By Ahmad Hathout
TekSavvy has filed a Part 1 application to the CRTC asking for a review of a wind down of older coaxial network technology by Cogeco that it said will affect its ability to provide service to its customers.
The large independent telecom relies on Cogeco’s last mile coaxial facilities at two interconnection locations in Burlington and Windsor, Ontario. Cogeco allegedly told TekSavvy that it is migrating wholesale customers to fibre technologies, including to radio frequency over glass technology (RFoG) at the Burlington site as soon as last week with eventual migration at both sites to ethernet passive optical network as of May 1, 2024.
But TekSavvy said in the application published Wednesday that the migration will mean its customers will lose access to those two sites because Cogeco allegedly hasn’t set up fibre access via the disaggregated regime anywhere on its network.
TekSavvy claims in the application it had regular business meetings with Cogeco asking about alternative arrangement for service continuity, but “Cogeco confirmed it would not offer TekSavvy any means to serve the affected Sites, let alone to maintain service continuity for existing customers.”
Cogeco declined to comment.
The CRTC has so far only allowed for competitors to demand access to the last mile fibre networks of the cable companies so long as they seek out their own transport facilities. The commission had also ruled that telcos Bell and Telus must temporarily provide last mile access to fibre with the transport bundle under what’s called the aggregated regime, but Bell has requested a judicial review of that decision.
“Thus, the effect of Cogeco’s network change would be that WHSA services would no longer be available at the affected sites,” TekSavvy said in its application. “On 1 May 2024 existing end users with HFC and legacy coaxial cable WHSA services would be disconnected, and competitors would not be able to connect new WHSA services at the affected sites.”
“The Commission already determined that an incumbent’s removal of coaxial access facilities in this way would deny competitors the ability to connect end users, and would therefore confer upon itself an undue preference,” TekSavvy added. “Cogeco’s current plans to decommission or remove copper are in clear violation of that 2016 determination.”
TekSavvy is asking for the commission to make an order halting Cogeco’s removal of coaxial access facilities at affected sites or require that “the replacement fibre facilities are available to wholesale customers at the current rates of coaxial facilities.”
But it’s also asking for a broader review of how competitors are impacted by the on-going decommissioning of other copper and coaxial infrastructure by requesting the CRTC launch a show-cause proceeding or consultation “to understand the true scope of the problem.”
