By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking Rogers to maintian TekSavvy’s ability to service its customers at two Toronto buildings until it can make a determination on an application by the wholesaler that warns the cable giant’s move to pure fibre would leave competitors behind.
The request came two days after TekSavvy complained that Rogers’s transition from hybrid fibre-coax facilities to pure fibre would mean it would lose 29 existing and possibly more future subscribers at the 191 and 201 Sherbourne Street buildings.
The regulator said in a Friday letter shared with Cartt that it is “concerned that customers could lose Internet access abruptly and without sufficient advance notice. Losing Internet access — even for a short period of time — is deeply disruptive. Disconnections can stop customers from accessing public safety services like 9-1-1 and 9-8-8 [mental health line]. They also make it harder for customers to conduct business and connect with family and friends.
“Commission staff requests that Rogers maintain TekSavvy’s ability to serve its customers at [said buildings] until the Commission can issue a decision on this application. This will ensure that these customers do not suffer disconnections or other service issues. Commission staff also asks that Rogers confirm in writing that this access will be preserved.”
Rogers has until June 14 to reply to TekSavvy’s application and the latter has until June 21 to reply to that intervention.
TekSavvy said in the May 29 application that it doesn’t have any other option to connect to the buildings because it said it doesn’t believe Rogers has configured disaggregated access — the only way for competitors to get mandated access to the cable company’s last-mile fibre — and because the commission has not forced the cable giant, unlike the telco giants, to provide access to its last-mile fibre under the aggregated regime.
The wholesaler also warned of the tight timeline it was operating under: it said Rogers was planning to fully transition the buildings on June 4. That came after TekSavvy claimed it didn’t receive a disconnection notice from Rogers in December because it was sent to the wrong email — an email, Rogers told Cartt, that was allegedly provided by TekSavvy.
“Last year, we provided all relevant service providers, including Teksavvy, with the required notice set out by the CRTC,” Rogers said in a statement to Cartt. “We’ve been working with the property management at this apartment complex to install fibre-to-the-home access for residents.”
TekSavvy has pointed to precedent in its complaint, pointing to the CRTC’s ruling last month that Cogeco must ensure that TekSavvy customers remain connected at two locations as the larger cable company seeks to migrate those older hybrid facilities to direct fibre lines.
“If Rogers were permitted to proceed with these network changes and competitors thereby lost the ability to connect and serve end users on the affected footprints, incumbent carriers would effectively have tacit permission to make network changes that deny competitors’ the ability to serve customers, reducing consumer choice and competition across their networks,” TekSavvy said in its application, adding that culminates in Rogers giving itself an undue preference as it locks TekSavvy out of not just its existing 29 customers, but the total pool of 596 total units at the affected buildings.
TekSavvy is also asking for the CRTC to consider levying administrative monetary penalties against Rogers because this is allegedly the second time the cable giant has violated a 2016 determination by the regulator that providers must maintain competitor access to facilities when performing network changes, including fibre upgrades, under the wholesale internet regime.
The 2016 decision came after TekSavvy filed a Part 1 in 2015 about a similar scenario where Rogers was migrating its facilities to fibre in a Toronto building, which would affect TekSavvy customers. The CRTC decided such a move would violate section 27(2) of the Telecommunications Act.
Google Maps view of 191 Sherbourne Street
