Port Coquitlam residents have likely noticed workers digging up sidewalks and rigging up overhead wiring throughout the city over the last few months.
The construction is the result of a deal worked out between the city of PoCo and Telus that will see 90% of the community serviced with high-speed fibre optic technology. The company said the pilot program will increase internet speed and be a boon for local businesses that use large amounts of bandwidth.
But while the agreement - which was debated and voted on during an in-camera meeting - has the backing of Mayor Greg Moore and the majority of council, support for the initiative is far from unanimous.
"We as a city shouldn't attach ourselves to a business in that fashion," said Coun. Glenn Pollock. "I wasn't supportive of it."
Pollock's comments were echoed by Coun. Brad West, who said he was concerned with the perception that the city was giving preference to one company over others.
Councillors added that they were particularly uneasy about a letter signed by Moore that supported Telus' positions in an upcoming Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearing.
The letter, obtained by The Tri-City News through a Freedom of Information request, stated that the city does not support changes to CRTC regulations that may force companies to share their network infrastructure with competitors. The document added that such rules could deter future investment in communities such as Port Coquitlam.
West said neither council nor staff have the expertise necessary to comment on CRTC policy and the city should not be weighing in on issues it does not understand.
"Telus is a big company," he said. "They are able to go and advocate their positions for themselves. They don't need us to parrot what they want us to say."
Another area of concern for West was a letter that was sent to homeowners last spring with the city of Port Coquitlam logo next to the Telus logo. The mail-out stated that Telus would be visiting residences and businesses to discuss connecting them to the fibre optic network and that later this year people could sign up for new services.
But Mayor Greg Moore said the letter to homeowners was simply a way of informing them construction and roadwork may need to take place in their neighbourhood.
He added that he does not share the concerns of Pollock and West, and that the city's relationship with Telus is completely appropriate.
The letter the city sent to the CRTC was not specific to Telus, he said, and that if other companies came forward with similar requests, he would support them as well.
"If Rogers or Shaw asked us to, we would send the same letter," he said. "It is a principle, it is not about whose name it is."
He noted that the CRTC hearings also deal with cellphone towers. If companies believe they are building infrastructure that could be used by competitors, they may not make the investments, which could hurt service in the municipality.
Coun. Darrell Penner said he supports the Telus agreement. Unlike high-speed fibre optic networks in places like Coquitlam, which set up a separate corporation, QNet, to install such equipment, PoCo is getting its infrastructure at no cost to the taxpayer, he said.
"As soon as I heard this, it was a no brainer," Penner said.
"It gives you the ability to run a home-based business - you could run an engineering firm from your house You could have Amazon move here because the capacity is here."
Liz Sauve, a spokesperson for Telus, told The Tri-City News the fibre optic network would increase internet speeds up to 100 megabytes per second. PoCo is one of several communities that were chosen for the pilot project and she said the company expects to have the majority of the work done by early October.
