By Ahmad Hathout
On federal cabinet urging, the CRTC is “working quickly” to launch a public consultation on whether Rogers, Bell and Telus should be banned from using the aggregated last-mile fibre regime in Ontario and Quebec, the regulator said in a statement to Cartt, a move that is being welcomed by competitors.
The minister of Industry, Francois Philippe-Champagne, made the recommendation to the CRTC on Wednesday. It was a partial win for Bell, which requested in its February petition for the cabinet to rescind or vary the regulator’s decision last year that mandated competitor access to its bundled middle- and last-mile fibre facilities in the two provinces.
The basis of the minister’s decision to send the decision back to the regulator is that he appears concerned that allowing the large players to use the bundled fibre networks of Bell and Telus would harm smaller internet players because they would have to deal with deeper-pocketed rivals in their operating territory.
“The Governor in Council has concerns about the viability of small and regional Internet service providers,” Wednesday’s order said, adding it has “concerns about future and ongoing investments in broadband infrastructure and services in Ontario and Quebec, including in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, and concerns that those investments could, if they are unprofitable, lead to a decline in quality and consumer choice in the retail Internet services market.”
The regulator has 90 days to revisit the November 2023 decision that mandated, on an interim basis, access to both the middle- and last-mile fibre facilities of Bell and Telus in the two provinces. The commission did not prohibit Bell, Telus and Rogers or their affiliates from using the regime at the time.
The CRTC expanded the aggregated regime to the rest of the country in its August wholesale access decision – which is in line with the policy direction from cabinet – but it only restricted incumbent access to the regime where they have their own facilities so as not to discourage them from investing. The latter was one of the three asks from Bell in its original petition to cabinet in February.
“This reconsideration is crucial, as unrestricted access by these incumbents could hinder competition and limit opportunities for independent internet service providers,” the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC), a rep for indie providers, said in a statement to Cartt. “The large players’ would take advantage of their dominant market position to squeeze smaller, independent providers with wireless bundles and attractive discounts.”
“We appreciate the CRTC’s efforts to broaden consumer choice and support affordability,” added CNOC’s Chair and President Paul Andersen. “However, we believe that re-evaluating the Big 3’s access to each other’s fibre networks is necessary to align fully with the government’s 2022 policy directive. This reconsideration will help create a fairer market where independent ISPs can continue to offer Canadians affordable and innovative services. We hope the CRTC will move quickly and heed the government’s call to ensure the wholesale fibre access framework promotes competition and consumer choice.”
Bell also asked cabinet to consider forcing the CRTC to contemplate whether it should force all incumbent providers to open their last-mile fibre facilities on an aggregated basis and ban the Rogers, Bell and Telus and their affiliates from that access.
“The three largest telecommunications service providers in Canada — Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Canada Inc. and TELUS Communications Inc. — are of a disproportionate size relative to other Internet service providers,” read Wednesday’s order, adding they collectively exercise market power in all provinces except Saskatchewan and can bundle wireless services with their internet services where there’s overlap.
The CRTC had previously denied – on the basis that it was still reviewing the wholesale access framework – an application from Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, TekSavvy, and the Competitive Network Operators of Canada requesting the Big 3 be banned from accessing the networks of the incumbent telcos because it would harm third-party competitors to the detriment of the market, competition and prices.
“Cogeco welcomes the federal Cabinet’s direction to the CRTC, which is an important step forward,” Cogeco said in a statement. “It is now up to the CRTC to correct past oversight and fully close this regulatory loophole. This means prohibiting the Big Three national carriers from using regulated wholesale internet access on all technologies – not just fiber – anywhere in Canada.
“Decisive action from the CRTC is critical to fostering a truly competitive market where regional operators, like Cogeco, can thrive and Canadians can benefit from lower prices, greater choice, and services.”
Geoff White, the executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), added: “Cabinet is clear again that it wants wholesale competition despite never-ending incumbent attempts to cancel it. How many millions of dollars must be spent each year on attacking a deeply-held view that Canadians want better pricing and better customer service, not to mention the resources sucked into trying to defend these well-litigated issues?
“It’s totally unproductive but at least here Cabinet stepped in constructively to signal that the big players shouldn’t get to use each others’ networks.”
