CRTC lets small ILECs off the competition hook... for the time being

By Perry Hoffman

Several months after establishing conditions under which small incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) would have to face competition in their local markets, the CRTC has put those plans on hold.In a consultation issued late last month, the Commission decided to reconsider the competition framework for small ILECs, as well as the potential impact that wireless number portability (WNP) could have on them. As a result, 12 cases of local competition implementations and one case of WNP have been suspended pending the outcome of the proceeding.Jonathan Holmes, executive director of the Ontario Telecommunications Association (OTA), says the CRTC's decision is a good...