By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has rejected an application requesting that it say subsidized builds in southwestern Ontario must be open for bundled fibre access.
Ontario-based consulting firm Broadlytics had requested last summer that the regulator find that all builds subsidized by public dollars through the not-for-profit Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) project be made to comply with the regulator’s new wholesale internet framework, which currently requires that telcos – Bell, Telus and SaskTel – provide access to their combined middle and last-mile fibre networks.
But the CRTC on Friday said Bell, the only provider subject to the bundled last-mile fibre regime in this case, is “already meeting its obligations” under the new framework. The regulator had specifically asked Bell for more information on this matter.
“Bell Canada and SWIFT have both confirmed that, under their funding agreement, disaggregated and aggregated FTTP services are available over the SWIFT-funded facilities that Bell Canada operates, in accordance with Bell Canada’s wholesale HSA service tariffs.
“The other TSP recipients are either (i) incumbent cable carriers that are exempt from the requirement to offer aggregated FTTP services or (ii) smaller competitors or small ILECs that are not subject to the Policy,” it added.
All intervenors asked the CRTC to reject the application, largely for lack of jurisdiction because these builds involve contractual arrangements. SWIFT argued that its recipients are already required to comply with the CRTC’s rules and that its disaggregated model – the separation of the middle and last mile – does not preclude Bell from offering bundled fibre services to competitors.
Broadlytics argued that because SWIFT holds a majority ownership of these facilities, they are publicly owned and fall under the scope of the bundled fibre mandate. SWIFT argued that it is only a financial investor for a seven-year period and that it doesn’t have direct control, doesn’t operate and doesn’t offer services over the facilities.
Broadlytics President Adam Ross Hill, who has worked with regional carriers on applications for SWIFT money and has his own build aspirations, previously told us that the SWIFT build guidelines are meant to align with the current regulated wholesale internet regime, which no longer focuses on disaggregated access.
Hill did not respond to a request for comment.
His firm also asked the CRTC to clarify that SWIFT’s 51 per cent public ownership stake brings these networks under its jurisdiction and wholesale rules; determine appropriate interconnection points throughout the network that are “fair and equitable” to those who wish to access the network; and prevent any public financial infrastructure asset transfer from SWIFT to build recipients until a “permanent framework for a promised taxpayer funded open access network is in place, and recipients of funding have demonstrated end to end functionality acceptance of open access interconnection.”
The CRTC on Friday said these other matters involve private contractual relationships, which fall outside of its jurisdiction.
In a dissenting opinion, Ontario Commissioner Bram Abramson said that while CRTC rules do not require open access to small subsidized networks, it is worthwhile exploring the following questions: “How, in the absence of well-tempered market conditions, should affordability and competitive choice play out in subsidized local network footprints?”
“If open access were to be adopted, what principles should assist the Commission in determining what interconnection points are fair and equitable to parties who wish to access the network? In all cases, does the presumption of market power persist indefinitely, or should it fall away as subsidized networks grow further away from their initial funding?” he further asks.
“As more subsidized networks become more integral to local connectivity, often within a cacophony of funding schemes and contractual conditions, failing to consider a principled, lightweight approach to their presumptive market power will become more consequential,” Abramson added. “Broadlytics’ application underscored those consequences.”
