TORONTO – The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) is asking the CRTC to take another look at its three year old wholesale wireline services decision, saying that “key corrections” are necessary to truly provide greater competition for high-speed Internet services.
CNOC, which represents 35 independent telecommunications services providers that own or operate wireline and/or wireless networks, filed an application with the Commission on Wednesday that seeks a review and variance of TRP 2015-326 and TD 2016-379 to “address aspects of the Commission’s regulatory framework for wholesale high-speed access services that will inadvertently and substantially lessen and prevent competition in downstream retail markets for telecommunications services.”
While calling the earlier decisions “well-intentioned”, CNOC says that they rely on a “flawed” pricing process that has meant that smaller competitors have been overbilled by more than $300 million and prevented from accessing the big incumbents’ fibre optic networks, creating a fibre broadband monopoly.
"The large telephone and cable companies have used this same playbook time and time again”, said CNOC president and chair Matt Stein, who is also CEO of Distributel. “We need only look at the state of the Canadian wireless industry to see what we risk without healthy competition. Without regulatory change, in many parts of the country, we could revert to a market monopoly where Canadians have no choice in provider for the Internet services they require."
CNOC member TekSavvy Solutions said that it has been shut out from offering faster Internet speeds to customers due to the “unreasonable rates” proposed by the incumbents. It urged the CRTC to fix proper rates, provide an interim path to allow higher speeds to be offered, and order the return overbilled money to small competitors.
"If our customers want higher speeds, they're forced to leave TekSavvy and switch to Bell or Rogers”, said TekSavvy CEO Marc Gaudrault. “Something is very wrong with this picture. We're asking the CRTC to fix it – pronto!"
