Also files lawsuit seeking $12 million in damages
MONTREAL — Quebecor-owned Videotron is taking its dispute with Bell over access to support structures to the Competition Bureau of Canada, asking for an investigation into Bell’s practices which Videotron says are anticompetitive by allegedly slowing down or, in some cases, blocking access to Bell’s telephone poles.
In a Videotron press release today, the company says its application to the Competition Bureau provides “multiple documented examples of the Canadian telecommunications giant’s stratagems to limit competition. These tactics, which are depriving entire communities of access to 21st century digital infrastructure, are destructive and must be stopped.”
Videotron has already asked the CRTC to intervene in its disagreement with Bell in a Part 1 application which is now closed for comments.
“Bell’s anti-competitive manoeuvres must cease,” says Jean-François Pruneau, president and CEO of Videotron, in today’s press release. “We are therefore asking the Competition Bureau to take all necessary steps to end them. Quebecers are entitled to healthy competition and quality telecommunications services. Everyone is unfairly penalized when Bell blocks access to other service providers in their region, municipality or neighbourhood. It’s simply unacceptable.”
Videotron also announced today it is filing a lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court seeking more than $12 million in compensation for losses Videotron says it has suffered in recent years as a result of Bell’s pole-access practices.
The full French text of Videotron’s suit for damages can be found here.
The CRTC recently indicated the issue of pole agreements is likely to be examined during the Commission’s proceeding looking into potential barriers to the deployment of broadband-capable networks in underserved areas.
In response to the Videotron release today, Bell spokesperson Nathan Gibson told Cartt.ca in an email “poles are owned by communications companies, sometimes used jointly, and also by Hydro Québec. There is a strict CRTC regulatory and permitting process that must be followed but Bell, Telus and Hydro-Québec are part of a working group with the Government of Québec that is focused on ensuring faster access to poles for all service providers while adhering to all safety standards.”
Cartt.ca mentioned this working group in a story earlier this year.
Also, added Gibson, “far from slowing down broadband expansion, Bell is leading the way in its own investments while also improving access to our infrastructure for other service providers.”
