This is a box out of uc/c’s article “Are we there yet?“, an article about the current state of Alberta’s SuperNet project. Lucas Warren talks to Graham Fletcher, President of the Internet Centre, a Canadian ISP fighting to bring high-speed connectivity to rural Alberta in an innovative (and currently unapproved) method.

The entire article was originally published in the Summer 2009 issue of the AAMDC’s Rural Routes magazine.

On June 4, 2009 the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) denied a request by an Alberta company, the Internet Centre, to use spare unconditioned local copper channels owned by Telus. The Internet Centre wanted to use unused wires to provide high-speed Internet service to Alberta communities served by the SuperNet.

“I could have provided every Alberta community that doesn’t have access to broadband (85 communities) by the summer,” responds Graham Fletcher, President of the Internet Centre an Internet service provider based out of Edmonton. “But the CRTC decision prevents me from doing so.”

“This was about getting Albertans access to better services in places not served by Telus broadband service. Telus is not going there and they’re not interested in going there but they’re not going to let us go in there either. It is essentially Telus who is stopping us from accessing the best technology for the last few hundred yards – copper wire.”

In its decision, the CRTC cited the “relatively high cost and expected limited availability of suitable underlying facilities” that would not “generally be available and affordable to many residents in rural communities connected to the Alberta SuperNet network.”

The decision also agreed with Telus’ claim that using copper wires is “not compatible with the increased deployment of fibre facilities that, in many instances, are replacing copper facilities.”

Telus argued that the using its copper channels doesn’t make sense as it continues to switch its network to fibre – which is not compatible with the Internet Centre’s plan.

“All of the reasons [cited in the CRTC decision] are artificial limitations, not technical,” says Fletcher. “I could connect these [unserved] communities in 6 months.”

What’s next for the dream of connecting unserved rural communities with an innovative solution? Negotiation.

“Right now we’ve been asked to deal directly with Telus and tell them what we want. They’ve been asked to listen,” explains Fletcher. “We’re dealing in good faith and, of course, I’d love to see the process work but I’m not optimistic.”

“What we need is guidance from politicians to have a public debate on the issue and then tell the CRTC the results of that debate.”

The Government of Alberta, however, is taking a wait and see approach.

“We’re assessing the implications of the decision for the government’s approach to furthering the use of the SuperNet and addressing rural connectivity,” says Service Alberta’s Cameron Traynor. “Our priority is to continue working with our SuperNet partners to find even more opportunities for residents and businesses to connect to the Internet through the SuperNet.”