GATINEAU – It took a lot of asking and there was a lot of complaining along the way (as we reported), but the Competition Bureau is getting what it says it needs from Canada’s wireless carriers as the CRTC reviews the mobile market, which will culminate with a public proceeding coming in January.
On Friday, the CRTC directed wireless carriers to disclose to the Commissioner of Competition most information filed in confidence on the record of the mobile wireless review proceeding.
“The information to be disclosed comprises all responses filed in confidence in relation to the Commission’s requests for information dated 24 May 2019, with the exception of copies of network sharing agreements,” says the CRTC order.
As followers of the wireless review proceeding may well remember, as part of its submission to the CRTC the Competition Bureau intends to do a detailed study on what happened locally (not just in provinces and nationally) when new wireless competitors to the Big Three (Rogers, Bell and Telus) were introduced. To do that, the Bureau asked for, and then the Commission requested from the carriers, far more detailed data than the CRTC has asked for in its original requests for information upon the proceeding’s call.
The carriers, while they objected (which the CRTC did too, at first until relenting after the Bureau modified its requests), did file the additional information, then Commission staff had a look, and has now directed the carriers to send it all to the Competition Bureau – all except for the network sharing agreements.
We look forward to reading the Bureau’s analysis, when filed in the fall.
