Bell wants the federal government to intervene in a telecom direction that orders the company to offer independent internet service providers (ISPs) fibre access at regulated rates, according to a February 2nd petition.
The telecom giant is arguing the order will impact investments in networks, hurting Canadian consumers and businesses.
“It will…force facilities-based carriers to reconsider the network expansion and upgrade plans needed to bring connectivity, both wireline and wireless, to those rural, remote, and Indigenous communities that currently have limited or no connectivity and to those citizens being left behind because of where they live,” the petition states.
On November 6th, the Canadian-Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) gave Bell and Telus six months to provide competitors in Ontario and Québec access to their fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure at regulated rates.
The commission said internet competition in the two provinces dropped by 47 percent between 2018 and 2022. Both companies have acquired once-independent ISPs. Telus took over Start.ca and Altima. Bell acquired Ebox and Distributel.
As The Globe and Mail, which was the first to report on the petition, notes, the order impacts Bell at a larger scale than Telus, which has most of its FTTH infrastructure in the West.
The interim decision was part of a larger review on wholesale internet access the commission launched on March 8th, 2023.
The order led Bell to announce it’s cutting more than $1 billion in capital expenditures for 2024 and 2025. The telecom giant also filed a leave to Canada’s Federal Court, claiming the regulator errored in its decision.
Bell’s petition to cabinet requests the CRTC’s decision be rescinded and they return to the wholesale rules that were in place before the order was made.
“The CRTC’s decision hurts consumers,” a Bell spokesperson told MobileSyrup. “When Bell invests in a community, customers benefit from better service, more value, state-of-the-art reliable connectivity and competitive prices. By contrast, resellers make little to no investment in network infrastructure.”
06/02/2024 12:35pm ET: The article has been updated with additional information.
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