Wireless Review: Competition Bureau gets its wish as wireless carriers must provide more data

OTTAWA – Wireless carriers will have to provide more granular data to the CRTC, after all.

As part of its submission to the CRTC’s review of mobile wireless services, the Competition Bureau wants to, among other things, do a detailed study on what happened locally (not just in provinces and nationally) when new wireless competitors to the Big Three (Rogers, Bell and Telus) were introduced. To do that, the Bureau needs far more detailed data than the CRTC has asked for in its original requests for information upon the proceeding’s call.

The wireless carriers and the CRTC have resisted those requests for various reasons, including timing and the work entailed to gather the data needed, but the Competition Bureau has been persistent, asking and re-asking for datasets, each time modifying its request to make the data gathering job a bit easier on the carriers. Since this is a CRTC proceeding, the Bureau can’t actually demand the data itself and had to convince the Commission to ask for them.

In a letter to the Bureau today, the CRTC agreed to the Bureau’s request. For example, besides data from all 35 Census Metropolitan Areas, the Commission has asked for specific data on wireless competition in a smaller region, Timmins, Ont., as well. It's a region the Bureau wanted to investigate, too.

It's worth noting here that this letter (sent to all wireless providers as well as the Bureau) will see WSPs provide the data to the CRTC, which will then assess it and decide whether or not it will be sent to the Bureau for analysis.

While, for example, Telus “took the position that the Bureau was, in fact, applying to review and vary a Commission determination,” recounts today’s letter from the CRTC to the Bureau, quoting the cellco’s objections, “(a)ccordingly, it argued that it was given an inappropriately short period of time to respond and that, in any event, the Commissioner had failed to meet the test for a review and variance.”

In more blunt wording, Rogers suggested the Competition Bureau was attempting to “hijack” the proceeding and said the data requested was “burdensome and voluminous.”

Twice (as we’ve reported) the CRTC itself has rejected the Bureau’s request, too, but it has been convinced this time the data requested will help the process. “The Commission acknowledges that if adopted, the Commissioner’s proposed amendments would result in WSPs having to provide some additional, granular information. Nonetheless, the Commission considers that this information would benefit the record of this proceeding and assist the Commission in its decision-making.

“The Commissioner’s request is targeted and builds on staff’s existing RFIs. As well, the information being sought is market information that parties participating in a major policy proceeding such as this should have readily available or be able to compile without undue difficulty,” reads today’s letter from the CRTC.

“(T)he Commission is of the view that the benefits to having the additional information on the record outweigh any additional burden placed on parties in providing the information.”

The Bureau is happy with this turn of events. “We are pleased that the CRTC ruled in favour of our request,” said Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell in an emailed statement. “Today’s decision is an important first step towards a more competitive wireless market for Canadians. With this additional data, the Competition Bureau will be able to provide the CRTC with more informed advice, grounded in objective evidence.”

Here’s a sample of the level of detail in the information (all of which will remain confidential) the CRTC has demanded, a modification of the Bureau's requests, and which wireless service providers will have to deliver.

“For each of the years 2014 to 2018, and for each month from 2016 through the present, as well as forecasts for each of the years 2019 and 2020, and for each province/territory, and for each CMA as well as the Census Agglomeration code 586 (Timmins, ON), provide, for each brand your company operates, (i) the number of retail mobile wireless services subscribers; (ii) the number of retail mobile wireless services subscribers that subscribe to a plan that includes data; and (iii) your retail mobile wireless revenues; (iv) your retail mobile wireless revenues from retail mobile wireless subscribers that subscribe to a plan that includes data; and (v) the average monthly mobile wireless data usage and plan limit per retail mobile wireless subscriber that subscribes to a plan that includes data. Include separate totals for prepaid,” reads the Bureau’s request.

The CRTC and Bureau is hoping the detailed analysis of this specific, small, Northern Ontario region, which is now served by wireless newcomer Eastlink as well as Bell, Rogers and Telus, will shed some light on what happens hyper-locally in wireless when competition arrives.

The new RFI also wants to know, more broadly, from all wireless carriers “all the changes made to the price of your retail mobile service offerings in 2016, 2017, 2018 and in 2019 (up to this date),” in all 35 Statistics Canada Census Metropolitan Areas, from Abbotsford-Mission, to Winnipeg.

It has also asked Bell, Telus, Rogers, Eastlink, Vidéotron and SaskTel for various additional specifics, such as, for the years 2014 to 2018 and forecasts for 2019 and 2020:

And, for each province and territory:

Looks like the WSPs teams have their work cut out for them since this Commission letter is asking for responses by June 19, after which the CRTC will determine whether disclosure to the Competition Bureau is appropriate.

The Bureau was hoping to get access to the data by July 15th so it can properly crunch the numbers in time.

Ed note: This could extend all deadlines and force the hearing to happen later than January 13, 2020.

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