By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Doug French, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Telus, said Tuesday that the company is confident that it could weather increased wholesale-based competition in western Canada in light of a CRTC proceeding launched earlier this month that will look to lower the rates competitors pay for access to incumbent networks.
The CRTC announced it is embarking on establishing a new wholesale framework that it said would address higher broadband prices in the country. A hearing on the matter is likely to be held next year. Meanwhile, the regulator will release a decision before then to address wholesaler access to incumbents’ last mile fibre infrastructure.
Noting that western Canada has had historically lower wholesale competition because of lower prices, French said the proceeding could lead to a decision that may change the dynamic in Telus’s home territory.
“I think that wholesale component, yes, may have a little bit more on the market intensity front,” he said at a Desjardins event. “But I do believe the products that we offer, the value that we bring through the bundle, and the lower pricing in western Canada will help us on that front because we’ve tried to show value to our customers from day 1.
“Having changes that are surprises obviously are not great for the industry,” French said. “That being said, we’ve been able to manage through any of those changes as they’ve came across our organization from an operational execution perspective.”
French added that network outages have become more of a priority for Canadians, especially since many are still working from home since the start of the pandemic. He noted that Telus has significantly reduced the need for repairs inside and outside the home and its offering of symmetrical internet speeds – with the same download and upload speeds – will entice customers on the incumbent network.
Last month, Rogers executives said the company expects network resiliency to be a more important factor than price in driving new subscriptions.
Screenshot of Telus’s Doug French from a Scotiabank event earlier this month.
