By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is seeking a contractor to analyze the wireline transport market, as it prepares to make a decision on an updated wholesale internet access framework.
According to the procurement document, dated Thursday, the regulator is looking for a contractor to draft a definition of wholesale wireline high-speed transport services market, which should “allow for upcoming technological changes.”
It is also seeking an analysis of the group of products that consumers would consider to be substitutes for the service and an assessment of the geographic area in which a customer purchases a service and “whether or not a customer would be willing to switch from a supplier in one area to a supplier in another area.”
The CRTC is also seeking to collect and analyze information describing the “products currently available that are or could be used to offer wholesale wireline high-speed transport services in Canada, including their locations, capacity and limitations;” a description and assessment of network configuration and competitor requirements for purchasing transport services; and an analysis of the smallest geographic areas where consumers would not be willing to switch supplier.
The deadline for bids is August 1.
The contract comes as the regulator prepares to release its decision on the wholesale internet access framework, which it said it’s aiming to release by the end of the summer.
The ruling is expected to lower wholesale internet access prices so that third-party competitors that lease access from the larger players can better compete on price.
But the decision is also anticipated for what it will or will not say about last-mile fibre access.
The regulator has for a long time held up a regime that allowed competitors mandated access to the last-mile fibre of the incumbents in exchange for them going out and getting their own traffic transport mile. But it has, in recent times, said this regime is economically untenable for wholesalers because of the many more connection points the competitors have to make.
So, in November, the regulator ruled on a temporary basis that Bell and Telus must open up their fibre networks on a bundled basis to competitors in Ontario and Quebec until it makes a final ruling on the wholesale internet framework.
The outstanding questions are: Will the regulator make this a permanent fixture of the updated regime? Will it require the same of the large cable companies like Rogers? Will the large players have continued access to the wholesale internet regime and, if so, to what extent?
Here is the full scope of the work the CRTC is requesting of the contractor:
- Assist CRTC staff in designing, collecting, and analyzing relevant marketplace information necessary to support a market definition exercise, as needed.
- Collect and analyze information describing the products currently available that are or could be used to offer wholesale wireline high-speed transport services in Canada, including their locations, capacity and limitations in the provisions of such wholesale wireline high-speed transport services. This assessment should include, but not be limited to, the services listed in Telecom Decision 2008-17.
- Conduct an in-depth analysis of the services considered [in bullet two], to determine whether each would be in the relevant product market for wireline high-speed transport services, including a description and assessment of which factors and considerations were used to determine whether the services could be considered substitutes.
- Provide description and assessment of telecom network configuration and competitor requirements for purchasing transport services, plus the different types of geographic markets that could be considered the smallest area where consumers would not be willing to switch supplier. Different sizes and types of geographic markets should be considered, including points of interconnection, routes, exchanges, regions, provinces.
- Conduct an analysis of the geographic markets considered [in bullet four] to determine the most relevant for the defining the wholesale wireline high-speed transport services market in Canada, including a description and assessment of which factors and considerations were used to determine whether the geographic market is small enough to warrant switching.
- Draft a definition of the wholesale wireline high-speed transport services market in Canada. The definition should be concise, precise, comprehensive and allow for upcoming technological changes, and include:
- The relevant product market, which involves an assessment of the group of products that consumers would consider to be substitutes for the service.
- The relevant geographic market for a product or service, which involves assessing the geographic area in which a customer purchases a service and whether or not a customer would be willing to switch from a supplier in one area to a supplier in another area.
Photo via Canada Infrastructure Bank
