City of Gatineau wins municipal access dispute

By Denis Carmel

GATINEAU – The Telecommunications Act allows the CRTC to order “telecommunications facilities to be provided, constructed, installed, altered, moved, operated, used, repaired or maintained on any property.”Furthermore, “No Canadian carrier or distribution undertaking shall construct a transmission line on, over, under or along a highway or other public place without the consent of the municipality or other public authority having jurisdiction over the highway or other public place.”In that context, the Commission has had to resolve conflicts that arose over the years between some municipalities and carriers. The general rule is a municipality is compensated for its costs incurred by...