Broadband Investment NBDC s Contribution to Nunavut

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1 Broadband Investment NBDC s Contribution to Nunavut 2012 Nunavut ICT Summit October 31, 2012

2 NBDC! The Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation (NBDC) is a not-for-profit that works to:! ensure that all Nunavut residents, businesses, organizations and municipalities have equal, affordable and reliable internet access! build local capacity in information and communications technologies

3 NBDC! NBDC is governed by a volunteer board of Nunavut residents from across the territory! The majority of our members and of the board are Inuit! NBDC initiates and manages projects, leveraging federal investments in broadband services delivered through the private sector! NBDC relies on government funding to operate and to carry out projects and receives no revenue from these projects! NBDC is vendor and technology neutral

4 NBDC! NBDC was created in 2002 to act as a community champion, to access federal funding that neither the private sector nor the territorial government could access directly! NBDC s initial task: to get affordable and reliable Internet access into every Nunavut community

5 Qiniq Network! NBDC received funding from INAC ( ) then Industry Canada and the Department of Sustainable Development ( ) to develop a business plan for Nunavut to access BRAND.! The business plan process included a public RFP, the evaluation of network proposals (two were received, one from SSi Micro Ltd and the other from NorthwesTel), and extensive input from government, Inuit organization, community and business stakeholders.

6 Qiniq Network! The business plan was finalized and submitted to Industry Canada for review on June 6, That business plan recommended SSi Micro Ltd as the only compliant bidder (and the lowest cost bidder) and resulted in the QINIQ network.! After approval by Industry Canada (the primary government investor), final contract negotiations were accomplished with SSi, additional funding from several other parties was completed, and the QINIQ network was installed and implemented in the spring of 2005 in all 25 Nunavut communities.! The network was launched in the summer of 2005.

7 Qiniq Network! The original QINIQ business plan covered funding for up to 2,000 subscribers at the end of a 9-year planning horizon.! The 2,000 subscriber mark was reached in 9 months (by the end of ) and the QINIQ network operator was forced to fund all the additional subscribers as there was no way to stop the increased usage and growth or to ration the available funded bandwidth for the first 2,000 subscribers.! Discussions began for a next round of investment to cover the full subscriber base, as well as other services.

8 Infrastructure II! In , an extensive needs analysis was conducted by NBDC, including surveys, in-person workshops and planning meetings with GN Deputy Ministers and Directors.! Combining the needs of the public, the needs of various sectors, and non-core government needs in relation to each other, it was clear that many solutions ideal for one group are also ideal solutions for others.! A business plan was submitted to Infrastructure Canada under the Canadian Strategic Infrastructure Fund (CSIF), with the final Contribution Agreement for the Infrastructure II project signed on January 5th, 2009 and funds flowing that fiscal year.

9 Infrastructure II! Infrastructure II includes funds for:! Qiniq 2000 Plus: to cover usage in the QINIQ network beyond the initial 2,000 subscribers covered in the original business plan! QFile - to support large file transfers in Nunavut! Meet Online - video conferencing solutions for Nunavut's satellite-served environment! Classroom Connect dedicated bandwidth for Nunavut classrooms! As in the first round, the funding was procured using the federal government procurement system MERX. SSi was the only compliant bidder for this round.! All components required matching funds, predominantly from the private sector.

10 Total Investments! NBDC has secured over $66 million in investments in broadband in Nunavut over the period (projected)! The Government of Canada is the largest single investor in the NBDC-administered projects contributing 53.4% of the funds during the 13 years period.! The private sector contributed 31.4% of the NBDCadministered funds for broadband. More than 99% of this private sector funding is from SSi Micro Ltd, the winner of the two public RFPs.

11 Total Investments

12 Total Investments! Private Sector Repayable Debt: Both Atuqtuarvik and the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation committed funds to the deployment of the QINIQ network to the limit of their funding powers and were instrumental in moving the project forward at a critical stage.! GN Support: The Government of Nunavut has been a strong supporter of the broadband file, providing the bulk of the core funding that enables the day to day administration and governance of NBDC as well as project-specific funding.

13 Total Investments! NBDC also received funds from Inuit Organizations/birthright corporations such as Nunasi, Sakku, the Kitikmeot Corporation, the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation; private businesses; and municipalities.! While modest compared to other investments, the support of these other investors was crucial to NBDC s success during challenging times.

14 Other investments SSi! In 2010 SSi Micro Ltd, without matching government funding, increased the target speed for the base, low cost account ($60 per month) to 384 Kbps as this is the minimum speed for video conferencing and allowed 3 GB of transferred data per month.! Due to the growth of QINIQ (and other growth in the North), SSi has invested in a new teleport in Kanata providing a single hop meshed satellite network from every Nunavut community to each other and to the South.

15 Broadband Canada Program! Managed by Industry Canada, the Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians program aimed to bring broadband (defined as 1.5Mbps download capacity) to previously unserved and underserved households.! Originally awarded in May 2010, contract negotiations between the Government of Canada and the SSi Group of Companies were not resolved until 2012.

16 Broadband Canada Program! Although not a party to the agreement, NBDC was called upon to mediate the discussion on several occasions to ensure that the project would go forward and Nunavummiut would benefit from improved connectivity.! The new Attigiallak plan, available for $80 a month, was launched across Nunavut on June 4, 2012 and provides a download burst speed of 1.5 Mbps and a monthly bandwidth allowance of 10GB.! The plan costs $80 a month and is available in all communities.

17 NorthwesTel Investments! NorthwesTel provides significant broadband (ADSL) services in Iqaluit without direct external subsidy for broadband service provision.! NorthwesTel also supported the deployment of NetKaster in several Nunavut communities.! In municipalities where it is available, NetKaster has been a useful service as a second option for heavy users of Internet.! There are customers in Nunavut who have both QINIQ and NetKaster to support mission-critical connections in the event one of the services slows or is interrupted in some way.

18 NorthwesTel Investments! The size and value of the NorthwesTel broadband services are not known but where NorthwesTel does offer broadband services, the QINIQ network has a smaller share of market and clearly NorthwesTel is providing valuable offerings, at their own expense without direct external subsidy to the Nunavut market.! NorthwesTel does receive an annual subsidy through the National Contribution Fund (NCF) for the provision of basic phone service in remote communities in the North, including the 25 communities in Nunavut.

19 Socioeconomic Impact! To better understand the impact of broadband in Nunavut, NBDC commissioned a socioeconomic impact assessment, completed by Strategic Networks Group (SNG) in March 2012.! Overall, the estimated economic impact of high-speed Internet access in Nunavut has included the following direct and spin-off economic impacts, on an annual basis:! $15.2 million in GDP at market prices,! $9.9 million in direct and spin-off wages and salaries (household income),! 198 person years of direct and spin-off employment,! $1 million in direct and spin-off federal tax revenues, and! $530,000 in direct and spin-off other tax revenues.

20 Socioeconomic Impact! Even with these important economic impacts, there is unmet demand for Internet connectivity.! Stakeholder interviews and measurement of uptake across Nunavut compared to other jurisdictions indicate that organizations and individuals are waiting for a higher capacity service in order to be able to effectively implement and use the appropriate e-solutions that will support and accelerate local socio-economic development.

21 Socioeconomic Impact! SNG s research shows that if Nunavut were able to leverage high-speed Internet (or more accurately, broadband) with the same degree of success achieved by rural and remote communities in the south, the current level of impact from Internet access could grow between 2 and 3.2 times their current levels:! to between $30 and $50 million in GDP (at market prices),! between $20 and $30 million in direct and spin-off wages and salaries (household income),! between 390 and 630 jobs,! and between $3 and $5 million in direct and spin-off federal and other tax revenues.

22 Fibre Feasibility Study! NBDC commissioned a fibre feasibility study to look at the feasibility of fibre connectivity for Nunavut and to provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate.! The Nunavut Fibre Optic Feasibility Study concluded that the installation and operation of a fiber optic network in Nunavut is possible, although there are risks and challenges to be addressed.! A Nunavut fibre network would cost in the order of $ 1 billion.! A fibre network serving only the regional capitals (Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet) and extended to Resolute Bay, is estimated to cost $342 million.

23 Fibre Feasibility Study! The report also makes the point that a concurrent investment in high throughput satellite is critical to ensure that non-fibre linked communities are served and to act as back-up in the event of a fibre break.! The study was commissioned by NBDC with financial support from CanNor.! The work was completed by Salter Global Consulting Inc. (SGC), who won the competitive RFP issued by NBDC.

24 Looking Ahead! The ICT landscape in Nunavut is changing. The next few years will see significant changes as new technologies, technological convergence, and competition play out in Nunavut:! The CRTC has ruled in favour of local phone service competition in the North, opening the door to other service providers and other technologies such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).! The CRTC has announced that the definition for broadband as far as the Commission is concerned is currently 5 Mbps, a speed often available in southern Canada but a very difficult target to meet (for cost reasons) on the current generation satellite-based network.! Fibre will at some point reach Nunavut, providing service in a few communities initially but to more communities over time.! Increasing interest in and availability of mobile telephony and mobile broadband.

25 2012 Nunavut ICT Summit! No single technology, no single vendor or service provider will meet all of Nunavut's needs.! Need to go beyond the current debate over business plans to figure out a funding model to support affordable and reliable service delivery in all Nunavut communities, using the best backhaul technology in the best location and encouraging competition and innovation in the last mile.! Need to look at broader access issues beyond physical connectivity: ICT skills shortage, public access and digital inclusion.! Needs to be a collective, cooperative effort.

26 Final thought! Given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all States. Each State should thus develop a concrete and effective policy, in consultation with individuals from all sections of society, including the private sector and relevant Government ministries, to make the Internet widely available, accessible and affordable to all segments of population. United Nations - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and Protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue

27 Final thought! In a 2010 survey of almost 28,000 adults in 26 countries by the British Broadcasting Corporation, 79% believe that Internet access is a fundamental human right.! Estonia, 2000: Internet access declared a basic human right.! France, 2009 & Costa Rica, 2010: Internet access declared a fundamental right! Finland, 2009: every Internet connection needs to have a speed of at least one Megabit per second (broadband level)! What can Nunavut expect in 2016?