HALIFAX and VANCOUVER – Two releases within an hour of each other early Wednesday evening, one from western telco Telus and eastern incumbent Bell Aliant, say the companies have filed for local forbearance in some major metropolitan centres.
While Telus has asked for Vancouver and Edmonton, Aliant has filed for deregulation in Halifax and its surrounding regions of Hubbards, Ketch Harbour, Musquodoboit Harbour, Prospect Road, Sackville, St. Margarets, Waverley and French Village.
Aliant has asked for deregulation in Halifax, where the local cable operator has taken in excess of 35% market share, before, only to be rebuffed by the Commission.
Telus, which added that it intends to file additional applications for deregulation in other major markets in the near future, has lost hundreds of thousands of customers to Shaw Communications, which will report its quarterly results this Friday. At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2007, ended November 30th, Shaw had over 250,000 voice customers.
The two telcos’ applications to the CRTC follows the April 4 announcement by Canada’s Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that telecommunications companies can apply for relaxation of local phone service regulations in communities where significant competition exists (so look for many, many of these in the coming days and weeks).
“Local service deregulation in Vancouver and Edmonton will bring the full benefits of competition to these cities,” said Janet Yale, Telus executive vice-president of corporate affairs, in a release. “We are excited to be entering a new era of true competition that allows Telus to compete on a level playing field and continue to invest in technology and innovation for the benefit of Canadian consumers.”
The new rules, which come into effect on April 18, allow incumbent telecommunications carriers to apply to the CRTC for deregulation in any community where customers can choose between service providers and where they meet specific Quality of Service measures for six months.
The new rules state that local business services will be deregulated where there is a choice of at least two phone providers with their own network infrastructure. Deregulation for consumer services will occur where there is a choice of at least three service providers with their own network infrastructure, one of which can be a wireless provider.
