1910 Saskatchewan Avenue W. Portage la Prairie, MB R1N 0P1 Ph: 204-857-8666 Fax: 204-856-2370 Email: [email protected] www.amm.mb.ca January 6, 2020 Patricia Brady Director General, Telecommunications and Internet Policy Branch Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 235 Queen Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H5 RE: Canada Gazette, Part 1, December 14, 2019, Petitions to the Governor in Council concerning Telecom Order CRTC 2019-288 (Notice No. TIPB-002-2019) Dear Ms. Brady, On behalf of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM), which represents all of Manitoba’s 137 municipalities, I am writing to provide some comments about the recent decision by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) that affects Canada’s Internet reseller regime. Greater wireless and broadband Internet access has the power to transform rural Canada, as connectivity is now as important as building and maintaining roads and bridges in rural, remote, and northern communities. That is why the AMM believes that its critically important for all Manitoba municipalities to have access to high-speed internet as local Councils strive to grow their communities as well as create an environment that improves the competitiveness of local businesses and maximizes job opportunities. The AMM has been informed by industry stakeholders that the CRTC’s decision affecting Canada’s Internet reseller regime could adversely impact the expansion of broadband Internet to rural, remote and northern communities and increase the digital divide that currently exists between urban and rural Canada. In particular, Manitobans currently experience the second- slowest Internet speeds in Canada. Additionally, industry stakeholders have also indicated the decision could cause Canada to fall behind other countries in terms of broadband speed, which will affect the ability of our members to create linkages with an increasingly global and digital economy. …2 1910 Saskatchewan Avenue W. Portage la Prairie, MB R1N 0P1 Ph: 204-857-8666 Fax: 204-856-2370 Email: [email protected] www.amm.mb.ca To complement the position of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) regarding this issue, the AMM encourages the Cabinet direct the CRTC to reconsider its decision. That reconsideration must be done by: • Applying a rural lens to the decision to ensure that the new wholesale rates set by the CRTC will not adversely impact investment by network owners in the expansion of networks in rural and remote communities to ensure Canada meets our ambitious broadband targets. • Applying an economic development lens to the decision to ensure that revised wholesale rates do not adversely impact investments required to keep Canada in the top ten internet speeds on world indices. Access to high-speed Internet is critically important for Canada’s economic and social well- being and it is critical that the CRTC gets this decision right and Internet providers maximize investments in local communities. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Denys Volkov Executive Director Office of the Mayor - Mitch Panciuk 169 Front Street, Belleville, Ontario K8N 2Y8 Phone: (613) 967-3267 Fax: (613) 967-3209 j5th January 2020 Director General Telecommunications and Internet Policy Branch Innovation, Science andO Economic Development Canada 235 Queen Street, 1 Floor Ottawa, Ontario KIA 0H5 Filed electronically: ic.telecomsubmission-soumissiontelecom. iccanada.ca Re: Canada Gazette, Part I, December 14, 2019, Volume 153, Number 10: Notice No. TIPB-002-2019 — Petitions to the Governor in Council concerning Telecom Order CRTC 201 9-288 On behalf of the City of Belleville I am writing today regarding the above noted matter. Improving access to high speed internet services for the residents and businesses of our communities continues be one of our highest priorities. We know that better connectivity is the foundational tool for growing our local and regional economies. With the assistance of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC), the Eastern Ontario Mayors’ Caucus (EOMC) and the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) along with EORN’s private sector partners, significant strides have been made to better connect our residents and businesses. Our communities should have the same kind of access to improved public services, employment, health care and educational opportunities provided by improved broadband networks as our urban neighbours. We also recognize that in rural and difficult to serve areas it will continue to be necessary for private sector and government investments to be made for physical and other infrastructure in order to meet our connectivity needs going forward. While we are not privy to details of submissions being made relative to the Notice No. TIPB-002-2019 we strongly encourage the Government of Canada to take the concerns of all the relevant parties into consideration and find an approach that ensures continued private sector investment in broadband infrastructure. Your tr I’ Ma or Mitch Panciuk City of Belleville CC: The Hon. Navdeep Bains, PC, MP, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development ised.minister-ministre. isde(canada.ca MP Neil Ellis, Member of Parliament MPP Todd Smith, Member of Provincial Parliament —C44 S” Bràôks 20115t Avenue West . Box 879, Brooks, Alberta T1R 1B7 . ph. 403.362.3333 fax. 403.362.4787 • www.brooks.ca January 15, 2020 Patricia Brady Director General, Telecommunications and Internet Policy Branch Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 235 Queen Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H5 Dear Ms. Brady, RE: Canada Gazette, Part 1, December 14, 2019, Petitions to the Governor in Council concerning Telecom Order CRTC 201 9-288 (Notice No. TIPB-002-2019) I am writing to you today on behalf of the City of Brooks. We believe high-speed internet access is critically important to our residents and to our community’s future sustainability. Thus, we applaud the federal government’s objective of balancing affordability, competition, investment, innovation and expansion to rural, remote and Indigenous communities. We have had the opportunity to review the recent Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decision which establishes new wholesale rates for owners of telecommunications network infrastructure and the petition to the Federal Cabinet filed jointly by the cable companies (Eastlink, Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron) which requests that Cabinet direct the CRTC to reconsider its decision. The CRTC’s decision may have helped the competitiveness objective but its negative impact pertaining to the investment objective will overwhelm any benefits gained in competitiveness. The network owners have raised serious concerns in their petition, and we believe that those concerns need to be addressed by the CRTC. We are very concerned that this decision could adversely impact the expansion of high-speed internet to our rural neighbors with whom we partner to enhance our regional economic prosperity. We are also concerned that this decision could cause Canada to fall behind other countries in terms of broadband speed, affecting our businesses’ ability to compete in an increasingly global and digital economy. Given our concern, we are respectfully requesting that Cabinet direct the CRTC to reconsider its decision by: • Applying a rural lens to the decision to ensure that the new wholesale rates set by the CRTC will not adversely impact investment by network owners in the expansion of networks in rural and remote communities to ensure Canada meets its ambitious broadband targets, and by Bad1andCanadian ____ —4ráf BrooksCity of 2O1-1 Avenue West . Box 879, Brooks, Alberta T1R 1B7 . ph. 403.362.3333 fax. 403.362.4787 • www.brooks.ca Applying an economic development lens to the decision to ensure that revised wholesale rates do not adversely impact investments required to keep Canada in the top ten internet speeds on world indices. Access to high-speed internet is critically important for Canada’s economic and social well-being and it’s critical that the CRTC amend its decision. Barry Morishita Mayor, City of Brooks Piai4Cauddian Office of the Mayor 580 First Street SE Medicine Hat, Alberta T1A 8E6 Mec%gine Hat Email: [email protected] Phone: 403.529.8181 t wwv at.c February 10th 2020 Patricia Brady Director General, Telecommunications and Internet Policy Branch Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 235 Queen Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H5 Dear Ms. Brady, RE: Canada Gazette, Part 1, December 14, 2019, Petitions to the Governor in Council concerning Telecom Order CRTC 2019-288 (Notice No. TIPB-002-2019) I am writing to you today on behalf of the City of Medicine Hat, Alberta. We believe that it’s very important for our residents to have access to high-speed Internet, which is critical for our community. We support the federal government’s objective of balancing affordability, competition, investment, innovation and expansion to rural, remote and Indigenous communities. We have had the opportunity to review the recent decision by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) which establishes new wholesale rates for the owners of telecommunications network infrastructure and the petition to the Federal Cabinet filed jointly by the cable companies (Eastlink, Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron) which requests that Cabinet direct the CRTC to reconsider its decision in light of all of the government’s policy objectives. That reconsideration must be done by applying an