OTTAWA – MTS Allstream reiterated Friday that it believes a robust definition of telecom “essential facilities” is more important than ever, or continued competition and innovation in the Canadian telecommunications landscape, may wither.
Such a definition is important when it comes to “the associated benefits of choice and competitive pricing for customers, especially in the business market,” says their release, which came as the CRTC holds hearings to review the definition of those essential facilities, as Cartt.ca has covered.
"The government has deregulated the retail pricing of the large former monopolies in major markets across Canada for both consumer and business services on the premise that they will provide fair wholesale access to the networks that they control and that competitors must use, in order to offer competitive choice to customers,” said Chris Peirce, chief regulatory officer, MTS Allstream.
“You can rely upon market forces at the retail level so long as you ensure that a dominant player does not hinder its competitor from reaching the customer by denying essential network access. The government’s forbearance framework and policy direction recognizes this, and now the CRTC has the opportunity to follow through by designing a robust framework for essential facilities.
“Reliable network access for competitors, coupled with retail deregulation, allows maximum reliance upon market forces and the least interventionist regulatory approach. We support such an approach, which is crucial to delivering the competitive benefits of choice, innovation and competitive pricing to customers."
