KITCHENER – Independent ISP Cloudwifi Inc. is asking the CRTC to step in and help “prevent companies like Bell Canada from interfering with consumer freedom to choose internet providers.”
Cloudwifi, a facilities-based ISP offering low-cost bulk internet and network services to multi-tenant dwelling units (MDUs), has filed a Part 1 application with the Commission alleging that Bell has disconnected its customers from the inside wire at two Ontario properties, one in North York and the other in Kitchener.
The company, which says it has hired veteran communications lawyer Ken Engelhart, asserts that existing terms in both the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act allow it access to the Bell inside wire at the two locations. It also added that access to inside wire should be granted to all facilities-based ISPs.
“As noted… above, in Decision 2000-81, the Commission’s intention has been to have inside wire rules that enable customers to use the service provider of choice”, reads the application. “Bell Canada is using its ownership of inside wire to prevent that end user choice from being exercised. As a result, “a linchpin” of the Commission’s efforts to promote the competitive provision of all communications services is under attack by Bell Canada.”
The application adds that Bell Canada has also started legal proceedings against Cloudwifi to prevent it from accessing the inside wire in these buildings, a move that the company says ignores past CRTC rulings regarding homeowners’ rights to select their own service providers.
“Legacy telecommunications companies cannot compete with the quality of services at the price Cloudwifi is able to deliver”, said a Cloudwifi spokesperson. “Their approach to Internet service appears to have struck a nerve, as Bell Canada has, on more than one occasion, gone into buildings they service and disconnected and/or cut wires to each of their customers. This directly affects these Canadian consumers, leaving them without internet access for many hours until Cloudwifi technicians are able to repair and reconnect the wires.”
We'll have more on this when we talk to Cloudwifi and Bell.
