[Advisors] Fwd: [First Mile] FMCC Files Submission to House of Commons Study on Rural Broadband

[Marita Moll]

Great submission from FMCC. Love their highlighting community engagement 
and the fact that communities should be able to produce, own and operate 
their networks, ensuring that the network will meet the needs of the 
community. That might be a pretty new concept for a lot of people in 
that room.

Marita

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	[First Mile] FMCC Files Submission to House of Commons Study 
on Rural Broadband
Date: 	Sun, 15 Oct 2017 11:45:45 -0600
From: 	Rob McMahon <rdmcmaho at UALBERTA.CA>
Reply-To: 	Rob McMahon <rdmcmaho at UALBERTA.CA>
To: 	FIRSTMILE at LISTSERV.UNB.CA



  Inline image 1


  FMCC Files Submission to House of Commons Study on Rural Broadband

In early October, FMCC filed a submission to a parliamentary study on 
rural broadband. I 
<https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/INDU/Brief/BR9137395/br-external/FirstMileConnectivityConsortium-e.pdf>n 
our submission, we welcomed the Standing Committee’s focus on improving 
connectivity through an approach that demonstrates its impact on local 
rural economies, including community engagement. We stressed the 
opportunities that this project can have on local communities: that is, 
provide benefit to people living and working in rural, remote, Northern 
and Indigenous communities across the country.

We also recognized and supported the Standing Committee’s recognition of 
community engagement in this process. Opportunities for residents of 
rural, remote, Northern and Indigenous communities to substantively 
contribute to the design and use of policies and regulations impacting 
broadband infrastructure and services. Importantly, this includes a 
recognition of a range of development approaches.

Residents of rural communities should not be restricted to act only as 
consumers of broadband – they can also act as producers, owners, and 
operators. In this submission, we highlight the importance of ensuring 
that rural populations have opportunities to utilize broadband not just 
as an enabler for economic development in other industries and services, 
but also as a locally-owned and managed resource in and of itself.

  * *DOWNLOAD the FMCC submission here*
    <https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/INDU/Brief/BR9137395/br-external/FirstMileConnectivityConsortium-e.pdf>

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and 
Technology is currently undertaking a study on Broadband Connectivity in 
Rural Canada, and invites individuals and organizations to submit comments.

The press release announcing the consultation notes: 
<https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/INDU/news-release/9029310>

/The motion for this study is as follows: “//That the Standing Committee 
on Industry, Science and Technology undertake a study on broadband 
connectivity, with a primary focus on developing a plan to improve rural 
connectivity, and demonstrating its impact on local rural economies, 
including community engagement; that the committee make recommendations 
that identify and address:/

/a) what constitutes acceptable high-speed service,/

/b) the financial challenges of implementing high-speed services,/

/c) the regulatory changes to encourage the implementation of high-speed 
service.”/

  * *Visit the Standing Committee’s website to *
    <https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/INDU/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=9604427>*SUBMIT
    your own intervention and READ those made by other parties
    <https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/INDU/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=9604427>*

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