By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers has filed an application to the CRTC requesting that its latest gigabit internet speeds be temporarily exempt from speed matching requirements, which would otherwise provide wholesale-based competitors with the same speeds once its rates are approved.
The cable giant launched new gigabit speed packages this month, including symmetrical 1 Gig download and upload speeds, and 2 Gig download speeds with a choice of 1 Gig and 200 Mbps upload configurations. The new speeds will be over its older hybrid fibre-coax facilities which, unlike its last-mile fibre network, is subject to mandatory wholesaling.
The CRTC has a long-standing rule that requires telecoms to file tariff applications to introduce new speeds into the market. When the tariff is approved, the telecom must initiate speed matching requirements to ensure the wholesale competitor can gain access to those same speeds.
Rogers argues in the application, made public Wednesday, that the regulator should put a temporary suspension on such a requirement for its new speeds and any other introductions during the stay period until the regulator makes a final determination on a revamped wholesale internet framework, a decision on which the CRTC said is expected by the end of summer.
“No public interest is served by requiring Rogers to invest operational and administrative resources towards the temporary implementation of wholesale access to the Gig Services in advance of the Commission’s decision in the Wholesale Wireline Review, which would need to be rolled back if, for example, the Commission does not mandate access, or does not mandate aggregated access, or applies a speed cap on the highest tiers,” Rogers said in its application.
When it approved mandated access to the large telcos’ last-mile fibre networks, the CRTC said it wasn’t in the public interest to approve that access outside of Ontario and Quebec. Rogers cited that reason for why it shouldn’t immediately approve speed matching for its new speeds.
“Temporary mandated wholesale access to Rogers’ Gig Services is not required for wholesale-based competitors to compete effectively pending completion of the Wholesale Wireline Review (any more than temporary mandated AWHSA over ILECs’ FTTP networks is required in Western Canada during this Review) and will only serve to unnecessarily exacerbate inequitable regulatory treatment of Rogers vis-à-vis our ILEC competitors under the AWHSA regime,” Rogers said in its application.
If the CRTC determines Rogers’s gigabit services are subject to mandatory wholesaling in its decision, Rogers said the regulator should first approve its updated cost studies to determine what those competitors should pay for access. Those cost studies would take into consideration factors including how much more the company has had to invest in building of the facilities, as Rogers said it has made “substantial” investment to make those new speeds possible.
Absent that, the company would be subject to interim rates that could be out of the range of the legally required “just and reasonable” because the updated cost studies would still be under review and there is “no approved rate that provides a reasonable proxy” for just rates, it said.
“As a result,” Rogers said, “the stay is necessary because it is not in the public interest, nor does it meet the Commission’s statutory obligations to set ‘just and reasonable rates’ to impose the below-cost interim rates that currently apply to Rogers East/West’s highest speed bands and have now been in place for several years:
“Rogers East is currently required to offer our 1.5 Gig Service (Speed Band 9) at an interim rate that: (i) has been in place for over 1.5 years, creating ongoing risk associated with the potential for retroactive adjustments; and (ii) is based on the rates approved for the significantly slower speeds of 101-250 Mbps (Speed Band 5), resulting in the lack of recovery of Rogers’ costs and no return on our network investment. A decision regarding Rogers’ 1.5 Gig Cost study, filed in November 2022, is outstanding,” it said.
“Rogers West is required to offer all speeds between 501 Mbps-1.5 Gbps (Speed Bands 8-10) at the same proxy-based interim rate that: (i) has been in place, depending on the speed band, for between 2-5 years; and (ii) is based on the rates approved for the significantly slower speeds of 250-500 Mbps. The Commission has not yet approved a final rate with respect to Rogers’ cost study filed for Speed Band 8 (501-750 Mbps) in 2019 and denied Rogers West’s proposal to establish interim rates for Speed Band 9 (751-1,000 Mbps) and Speed Band 10 (1,001-1,500 Mbps) based on an alternative approach to the existing proxy-based approach,” it added.
The cable company said doing the same for its gigabit speeds would “exacerbate the existing regulatory asymmetry” in wholesale obligations, as it’s widely cited that cable carriers bear the brunt of wholesale internet subscribers.
