I don’t really think internet costing $1,000 a month is in my budget.

NWTel, BCE, Telesat, SSImicro: please stop beating around the bush with this satellite internet bullcrap. Get together with Arctic Fibre and invest in a technology with a future (fibre optic). Stop saying it cannot be done, it was done in Greenland over a much larger distance. Any investment in satellite internet technology is a damn waste of money and a half­assed bandaid solution. www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ssi_dumps_on_northwestels_modernization_plan/ 2/4 10/1/12 NunatsiaqOnline 2012‑09‑25: NEWS: SSI dumps on Northwestel’s modernization plan Heres hoping that my message gets through to Nunatsiaq News Online so that others can read what I have to say, but then again I am on satellite internet so its doubtful.

#8. Posted by What a world on September 26, 2012

—“If we opened those things up (Qiniq modems), you could be uploading and downloading like crazy. But nobody could afford to do that. Everybody would go bankrupt before they knew what happened,” Proctor said.—

In short, “if Qiniq customers were getting what they are paying for, we will not make the substantial profit we do.” Clear enough Mr Proctor!

Your Email:

Your Name:

Remember my personal information

Your Location:

Your comment:

Notify me of follow­up comments?

Please enter the word you see in the image below:

Submit Form

www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ssi_dumps_on_northwestels_modernization_plan/ 3/4 10/1/12 NunatsiaqOnline 2012‑09‑25: NEWS: SSI dumps on Northwestel’s modernization plan

Copyright © 1995­2012 Nortext Publishing Corporation (Iqaluit) and may not be reprinted for commercial publication in print, or any other media, without the permission of the publisher.

Nunatsiaq News, PO Box 8, Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 • Ph. (867) 979­5357 • Fax (867) 979­4763 • Send letters to: [email protected] Advertising: 1­800­263­1452 ext 131 • FAX: 1­800­417­2474 • EMAIL: [email protected]

www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ssi_dumps_on_northwestels_modernization_plan/ 4/4