OTTAWA — The CRTC yesterday denied an application by City Wide Communications to reverse a decision by the commission that declined to force Eastlink to move its point of interconnection (POI) from Pennant Point to a core location in Halifax.
City Wide had filed the original Part 1 application back in May 2020 after the Dartmouth-based telecom alleged that Eastlink misrepresented that the rural Pennant Point POI was carrier-neutral and served by competitive transport facilities when the CRTC approved Eastlink’s request in 2016. City Wide has said the Pennant Point POI has increased its transport costs because its further away than a point in the core of the capital city, which has led to reduced subscriber growth.
The CRTC made a decision in March denying the application, saying that despite there being an advantage to Eastlink and a disadvantage to City Wide, the Pennant Point move was not unjust or undue. It also found that there were no facilities in the Halifax core that would be suitable for an interconnection point at the time. City Wide had asked that the regulator either force the POI move or regulate the transport rates to compensate for the longer distance. Its application was supported by independent telecom rep the Competitive Network Operators of Canada and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
But City Wide persisted with a review and vary application asking the commission to relook at its own decision on the grounds that there were alleged errors in the CRTC decision and circumstances have changed since the decision. Those circumstances include being unaware that Eastlink was constructing a new point just outside of the Halifax core. Eastlink argued review and vary was just restating City Wide’s original argument.
In yesterday’s decision, the CRTC said it is of the view that the “parties provided comments and responses based on the information and insights about the [new point] as they were available at the time of the original application and contrary to City Wide’s argument, it was not deprived of an opportunity to review whether the [new point] could be long-term and viable option as a TPIA POI.”
It also said this information does not adequately change the circumstances from its original decision.
“Furthermore, the Commission considers that the fact that the [new point] is now operational does not amount to City Wide having been subjected to undue or unjust discrimination,” the commission said.
“The [new point] was, at the time, projected as a future evolution of the carrier network as a part of long-term planning. Declining to consider an option cannot constitute discrimination if, for all intents and purposes, the option does not exist at the time the issue is being considered.
“The Commission also considers that City Wide did not provide any evidence to change the Commission’s assessment reflected in Telecom Order 2022-79, nor to conclude that Eastlink was subjecting City Wide to an undue or unreasonable disadvantage.
The commission said the two parties must negotiate a deal on issues, including transport costs, and report back to it about the results within 120 days of the decision.
