Headed into the hearing, Rogers and Telus say there's no need for wholesale Internet access regs

By Perry Hoffman

OTTAWA - The time has come to eliminate wholesale regulation of retail Internet services, two of the countries largest communications companies tell Cartt.ca. They say intermodal competition – cable versus DSL versus wireless – has rendered the need for a wholesale access regime unnecessary. The comments come as the CRTC prepares to hear oral arguments in a very broad hearing dealing with wholesale access to certain broadband facilities. The proceeding, launched with Telecom Notice of Consultation 2009-261 begins on Monday. “I don’t think wholesale is going to help the future of broadband in Canada. I think it could hurt it....