OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canadians in many parts of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut may soon have the option to choose from competing telephone service providers for the first time starting next May, the CRTC said Wednesday.
In its ruling approving the far north for telecommunications competition, the Commission also denied incumbent Northwestel's request to raise the rates for residential and business local telephone service, noting that an increase “is not justified at this time and is inconsistent with the current regulatory regime”. The CRTC said that Northwestel has insufficiently invested in its network despite its strong financial performance during the past few years, and expressed concern that the company's aging infrastructure is affecting the quality and reliability of its service.
"We are disappointed that Northwestel, which has until now been the sole provider of local telephone service in the North, has not made a greater effort to improve its services," said CRTC vice-chair telecommunications, Leonard Katz, in a statement. "Many communities have been plagued by service outages and certain features are not widely available to customers. Northern residents deserve to have access to reliable and high-quality services comparable to those offered in the rest of the country."
The decision follows a proceeding and public hearing in Yellowknife in October, which Cartt.ca covered. The Commission also instructed Northwestel to provide a plan within the next six months detailing how it will modernize its network, which it will use as the basis of a “comprehensive review” of the telco’s infrastructure and services over the next two years.
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), who participated in the CRTC proceedings on behalf of residential consumers, called the decision "a new deal for the North”.
"It's clear that the CRTC's message was that it was time that Northwestel kept pace with change in the industry throughout Canada, and that old justifications for the way things are done are not good enough," said Michael Janigan, PIAC executive director and general counsel, in a statement.
