OTTAWA – Add the Consumer Choice Coalition to the list of stakeholders firmly opposed to Bell Canada’s appeal of the CRTC’s fibre decision that grants third party broadband resellers access to newly built fibre to the home or premises (FTTH/FTTP) infrastructure.
The Coalition’s submission to Cabinet was filed Monday by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), as part of the Consumer Choice Coalition, in response to Bell’s petition seeking to overturn the decision. Other organizations in the Coalition include the British Columbia Old Age Pensioners’ Organization; the British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre; the Consumers’ Association of Canada; the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of British Columbia; the Manitoba Public Interest Law Centre; and the National Pensioners Federation.
The Coalition’s submission maintains that the CRTC made the right call in its review of wholesale wireline services last July (TRP CRTC 2015-326) and that any move to overturn it would both wipe out competition and “upset Canadians”.
“The CRTC very clearly and responsibly consulted on the issues, and considered all of the evidence and views before it,” said Geoff White, counsel to the coalition, in a statement. “Overturning the CRTC, or sending the matter back for further consideration, would be a highly unpopular policy mistake.”
PIAC executive director and general counsel John Lawford added that the CRTC’s decision both encourages competition and “promotes innovation and enables Canada’s digital economy”.
“Canada needs network sharing”, he said in the statement. “Canadian consumers face a lack of choice and high prices for internet service.”
