Whereas high-speed internet is essential for the social and economic well-being of smaller rural communities and being without it brings significant challenges in todays digital economy; And whereas hydro poles reach the majority of homes in rural communities, internet service providers ISPs often rent space on infrastructure such as poles owned by BC Hydro to attach and carry the transmission lines to provide service to their customers; And whereas pole rental fees are often cost prohibitive in the business model for rural broadband and are harming broadband deployment, network upgrades, and competition in rural areas, contributing to the digital divide between urban and rural areas: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM petition the Province of British Columbia, and BC Hydro as a crown corporation, establish affordable pole rental rates in a fair and equitable manner to accelerate the roll-out of broadband connectivity in rural communities.
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation BC Hydro has a program that allows third parties like telecommunications companies, municipalities, First Nations and government agencies to add their attachments to BC Hydros transmission and distribution assets. This helps these third parties reduce their construction and maintenance costs. In B.C., about 85 of the approximately 900,000 distribution poles used by BC Hydro are jointly owned with Telus, for which the two parties entered into a joint ownership agreement in 1971. Telus also has solely owned poles; as does BC Hydro. BC Hydro and Telus have dedicated telecom space on distribution poles for the purposes of telecommunication attachments. About 90 of wireline attachments installed on jointly owned poles are Licensees of Telus, and the remaining 10 are Licensees of BC Hydro. Government believes BC Hydro is part of the solution to meet the connectivity needs of underservedremote communities. Hearing the concerns directly from communities and subject matter experts regarding access to BC Hydro pole structures, is very important input to the collaborative work between the Ministries of Citizen Services and Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation to accelerate the delivery of high-speed internet. BC Hydro understands there are concerns about costs relating to renting space on its poles and remains committed to working to addressing these concerns. BC Hydro is working with telecommunication providers to coordinate planning and infrastructure investments to reduce the costs and improve the timeliness of installing cables on poles, including pole readiness measures.