OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canada’s major phone markets will soon be free from most local residential phone service controls as the CRTC has opened the floodgates to more deregulation.
The commission has approved applications from the ILECs to forbear Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Victoria, Winnipeg, Quebec City, London, Rimouski, and many other cities.
They join Halifax, Charlottetown, Fredericton, and Fort McMurray, announced recently, as markets where the incumbent telcos will no longer need to get the commission’s approval to set local phone rates or introduce new services and packages because the regulator has deemed there is enough competition from VoIP and other services.
Needless to say, the ILECs are over the moon and plan to take the gloves off in competing for customers with bundles and other campaigns they weren’t allowed before.
“Competition in the local phone market is going to heat up, and consumers can look forward to new and innovative service offerings becoming available from Bell in the near future,” said Kevin Crull, President of Residential Services for Bell Canada. “We now have greater flexibility to develop new offers that provide value for our customers,” Crull said in a release. “Bell will be even better able to compete with non-regulated cable firms and other service providers, and that means more choices will be available in the marketplace.”
“We are entering a new era where Telus will have the flexibility to quickly bring creative offers to the marketplace while continuing our investment in technology and innovation for the benefit of Canadian businesses and consumers,” said Janet Yale, Telus executive vice-president of Corporate Affairs.
“This ruling will help us provide better service to our customers, and we welcome that,” said Kelvin Shepherd, President Consumer Markets division, MTS Allstream, in Manitoba. “We will have opportunities to simplify our pricing structure and develop new and innovative services and promotions that cross all of our lines of business. We have already made great progress developing bundles for customers, and this allows more flexibility for us to serve customers who subscribe to multiple MTS-branded service offerings.”
The telcos are looking forward to the CRTC approving their outstanding requests for forbearance, including those applying to business customers. The commission says its requests for forbearance so far cover more than 60% of residential phone lines in Canada.
“We are pleased the commission has recognized the right conditions are in place in Winnipeg, and we expect that forbearance applications in other markets will be judged by the same standards, to ensure that both residential and business customers are well served in a deregulated environment,” said Chris Peirce, Chief Regulatory Officer, MTS Allstream.
Telus says it’s applied for deregulation of exchanges covering 78% of its business lines in B.C. and Alberta, and 52% in eastern Quebec. It says it will apply for all eligible communities in the coming weeks and months.
The ILECs still can’t increase the price charged for basic telephone service. They will also be subject to possible customer complaints filed with the new consumer telecommunications agency, launched recently by the industry to resolve complaints not handled by the CRTC. The commission will hold a public process soon to approve the agency’s structure and mandate.
