Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled that Bell and Telus must provide competitors across Canada with access to their fibre networks. The change will go into effect in February.
This is an expansion of a temporary directive in November in which the telecom giants were only required to make their fibre networks available to rival internet service providers (ISPs) in Ontario and Quebec. The move has been made to improve competition and consumer options in Canada.
The CRTC says it received input from more than 300 parties, including both large ISPs and smaller rivals, which led to this decision. Some of that feedback has led the CRTC to make newly built fibre infrastructure exempt from this policy for five years, which gives telecoms the chance to recoup investments. For now, the telecom regulator says it’s working on wholesale rates for that access, although interim charges will be established by the end of the year.
So far, Bell has pushed back against the ruling and has even announced plans to reduce network spend by $1.1 billion by 2025. The carrier argues that this ruling provides less of a business incentive for it to invest in its network.
Via: The Globe and Mail
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