Deferral accounts decision a "harmful subsidy" that will injure smaller companies

By Lesley Hunter

As the dust begins to settle after Tuesday’s deferral accounts decision, opinions from industry stakeholders run the gamut from “disappointing” to "harmful" to “reasonable”. Barrett Xplore Inc., Canada's largest provider of rural broadband services, described the decision as anti-competitive and an ineffective use of monies.“We’re obviously disappointed that the CRTC chose to proceed as they did, using technology that is not the least-cost solution for rural Canada”, its chief legal officer, C.J. Prudham, told Cartt.ca. “We’re also disappointed that they did not take in to consideration the expansion by other companies, including us, into those areas. Essentially they’re allowing Bell...