Editor:
You reported in the Feb. 26 article, “High-speed internet coming to Egmont, Kleindale areas,” that telecommunications giant, Telus, a private company, “received $6.7 million in funding from the federal government to connect 2,000 households” on the Sunshine Coast and Sea-to-Sky Corridor to high-speed internet.
That is a very hefty price tag for 2,000 households to be financed through public funding with taxpayers’ money.
There is current debate that all telecommunications companies should be regulated and nationalized as a public asset and classified as “utilities” deemed essential services for the general public and not under the ownership of private corporations.
Funding to corporate private businesses allows these oligarchies to control power in monopolizing service and limiting competition. Government should not be using public taxpayers’ money to fund private business and receive nothing in return for the investment. Already Canadians are paying higher prices for the Big 5 telecoms who have been successful in limiting competition and using their authority to seek funding for infrastructure at public expense without compensation. The public is the loser in this scenerio. The CRTC has done too little to curb this monopoly and acts as a pseudo-regulator.
Building a unified, nationwide fibre-optic internet backbone would require taking over and nationalizing the Big Five’s existing assets and making massive investments to extend service to neglected and rural communities. This newly developed federal-level entity could resell carrying capacity at cost to municipal and provincial public providers and local co-operatives.
Linda Dutton, Gibsons
