04 February, 2012 Last updated 18 hours 6 minutes ago

Make broadband a basic service, PIAC says

In advance of a far-reaching CRTC hearing on access to basic telecom services, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) released a 50-page report Wednesday recommending that broadband Internet access should be treated as a basic service in the same way as telephony.

“It’s a matter of strategic policy importance for the regulator and the government to ensure that everybody is on the network and everybody has access to those services,” Michael Janigan, PIAC’s executive director, told The Wire Report in an interview.

The report concluded that broadband Internet service has become a vital component of modern society and that all Canadians should have access to it.

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Contact Ryan O'Neill at 613-232-5952 ext. 222 or roneill@thewirereport.ca
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