OTTAWA – The CRTC has rejected today an industry association application that challenged a CRTC decision denying mandated wholesale access to multi-dwelling building fibre.
The Competitive Network Operators of Canada, a representative of independent internet service providers, filed an application in October arguing that the regulator made errors in its 2021 decision denying the essentiality of these facilities, and that it should revisit the issue of mandating third parties’ ability to lease the fibre in these buildings to serve tenants themselves.
But in its decision today, the CRTC said CNOC failed to show that the commission committed errors in its analysis. CNOC’s argument that the regulator failed to rule that mandated access was a public good when it enhances competition did not fit the specific categories of public goods that the CRTC views: emergency services, message relay services for people with disabilities, and support structures (poles and conduits).
“If the public good consideration were applied in the manner advocated by CNOC, it would risk making the Essentiality Test irrelevant, as all wholesale services ultimately serve to bolster competition and improve consumer choice, even if only marginally or disproportionally to the regulatory effort and burden, leading to mandating services that are inessential to competition,” the regulator ruled.
The CRTC said it also considered other technologies to building wire in its decision and, while they “may not be perfect substitutes” for fibre wire, “there is sufficient overlap in the associated product markets to support a certain degree of substitution and choice.”
It also added that tenants have choice in that there are multiple fiber strands from different companies installed in the building.
The CRTC also denied CNOC’s challenge that the 2021 decision did not rule that mandated building wire access would boost investment and lower costs for competitors so they can put money toward facilities investment, saying the potential positive effects were “vague and unsupported.”
