Broadband for everyone . . . in BC

Telus and the BC government have signed a deal to spread broadband to the furthest reaches of the province according to this G&M article: Telus hooks up with B.C. to take the Internet to remote corners. The snip:

Vancouver-based Telus said it will spend $110-million to bring high-speed Internet access to 119 of the last 151 unconnected communities in the province by the end of next year.

While Canada's second-largest phone company has committed to bringing high-speed "pipes" into the communities, initially at least, independent service providers (ISPs) will have to set up and sell a "last mile" connection from the local central office to each residence.

Few questions come to mind.

1. How much is the government spending in order to make this happen? Businesses, like Telus, do not invest this kind of money on potential -- especially when they are merely reserving the right to provide ISP services.

2. I personally am a little lost with the following caveat to the deal: "While Canada's second-largest phone company has committed to bringing high-speed 'pipes' into the communities, initially at least, independent service providers (ISPs) will have to set up and sell a 'last mile' connection from the local central office to each residence." What does that mean: The wiring to households is not DSL-compatible? Doesn't the local service telco normally deal with that? So, how much are the ISPs going to pay Telus (and pass on to the subscriber) to make that change happen?

3. Because the government's involved does it still qualify as fixing a "market failure?"

Posted by Grayson at April 8, 2005 07:27 AM