Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/1470131
6 www.lexpert.ca Feature "We were all at home, and internet access became absolutely critical" "[C]ommunities do need those services, ASAP" Brad Nicpon MCCARTHY TÉTRAULT LLP Luc Lissoir GOWLING WLG e Ontario Connects program aims to connect every region to high-speed internet before 2026. Last summer, the province's announcement said the nearly $4-billion plan was the "largest single investment in high-speed internet, in any province, by any government in Canadian history." According to the province, upwards of 700,000 Ontarians lack high-speed or any internet access. Ontario Connects operates a procurement process through which ISPs bid for provin- cial subsidies through reverse auctions. e program awards funding to the entity that can accomplish the project the least expen- sively. Ontario's program also includes collaboration with the federal government. Last July, the two parties announced they would split a $1.2 billion investment to bring high-speed internet to around 280,000 rural Ontario households, which the province said would advance them 40 percent toward their 100-percent connectivity goal. In Ontario, some of those most in need of broadband connectivity are First Nations in the northern part of the prov- ince, says Nicpon, who, before joining McCarthy Tétrault, was director of policy for the Ontario Minister of Infrastructure. "e province and the federal govern- ments, both of them, in all of their poli- cy-making , pay attention to the question of how the decisions they make will affect First Nations communities.… Definitely, there will be a focus in the program on connecting those communities." In February, Newfoundland and Labrador announced it would receive $116 million from the Universal Broadband Fund, and use $20 million of its own money, to connect all the province's remaining unconnected households to high-speed internet. Alberta hopes to achieve 100-percent connectivity by the fiscal year 2026–27. According to the province, there are still around 489,000 Albertans without reliable access to high-speed internet, including 67 percent of rural residents and 80 percent of Indigenous communities. Alberta expects that "eliminating the digital divide" will cost up to $1 billion. e federal government has agreed to match provincial expenditure of $390 million, and the province said it expects these commitments will unlock "a significant amount of private-sector funding." Governments hope these expenditures will attract investments from the private sector, says Van Deurzen. "e government doesn't have enough money that it can allocate to these programs to solve this problem on its own," he says. "So what you see in these programs is leveraging the government funds with private-sector funds to make these projects happen." On March 8, the BC and federal govern- ments announced each would invest $415 million in connecting 100 percent of the province to high-speed internet by 2027. e Quebec and federal governments then announced $826.3 million in joint funding on March 22 in Trois-Rivieres to provide high-speed internet services to around 150,000 households. Luc Lissoir is a partner in the Montreal office of Gowling WLG, with a corpo- rate commercial practice focused on infra- structure-projects procurements. His firm represents the private sector in a broadband project in northern Quebec involving a First Nation. He hopes governments will "push through" these programs because "communi- ties do need those services, ASAP." In subsidizing and providing loans for infrastructure projects, governments have to strike a sensitive balance between bridging this digital-infrastructure gap and inter- fering with private-sector competition, says Van Deurzen. "At the same time, the govern- ment also doesn't want to use their funds to build broadband infrastructure where there already is broadband infrastructure." e data on which areas are unserved or underserved is imprecise, and ISPs consider the location of their assets to be "very sensitive" information, he says. is approach raises the issue of "overbuild," and avoiding it requires active engagement between the private sector and multiple levels of government. Governments and other stakeholders are exploring innovative ways to bring broadband to far-flung locations, says Nicpon. "One of the fun things about broadband," he says, is "it's not all just about fiberoptic wires between