Telus says it’s still assessing the impact of a decision forcing it to provide competitors with wholesale access to its fibre network.
On Monday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ruled that Bell and Telus have six months to provide internet service providers (ISPs) in Ontario and Québec access to their fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks.
Bell responded quickly, stating it would cut over $1 billion from its 2024 and 2025 capital expenditure plans.
While Telus has yet to take an official stance, its silence doesn’t necessarily equate to a positive reaction.
Stephen Schmidt, the company’s vice president of telecom policy and chief regulatory counsel, was critical of the CRTC and singled the commission out for “doing things that no other regulator on earth is left doing.”
“Time has moved on for peer regulators, and they’re focusing on privacy, on 6G, on AI, on digital markets, etc. But the commission is a quarter century into doing something that’s a quarter century old,” Schmidt said during a panel at the Canadian Telecom Summit (CTS) Tuesday.
Several organizations looked at the decision with a bittersweet sentiment. Matt Hatfield, the executive director of OpenMedia, a non-profit group that, in part, focuses on internet affordability, called the decision “a lifeline for small ISPs.”
However, the CRTC’s decision was too late to save several such companies.
“Finally making the right decision today can’t bring the small ISPs we’ve lost back — all the more so if it proves to be only temporary, local relief,” Hatfield said. “Much more is needed.
ISPs currently serve 47 percent fewer customers than they did two years ago, the CRTC said in its decision.
In the last two years, Telus took over ISPs Start.ca and Altima. Bell acquired Ebox and Distributel. Cogeco, which is not subjected to the CRTC’s decision at this time, acquired Oxio.
A second issue with the decision is its focus on Ontario and Québec.
Samer Bishay, the CEO of Iristel, said the decision provided more questions than answers.
“This is not going to change the landscape. It’s not going to provide affordable internet service to Canadians,” Bishay said on the CTS panel. “This looks to me like maybe a step, a baby step, in the right direction, but it’s nowhere near what was needed to be done many years back.”
The ruling is part of a larger wholesale internet review the commission launched in March.
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