By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Bell is asking the CRTC to institute an interim pole attachment rate for third parties in Ontario and Quebec until it can update cost studies to determine how it can recover costs it says it will incur after a decision by the commission in February that shifts the cost of corrective work on poles to the pole owner.
Among tariff filings on Monday, the incumbent pole owner in those provinces said the commission’s decision to shift costs onto the pole owner has shone a spotlight on its outdated pole attachment rate that it said is below the costs charged by utilities across the country.
“The nature of the rulings in [February decision] dictate that our pole access service must undergo fundamental changes, which will significantly impact the cost of providing the service,” Bell said in a companion letter. “These changes mean that, as of the effective date of our tariff changes, our current monthly pole attachment rate in Ontario and Quebec will not be ‘just and reasonable’ as required by section 27(1) of the Telecommunications Act.”
“For this reason,” Bell said, “we request that the Commission make the current monthly pole attachment rate for Bell Canada in Ontario and Quebec interim as of the date of approval of these changes.”
Bell said its pole attachment rate prior to February’s decision was based on costs studies from 14 years ago – a commission-approved $12.48 per attacher per year. That, it said, compares to the Ontario utility pole rate of $36.05 effective January 2023.
“Until such time as the pole attachment rate has been modified to reflect the Commission’s new pole attachment policies and incorporate current costing information, there will be a mismatch between the rate charged for pole attachments and the cost incurred for providing that service,” Bell said, adding it intends to file an updated cost study for a rate in Ontario and Quebec. Bell pointed to precedent in which the commission made wholesale internet access rates interim in 2016 after its costing changes.
“In other words, the only way for pole owners to recover the additional costs related the Commission’s new policy on make-ready work is through higher pole attachment rates,” Bell said.
The company said it will require “extensive time and effort” to conduct the study and therefore cannot give a date for that filing.
The commission acknowledged in its February decision that the incumbent pole owners may file new cost studies to ensure that rates are “just and reasonable.” Bell said, for example, that maintenance expenses included in its existing cost studies do not include costs associated with the corrective work because it was able to recover the costs from the third parties. It added that, while it hasn’t done a full analysis, its costs studies do not include other factors from the February decision.
February’s decision came off a years-long proceeding which sought to address barriers to broadband deployment. In the decision, the commission determined that third parties should not bear the full cost of replacing poles when they want to attach equipment on the wood structures and set timelines for pole preparation and attachments.
