PEI Broadband Fund for Internet Service Providers

1. The availability of stable, high‑speed Internet infrastructure is critical for access to essential resources and public services, and to enable economic growth and diversification. The Prince Edward Island Broadband Fund provides financial assistance to local Prince Edward Island internet service providers (ISPs), communities and businesses for the installation of infrastructure for enhanced broadband services. Through this program, partnerships and collaborations are encouraged and support is provided for increased service levels, improved access and consumer choice for connectivity.

The Prince Edward Island Broadband Fund (PEIBF) provides a contribution of up to 50% of the eligible costs for a project approved for funding. Applications must be submitted prior to the start of a project; any expenses incurred before the submission of an application are ineligible.

Section 1: Program Guidelines

Applicant Eligibility

You may be eligible to access the Prince Edward Island Broadband Fund (PEIBF) if you are:

1. An ISP that is installing broadband infrastructure that will provide improved access of 50/10 to underserved civic addresses and/or provide an increased level of service and/or improved consumer choice;
2. A corporation, either for profit or not-for-profit, that is incorporated in Canada and:
   • Is registered to do business in the province of Prince Edward Island;
   • Is registered as a Telecommunications provider with the CRTC;
3. A Canadian provincial, territorial or municipal entity;
4. An Indigenous entity including:
   • A profit or non-profit organization run by and for First Nations, Metis, or Inuit peoples;
   • A band council within the meaning of section 2 of the Indian Act (Canada);
   • An indigenous government authority established by a Self-Government Agreement or a Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement;
5. A public sector body that is established by statute or by regulation or is wholly owned by a province, municipal or regional government which provides services to communities; or
6. A partnership, joint venture or consortium that is composed of parties identified in (a), (b), (c) and/or (d) above;

And, that:

• Builds owns and operates broadband infrastructure; or
• Enters into a contractual arrangement with an entity identified in (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) above to design, build, own and operate broadband infrastructure

Federal entities, including Crown corporations, are not eligible applicants.

Project Eligibility

Support is provided for increased service levels of 50/10. Any elements or areas of a project that propose to overbuild existing services that offer 50/10 speeds may be removed from the final project upon review Any projects proposing to overbuild existing services to any degree may be assessed less favourably relative to competing proposals that do not.

A project may be eligible for support through the fund where costs will be incurred for broadband network construction and deployment, including “last mile” and/or backbone infrastructure. This program seeks to reduce duplication and overbuild of existing broadband network infrastructure. Costs associated with uneconomic excess capacity and overbuilding existing broadband infrastructure may not be considered. Applicants must be in good standing with the Government of Prince Edward Island.

Contribution Limitations     

The contribution from PEIBF is to a maximum of 50% of the eligible costs of the approved project. The maximum, total grant contribution from all Government of Prince Edward Island sources cannot exceed 50%. Loans or other repayable contributions are not included within this calculation. Where a project receives any other grant funding from the Government of Prince Edward Island, the contribution from PEIBF may be reduced.

All proponents will be required to inform PEIBF of financial assistance received or requested for the project prior to the approval of a contribution. Furthermore, the contribution agreements will contain a continuing disclosure obligation, for the duration of the agreement, concerning other government assistance.

Proposal Evaluation

PEIBF encourages partnerships and collaboration for the most effective and innovative solutions. All applications will be evaluated on provision of the information requested, including completeness and suitability of the information, and will be assessed on factors including:

• Offering speeds of at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload
• Capacity and coverage of underserved civic addresses;
• The economic impact in a region or community;
• Provision of consumer choice for connectivity and pricing;
• Deployment of innovative solutions for long-term sustainability;
• Incremental broadband improvement and quality of the proposed service;
• Applicant’s ability to complete the project, including capacity to manage the project, prior experience and qualifications of the management team, feasibility, and evidence of funds for the balance of project costs; and
• Availability of PEIBF budget.

Innovation PEI reserves the right to offer partial awards and/or to negotiate project scope changes with applicants. Proposals will be evaluated based on compliance with the information requested, suitability of the information, and quality of the proposed service.

Innovation PEI reserves the right to deny a grant application or request for payment if it suspects or detects fraudulent intent.

Financing and Related Requirements

The applicant must demonstrate that all remaining financing is in place, contracted, and sufficient to see the project through to its completion.

Finance PEI provides loans to local businesses that meet financing requirements and are feasible based on their own merits. Detailed business plans, financial projections and the ability of the client to provide equity are some of the requirements deemed necessary during the due diligence stage and before final approval.

Administration and Process

The PEIBF is administered by Innovation PEI on behalf of the Province of Prince Edward Island. There is no administration or application fee charged to applicants prior to any funding being approved through the PEI Broadband Fund.

Financial and status reporting will be required at various milestones, specifically the Planning, Construction and Completion stages. If your project is approved, a letter of offer will be sent to you. This will create a contract between yourself and Innovation PEI and will clearly stipulate the obligations of both parties. More detail regarding monitoring of your project and required reporting is included within the Claiming Payment section of this guide.

Claiming Payment from PEIBF

The applicant will submit the required financial and status reporting, including supporting documentation, to Innovation PEI at specified dates and/or milestones, as detailed within the contract between the parties. Innovation PEI may also request and conduct periodic onsite inspections and/or functionality demonstrations to further evidence the status of the project.

Once Innovation PEI has determined that all required documentation has been received and validated the value of the payment available from the PEIBF, it will issue payment to the applicant via cheque or electronic funds transfer.

For the PEIBF, payments will be claimed at three key milestones: (1) Planning, (2) Construction, and (3) Completion. At each milestone, a financial and status report will be required. The financial reporting will include costs incurred and paid to date, and evidence of same, as more particularly detailed in the letter of offer.

The specific progress elements to be addressed within the status report at each milestone are detailed below. Innovation PEI reserves the right to adjust/amend these reporting requirements within the letter of offer to each successful applicant.

Milestone #1 Deliverable “Planning”

1. A status report confirming that the project is accurate and up to date, including:
   1. Key Project Dates
   2. Logical Network Diagram
   3. Geographical Backbone Transport Routes (for projects with a backbone component)
   4. Project Site Table
   5. Fibre Route Segment Table
   6. Point of Presence Site Table
   7. Network Infrastructure Equipment List
   8. Project Dependencies on Wholesale Internet Capacity Suppliers
   9. Project Dependencies on Third-Party Network\
2. For projects with a last-mile component and unless expressly amended, a statement confirming that the Coverage Map(s) are accurate and up to date.
3. An update on progress in obtaining land or ROW access for each Project Site and Fibre Route Segments.
4. An update on progress in obtaining sufficient Internet gateway capacity (bandwidth).
5. Proof of spectrum licensed from the Government of Canada, for projects with a wireless component in a licensed band, or proof of registration with the Government of Canada for projects with a wireless component in a lightly licensed band (e.g., 3.65 GHz).
6. Non-licensed frequencies used for projects that will be used for last mile or backhaul proposes

Milestone #2 Deliverable “Construction”

1. Unless expressly amended, a statement confirming that the Project as set out in Schedule A is accurate and up to date, and represents the as-built network, including:
   1. Key Project Dates
   2. Logical Network Diagram
   3. Geographical Backbone Transport Routes (for projects with a backbone component)
   4. Project Site Table
   5. Fibre Route Segment Table
   6. Point of Presence Site Table
   7. Network Infrastructure Equipment List
   8. Project Dependencies on Wholesale Internet Capacity Suppliers
   9. Project Dependencies on Third-Party Networks.
2. For projects with a last mile component and unless expressly amended, a statement confirming that the Coverage Map(s) are up to date and represents the coverage area in which Residential Broadband Service is offered.
3. Evidence of land access or ROW alignments for each Fibre Route Segment (or a subset, at the discretion of IPEI).
4. Photographs of each Project Site(s) (indoor and outdoor).
5. For projects with a last-mile component only, test results for each last-mile Project Site. The test results must indicate the download and upload speed at a residential customer premise (or equivalent) demonstrating that the Project’s capacity to deliver the Broadband Service.
6. For projects with a backbone component only, test results, the Recipient demonstrating that each new or upgraded Fibre Route Segment identified in the logical network diagram. Test results of the download and upload speed at each Point of Presence demonstrating the Points of Presence’s capacity to deliver the Dedicated Broadband Service Offerings.
7. For resiliency projects only, test results, signed off by the Recipient demonstrating the functionality of the newly added resiliency. One such test result must be presented for each new redundant network path.

Milestone #3 Deliverable “Completion”

1. For projects with a last-mile component only:
   1. Proof of Residential Broadband Service availability (Internet link or other).
2. For projects with a backbone component only:
   1. A declaration from an executive officer of the recipient stating that Dedicated Broadband Service is available.
3. For projects with a new backbone component:
   1. For 1 Connected or Subscribed Anchor Institution, proof of provisioning or proof that the Anchor Institution has been made aware of the availability of Dedicated Broadband Service.
4. For projects with an upgrade backbone component:
   1. For 1 Connected or Subscribed Anchor Institution:
5. Proof of provisioning Dedicated Broadband Service to the Subscribed Anchor Institution and, when the Subscribed Anchor Institution is an existing client of the Recipient, evidence that the capacity available has improved as a result of the Project, or
6. Proof that the Connected Anchor Institution has been made aware of the availability of Dedicated Broadband Service.

Eligible Project Costs     

Eligible costs are those direct costs that can be specifically identified and measured as having been required and incurred to implement and complete the project including, but not limited to:

• Direct Labour Costs, meaning the portion of gross wages or salaries incurred for work;
• Direct Material Costs, including passive supplies such as coaxial cable, copper wire, patch cords, fibre termination equipment, outdoor cabinets, and conduits;
• Direct Equipment Costs, including fibre optic cable, servers, switches, repeaters, radio equipment, backbone, back-up power supplies, last mile network towers/poles, shelters, and network broadband connectivity equipment including upgrades;
• Other Direct Costs, meaning those applicable direct costs not falling within the prior categories, but that are necessary for the physical infrastructure; and;
• Any 3rd party labour or components secured for the project must be billed directly from the vendor delivering the labor or components to the proponent identified in this RFP unless otherwise agreed upon with IPEI.

Ineligible Project Costs     

Ineligible Costs include, but are not limited to:

• Costs incurred before the agreement’s effective date;
• Costs related to developing the application for funding;
• Purchase, lease and other costs related to land acquisition/lease, buildings (except for equipment shelters not meant for human occupation), and other facilities, including permanent shelters for housing network-related equipment;
• Existing capital assets including land, buildings, vehicles and other indirect, fixed, and/or capital costs;
• Operational costs for infrastructure built as a result of the project, including repairs and ongoing maintenance;
• New Customer-Premises connection (CPE) costs including, but not limited to, drop, antenna/poles/towers, modem/router;
• Indirect and fixed costs, including general office space and office equipment;
• Insurance costs and legal fees;
• Financing or carrying costs, loan and interest payments;
• Contingency provisions;
• Taxes for which the applicant is eligible for a tax rebate and all other costs eligible for rebates;
• Costs of any goods or services that are received through donations or in-kind;
• Training to set up an Internet service provider or on-going training to implement the projects;
• Advertising/promotion activities; and
• Radio and Spectrum licensing fees.
• Duplication and overbuild of existing broadband Network infrastructure

Innovation PEI reserves the right to adjust eligible and/ or ineligible costs within the PEIBF. All eligible and ineligible costs specific to an approved application will be detailed within the letter or offer.

Proposal Inquiries and Questions     

Proponents are encouraged to work with Innovation PEI staff in the preparation of their application and proposal. Inquiries regarding PEIBF can be addressed by contacting 902-368-6300, toll free at 1-800-563-3734, or via email at myinternet@gov.pe.ca 

Section 2: Application Guide 

Proposal Requirements     

Each application to the PEIBF must include: 

• Prince Edward Island Broadband Fund application form via online webform or in signed PDF format via email or hard copy 
• Proposal Description as detailed below (If submitted electronically, the project proposal file must be provided in either a Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) or an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format and must be print ready.)

Supporting Documentation Requirements 

Your proposal must include all of this information:

Mandatory Requirements

Operating License(s)

1. Confirm that Telecommunications Operating license(s) exist and are in good standing and registered with the CRTC.

 

Business Standing:

1. Business is in good standing with the Government of Prince Edward Island
2. Is registered as a Telecommunications provider with the CRTC;

 

Project Timelines and Schedule Adherence:

1. Demonstrate previous project performance regarding proponent’s adherence to Project Timelines and Schedule. Provide details of previous completed Accelerated projects, if applicable.

 

Financials:

1. Proponent to provide Financial Statements from the last 3 years to support solid financial stability in the business, as prepared by a third-party accountant.
2. Proponents must demonstrate that they will have sufficient financial resources to operate their network for 5 years.

 

End Customer Speed and Performance Expectation:

1. The expectation is that the proponents proposed solution(s) will meet or exceed the CRTC broadband internet objectives of 50/10 for 100% of the connected customer base. Fixed broadband Internet access service is considered high quality if it meets a round-trip latency threshold of 50 milliseconds and a packet loss threshold of 0.25%, both measured during peak times. Proponent to provide details regarding the proposed Services and Speed offerings as well as an indication of timelines involved to achieve these speed objectives. These speeds must be achieved by the completion of the project.
2. Verification that the speed and quality objectives have been met will be required before 100% of the program financial support will be released. A listing of all connected CA's and the overall delivered performance to be included in a data table. The data points for each customer to include; End customer connection technology, Network speed test results (Downstream/Upstream) during peak hours, Round-trip latency over network, previous month packet loss and availability for each connected CA.
3. The proponent must provide a disaster recovery plan including steps taken to restore services and timelines for doing so. The proponent must also provide information on whether the area(s) infrastructure is being installed in will be impacted by flooding as outlined in the coastal hazards information platform (https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/environment-energy-and-climate-action/coastal-hazards-information-platform-chip) 

 

Customer Service Response Expectation:

1. Proponent to confirm that Customer Service Level targets for all connected clients will meet and/or exceed industry “Best Practices” for both Commercial and Residential Customer Operations. Provide details regarding the level of Service Response which will be provided and communicated to the CA’s captured by the proposed solution.

Sample Response:

* Business - No Service – No service repair call to be completed within a 24-hour (Next Business Day) period from the customer call in date.

* Business - Degraded Service – A degraded service call to be scheduled and corrected within a 48-hour (2 Business days) window from the customer call in date.

* Residential - No Service – No service repair calls to be completed within a 48-hour (2 day) period from the customer call in date.

* Residential - Degraded Service – A degraded service call to be scheduled and corrected within a 72 hr. (3-day) window from the customer call in date.

* Proactive network monitoring of end-customer equipment is preferred to surface degraded service levels and avoid customer calls. Identify if proactive monitoring is to be implemented within your Help Desk operations.

 

Project Description

1. Describe your proposed Project Goals and Benefits to the public.
2. Provide details of the proposed project key components which are required and their respective dependencies, specifically;
3. Identify project location and all pertinent POP locations and any distribution breakouts to service new area.
4. Provide proponent’s current servicing status if any, in the proposed project location.
5. Provide all connection points where the underserved network solution will interconnect to an existing network whether belonging to the proponent or another provider.
6. Provide network architecture that indicates how physical network will be configured; i.e. in a ring, star, mesh, tree-and-branch, hybrid configuration etc.
7. Provide any and all redundant paths and identify peering points to support an understanding of the network resiliency
8. Provide a high-level project schedule identifying the key project components and their projected completion dates.

 

Coverage and Technical Deployment Details

1. Detail what technologies will be used to create the various network connections. 
2. Provide a high-level Network Diagram (or descriptive) to facilitate an understanding of your proposed solution and how it fits and/or impacts your existing network. Attach to or embed diagram to your response submission. Architecture should include transport layer, distribution layer and end customer service components.
3. Provide an estimate of underserved civic addresses which will be captured by the proponent's proposed solution and describe how this quantity was derived. Overview of the existing and future subscription base, and type of clients expected.
4. Provide a desktop design heat map identifying intended coverage across the project location or provide a marked-up projected coverage map in digital format such as a PDF or Hi-Res JPEG.
5. Provide details of current POP's or Towers and any distribution or last mile breakouts required to support the proposed coverage. Identify any new infrastructure required.
6. Provide details of what Technology and Infrastructure will be required to create the required connectivity and distribution interconnection points.
7. Identify all connection points where the underserved network solution will interconnect to an existing network, whether belonging to the proponent or others. Any and all redundant paths, peering points should also be identified.
8. Identify current Backbone capacity and what spare capacity will exist in the required infrastructure, also the impact to current capacity when these new customers are added.
9. Describe current Operations to demonstrate that the required Maintenance and Network monitoring and response strategy will meet industry Best Practices and/or generally acceptable Service Level Standards for the technology deployed. End Customer Monthly Service Availability should meet or exceed 99.80% (1.5 Hrs/mo.) and Network wide Annual Reliability should meet or exceed 99.90% (9 Hrs downtime/yr.)
10. The proposed Network Architecture description should include Transport layer, Distribution layer and all End Customer service components. Network architecture should indicate how physical network will be configured; i.e... in a ring, star, Mesh, tree-and-branch, hybrid configurations, etc..

 

Project Implementation and Management

1. Provide a timeline which identifies all the key tasks, milestones, and critical path elements in the deployment of services to the CA’s in the targeted project location(s).
2. Provide project start and completion dates and launch plan details.
3. Key components should include:

• Separated by service area and/or region
• All services planned in the deployment (both residential and business as appropriate
• All transit bandwidth requirements for the initial launch and 3 years of operations
• Any 3^rd party portions or components/dependencies necessary to ensure a successful launch and their launch plan impacts

4. Opportunity risks to include discussion around the following:

• Identify all schedule related aspects that may delay completion of the project and identify solutions to overcome these delays to ensure the project stays within the completion time lines
• Any risks associated with acquisition of Transit Bandwidth
• Any risks associated with Permitting/Planning and/or Engineering of their network extensions
• Any risks associated with 3rd party involvement in their proposed solution
• Any risks associated with Funding and Capitalization of their project
• Any Technology obsolescence risks or dependencies

5. Please provide an indication of Proponent's years of experience in similar Projects and demonstrate a capacity to manage and execute the project. Both technically and Administratively. In particular, provide details on any projects previously funded through the Department and indicate if the project was fully completed as per the original scope and guidelines. If not, why and what steps were taken to correct the change or delay. Include how many CAs were successfully delivered 50/10 services.
6. Please provide your Company's Organization Chart identifying the organizational structure and capabilities in similar projects. Specifically identify number of resources, associated skill sets and industry experience. Include Resumes of the key resources who will be responsible in carrying out the proposed project work. Please refer to Appendix K.

 

Regulatory Requirements

1. Proponent to demonstrate that they are aware of the Regulatory requirements and have considered them in their submission. Identify all permits required and the organization that will be contacted to obtain each permit.
2. Proponent to demonstrate a strong understanding of the requirements for permits, licenses and/or any environmental considerations.

 

Financial Requirements

1. Capital Budget Worksheet and Build Estimate

• The proponent is asked to produce an Estimate which identifies all the key components of their proposed solution
• The proponent is to demonstrate that the estimates can be relied upon and the unit cost ratios are reasonable and believable.
• The proponent is to demonstrate that their proposed solution offers excellent value for money given the unit costs and the size of the potential customer capture

2. The Cost Components and Ratios to be included:

• Total CA’s captured by the proposed solution
  • Estimated connections and assumed CA penetration rates
• Total back office capital costs:
  • Equipment costs
  • Transit BW costs
• Total backbone capital costs:
  • Total capital cost to construct backbone infrastructure
  • Cost/CA’s for customer premise equipment installation
  • Cost/CA to construct Last Mile Infrastructure
• Operating cost estimates to support the projected CA’s

3. Proponent Financial commitment to the deployment and ongoing operations

• Proponent to clearly identify their position on what financial commitment they will require and make towards the Deployment and Operations components of their proposed solution.
• Proponent to identify and estimate what additional funding if any would be required through other sources.
• Proponent's to demonstrate that the current Business Model aligns with Best Practices in the Industry given the size and capacity of the company.

 View Underserved Map & list of underserved civic addresses    

Underserved 2022 Map

Underserved Civic Addresses 2022

 

Application Submissions

Applications may be submitted to:

Innovation PEI Attention: PEIBF 
94 Euston Street
PO Box 910, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7L9
Email: business@gov.pe.ca

broadband_fund_isp.pdf