national
farmers union
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask-"Farmers and other rural residents need affordable phone rates comparable to those enjoyed by urban customers. Farmers and rural residents are using their phones more and more and for a wider variety of uses. Further, it is clear that an increasing array of services will be offered over the internet. Rural residents must have equitable, affordable, universal access to those services," said NFU Saskatchewan Coordinator Stewart Wells. Wells was appearing today before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's hearings on service to high-cost areas.
Wells told the CRTC: "Modern agriculture requires dependable, advanced telecommunications services as much as good roads or rail lines. While farmers will always rely on trucks and trains to move their products to markets, increasingly, they rely on phone, fax, and internet service to capture the best prices for those products."
Government of Saskatchewan research indicates that rates for basic phone service in rural Saskatchewan may quadruple from their current level of approximately $30 to $120 or more if market forces and competition are allowed to dominate. Similar increases could occur across Canada.
"Inequitable phone rates will increase the cost of living for farmers and rural residents and the cost of doing business for rural businesses. This will increase pressure on those businesses to relocate to larger centres and, thus, accelerate the loss of rural employment opportunities, population, and infrastructure. Charging farmers and rural residents substantially more than urban residents will accelerate rural de-development and the transfer of wealth from rural to urban Canada," said Wells.
In light of the apparent failure of 'the market' to provide affordable, equitable telecommunications services to rural Canadians, the CRTC and the government must step in to protect rural Canada," stated Wells. He concluded: "The telecommunications infrastructure in much of Canada was built at tremendous public expense. There is no compelling reason to turn that infrastructure over to private corporations for private profit unless such a move will substantially benefit the vast majority of Canadian citizens--both rural and urban."
For More Information: