LONGUEUIL, Que. — Quebec-based third-party Internet service provider EBOX is joining other independent ISPs who are calling for the resignation or firing of CRTC chairman Ian Scott following the Commission’s reversal last week of its August 2019 decision to lower the third-party Internet access (TPIA) rates paid by the small independents to Canada’s largest carriers.
Last week, TekSavvy asked for Scott to be removed from his position (TekSavvy has also petitioned the federal cabinet to overrule the CRTC’s rate decision) and VMedia called for Scott’s resignation.
Now today, EBOX issued a press release also calling for Scott to resign.
Calling last week’s decision by the Commission “an arbitrary reversal that is extremely detrimental to Canadians,” EBOX says in its press release: “The CRTC’s decision to backtrack on the decision made in 2019 shows great signs of incompetence. Mr. Ian Scott, former vice-president of Telus, appears to be biased by his clear preference for infrastructure-owning competitors. A person in a position of authority to regulate a market should not be biased towards a specific form of competition.”
EBOX’s release goes on to say: “The appearance of a conflict of interest due to pressure from the major providers, the incompetence, as well as the inefficiency in handling this case are simply too great to be ignored.”
Referring to the “five-year marathon” that led up to the Commission’s August 2019 decision, “in which it deemed the interim rates to be unfair and unreasonable,” EBOX asks, “How can he [Scott] now impose the status quo on us on the grounds that it would take too much time and resources to conduct a full review of the cost analysis?”
“The CRTC’s decision is a major blow to competition in Canada’s telecommunications sector,” continues EBOX’s press release. “The major telecom providers have just been permitted to charge rates that are neither fair nor reasonable for years to come.”
