The First Nations Technology Council (Technology Council) published its report “Indigenous Leadership in Technology: Understanding Access and Opportunities in British Columbia” in December of 2022. The report offers a summary of some of the current barriers and enablers Indigenous peoples experience in building technological capacity as well as their vision for the future of technology[…]
FMCC member organizations have had quite a bit of media attention recently. At the end of 2022, Jessica Mundie published a story in the National Post on First Nations communities across Canada who are building their own networks. Her story featured interviews with a number of FMCC members including Alfred Loon, president of Eeyou Communications Network (ECN) and Jesse[…]
After more than two years of pandemic restrictions, members of FMCC met for their first in-person meeting in Montréal on June 14th and 15th, 2022. Eeyou Communications Network (ECN) hosted the FMCC general meeting at the Cree Regional Government office. Present were Alfred Loon of ECN; Tim Whiteduck and Philippe Lalancette from Conseil en education[…]
The following article was published on April 15, 2020. Read published article here. by FMCC members Tim Whiteduck, David Paul Achneepineskum, Sally Braun, Bill Murdoch, Ken Sanderson, and Rob McMahon In 2016, Canada’s telecommunications regulator ruled that broadband is an “essential service” that should be available to everyone across the country, no matter where they[…]
From https://www.internetsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-Indigenous-Connectivity-Summit-Community-Report_EN.pdf Recommendations to ensure access for all One of the biggest connectivity challenges in Canada, for those who have access, is that its broadband prices are among the highest in the world. When the CRTC declared all Canadian households should have high-speed broadband as a basic telecommunications service in 2016, it called on the[…]
First Mile Connectivity Consortium executive board members, Susan O’Donnell (Vice-President) and Brian Beaton (Treasurer), met with two members of the Review of the Canadian Communications Legislative Framework Panel. The meeting took place in Halifax on Wednesday, Oct 3 and included two secretariat members from the two federal departments responsible for these communication legislative acts, ISED and[…]
An article based on FMCC efforts at the CRTC is now published in the Journal of Information Policy. The article is co-authored by FMCC researchers Rob McMahon, Trevor Smith, and Tim Whiteduck. Reclaiming Geospatial Data and GIS Design for Indigenous-led Telecommunications Policy Advocacy: A Process Discussion of Mapping Broadband Availability in Remote and Northern Regions[…]
The following article was posted by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority. CIRA’s Community Investment Program celebrates its fifth year – Part 2: The First Mile Connectivity Consortium CIRA is embarking on the fifth year of its Community Investment Program. Canadian not-for-profits doing good things for and through the internet can apply for a CIRA grant[…]
On Friday, December 1, 2017, FMCC filed our comments on the Future Programming Distribution Models with the CRTC. The CRTC put out this Call for Comments in response to the Governor in Council’s request for a report on future programming distribution models to be presented before June 1, 2018 (https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-359.htm and https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2017/2017-359-1.htm). FMCC’s submission is available for[…]
FMCC is participating in CRTC 2017-112 “Development of the Commission’s broadband funding regime”. These public proceedings examine matters related to the establishment of the broadband funding regime, including its governance, operating, and accountability frameworks, as well as eligibility and assessment criteria for proposed projects. For more information, the public notice is posted here. Requests for Information in CRTC 2017-122:[…]