TORONTO – Wireless upstart Data On Tap (dotmobile), filed a petition to federal cabinet Tuesday asking the federal government to overturn the portion of the CRTC’s recent wireless policy decision which excluded a mandate for full mobile virtual network operators to participate in the wireless market in Canada.
Dotmobile is Canada’s first full MVNO but has yet been unable to come to a wholesale agreement with any Canadian wireless network operator (company owners say none of the carriers even return their calls seeking a meeting). The CRTC’s much-ballyhooed wireless decision, however, didn’t mandate access for full MVNOs like dotmobile.
To take advantage of the new policy, wireless competitors wishing to lease incumbents’ networks have to already be a facilities-based network operator with spectrum in regions they wish to operate.
Such a policy takes the “virtual” out of MVNO and runs counter to the previously stated wishes of the federal government, says the dotmobile petition, meaning cabinet needs to overturn it and make sure full MVNOs are also mandated.
“The CRTC decision misinterprets Canada’s wireless policy. Industry analysts, telecom experts, competitive regional providers and even the dominant carriers all recognise that this decision will not have any meaningful, immediate or nation-wide effect on the wireless market,” said Algis Akstinas, CEO of Data on Tap, in a press release. “It is not addressing the pain points that kicked off the Review of Mobile Wireless Services and were validated by the Commission and Competition Bureau Canada during the proceeding.”
When the CRTC issued the notice of consultation for its decision in 2019, just two days after being issued a new policy direction, the Regulator, in its own call for comments, presumed a mandated MVNO framework would be required to meet the policy direction.
“[I]t is the Commission’s preliminary view that it would be appropriate to mandate that the national wireless carriers provide wholesale MVNO access as an outcome of this proceeding. The Commission considers that, on balance, it is likely that the benefits that a well-developed MVNO market would deliver to Canadians are now more likely to outweigh any negative impacts that a policy of mandated wholesale MVNO access might have on wireless carriers’ network investments,” wrote the CRTC two years ago, recounted in the dotmobile statement.
What all this means is the wireless market we already have in Canada is simply not going to change, without cabinet intervention.
“Fixed or wireless. Rural or urban. The need for better, more affordable connectivity exists across Canada. This decision was made to benefit a handful of Canadian families instead of all Canadians, no matter who they are or where they live,” said Alex Bauman, CXO of Data on Tap.
“The interpretation that telecom investment is predominantly in building cell towers is outdated, an idea from 2006 before hyperscalers like AWS and GCP existed and Netflix was still mailing DVDs.” – Alex Bauman, Data On Tap
In the petition, dotmobile proposes wholesale access to the national Radio-Access Networks (RAN) of Rogers, Bell and Telus be made available to the CRTC registered full MVNOs, removing all spectrum requirements and RAN facilities requirements. The company also proposes maximum wholesale rates for talk, text, and data in order for full MVNOs to offer the mandated affordable and occasional use plans, adds the statement.
“The interpretation that telecom investment is predominantly in building cell towers is outdated, an idea from 2006 before hyperscalers like AWS (Amazon Web Services) and GCP (Google Cloud Platform) existed and Netflix was still mailing DVDs,” added Bauman. “The industry is consolidating or sharing radio access networks. Ignoring this industry trend and the opportunity for innovation is a typical telecom mistake, a la Nortel or BlackBerry.”
Akstinas pointed out the proposed merger of Rogers and Shaw, which was of course not factored into the decision since it was announced well after the public hearing closed, as further evidence that cabinet must act.
“The impending market consolidation between Shaw and Rogers, a big change that is not factored into the CRTC decision, is proof that meaningful and sustainable competition is not possible without a mandated wholesale framework and much lower barriers of entry,” he said. “The Canadian government needs to remedy this policy and send a message about fair equitable access to the essential national network infrastructure that all Canadians contribute to each and every month.
Under the Telecom Act, cabinet, or the “Governor-in-Council”, has a year from the Commission’s April 15th decision in which to respond to this petition.
