Working with the Vendor Community to
Bridge the Digital Divide

Government has made a commitment to bridge the digital divide in British Columbia by the end of 2006. The telecommunications industry in British Columbia has an important role to play in working with government to help make this goal a reality.

Currently, there are approximately 20 companies delivering telecommunication services to the government network. Government has determined that while the long-term goal of a next generation government network is being pursued, existing contracts will be renegotiated and renewed wherever possible to the end of 2008. This will ensure continuity of service and stability for government while solutions for the next generation network are being developed, procured and implemented.

Initially, the Province considered issuing a competitive solicitation for the extension of existing telecommunication service contracts. However, upon assessing the competitive marketplace, indications were that while there would have been a great deal of interest in and competition for the business on southern Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, in the Okanagan, and a few other more urbanized areas, there would likely have been very little or no competition in other areas of the province. Nor would there have been significant enough incentive for telecommunication service providers to develop a solution to British Columbia's digital divide problem.

Accordingly, it was concluded that the most cost effective way to bridge the digital divide, without any financial outlay by the Province, was to extend existing telecommunication service agreements with existing suppliers for an additional two years (to the end of 2008). As a result NetWork BC, on behalf of government and the broader public sector, entered into negotiations with TELUS, as the largest current supplier of data and voice telecommunications infrastructure services to the Province to extend existing contracts in order to accelerate closure of the digital divide. NetWork BC will also offer similar extensions to suppliers with existing telecommunications contracts. For a summary of the final outcomes and benefits achieved by the new plan visit Closing the Digital Divide for British Columbia Communities.

Successful negotiations with TELUS have resulted in two agreements, a Master Competitive Services Agreement and a Connecting Communities Agreement. These agreements will provide significant savings and improved telecommunications capacity and services to the provincial government and the broader public sector, and also help the Province fulfill its commitment of bringing affordable high-speed Internet access to 366 British Columbia communities by December 31, 2006. It is the intention of the provincial government to issue a public procurement for all public sector voice and data services upon expiry of the current extended contracts.

The next generation network will include present service to core government, the education system and colleges, and it also includes Crown corporations, health authorities and some agencies. The aggregation of government and broader public sector telecommunications users will enable network costs to be lower while providing better value, service levels and increased bandwidth. Given the rural and regional nature of the digital divide that currently exists, regional suppliers should have a valuable role to play in the final network model.

The key benefit to communities that will be leveraged through this new plan is a requirement for open access points of presence, with similar pricing models, in all provincial communities. View a NetWork BC presentation regarding how to bridge the digital divide across the province.