QUISPAMSIS, N.B. – The Canadian Communication Systems Alliance said this morning it supports Videotron’s recent complaint to the Competition Bureau which alleges Bell Canada is unfairly slowing down and blocking access to Bell’s support structures (poles) in Quebec.
“CCSA’s members in Quebec have had the same experiences and frustrations Videotron cites in trying to get fair and timely access to Bell-owned telephone poles in order to extend high-speed Internet services in that province,” said CCSA CEO Jay Thomson in a release this morning.
“Anti-competitive tactics by Bell and other pole owners represent the biggest barrier to providing rural Canadians with the same level of broadband service as is available to Canadians living in urban markets, not just in Quebec but across the country.”
CCSA recently joined many other communications providers in complaining to the CRTC “about how pole owners, including Bell, employ various tactics to prevent or slow down competitors’ access to telephone poles. The ability to attach high-speed fiber to such poles in an affordable and timely manner is critical to extending broadband to currently unserved or underserved Canadians,” reads the release.
“We have been emphasizing to decision makers that, even with the much-needed financial support governments and others are committing to the cause, the goal of universal access to broadband will not be achieved unless and until the pole access problem is addressed,” said Thomson. “This is a public policy issue, a regulatory issue and a competition law issue, and so we support Videotron’s initiative in bringing this matter now to the Competition Bureau.”
