Telus has requested that qathet Regional District (qRD) provides letters of support for government funding to enhance connectivity, but the qRD will await a report it has commissioned before taking any action.
At the December 10 regional district committee of the whole meeting, Telus representative Doug Anastos appeared as a virtual delegation, requesting letters of support for the Connecting British Columbia Program – Economic Response Intake and the Universal Broadband Fund.
Anastos said Telus is interested in connectivity in qathet Regional District. He said the need for connectivity has been underscored during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Recognizing the need for connectivity, there are certain government funding programs that are designed specifically to respond to the economic response coming out of the pandemic,” said Anastos.
He said the request is for letters of support for Telus’s applications for funding programs.
“Senior levels of government want to make sure that if they are spending money, they are spending it in ways that are meaningful to communities,” said Anastos.
He said there are two rapid response programs and the intent is for service providers to provide connectivity quickly, to build out solutions in 2021.
Anastos said he works for the wireless section of Telus. He said there are a number of connectivity initiatives the company undertakes in communities, through fibre-optic connections and wireless connections. In rural areas, Telus is trying to reach rural communities with wireless solutions, according to Anastos.
Anastos said Telus is examining improvements to the service in Lund and other applications could come through the regional district, and for those, Telus would like to apply for other sources of funding.
“It would be helpful if we had letters from the regional district for each program, that you support these types of investments,” said Anastos. “We’ve identified an opportunity in the Saltery Bay-Stillwater area to reach some of that area with our smart hub products. The way that we would do that is to modify an existing cell site that we have, located on Texada Island. The site in Lund would be eligible for this type of funding as well.”
Anastos said to reach sparsely populated areas, Telus finds that the wireless solution can be the best way to achieve greater bandwidth. He said it’s difficult to bring fibre to every home in areas where the population is spread out.
Regional district chief administrative officer Al Radke said having the board make a motion to send letters of support might be premature. He said he thinks the regional district should find out what its consultants looking into connectivity come up with in their report, and find out from them what potential the regional district may have for increased speeds.
“I don’t think we want to settle for pretty good service right now,” said Radke. He said the Telus proposal would only be offering 50 per cent of the federal target speed and if the regional district waits for the consultant’s report, there may be better opportunities or advantages.
Electoral Area C director Clay Brander said he had similar concerns to Radke’s. He said he thought it would be premature to leapfrog over the consultants, supporting one option, when they may come back with a number of options.
City director George Doubt said he would also like to debate the issue after the consultants have reported.
Electoral Area D director and committee chair Sandy McCormick said the regional district is on the cusp of an exciting area that is going to hopefully transform the way internet services are delivered.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said the consultants are planning to have their report finished in March. He presumes it would come before the regional district in April. He said by the time the consultant reports, the funding streams to which Telus wants to apply might not have any funding left.
“That’s something I wouldn’t want to miss out on,” said Gisborne.
Doubt moved that the board write letters of support for each of the two programs and that motion be discussed after the board hears the report from Driftwood Communications, the consultant. The motion carried.
At the December 21 regional board meeting, the board carried the motion.
