ILECs happy that major phone markets are to be deregulated

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...