CRTC denies TekSavvy relief in Toronto wholesale issue

The CRTC has denied TekSavvy Solutions Inc.'s request for interim relief in a situation where Rogers Communications Inc. is slated to replace some legacy cable in a Toronto neighbourhood with fibre, leaving a certain number of households, for the time being, unable to become customers of TekSavvy or any other small Internet service provider (ISP) renting capacity on the local cable network. An application from TekSavvy that was posted on the CRTC website last week, indicating that the company was informed on Nov. 24 of Rogers' plans to "remove coaxial cable from a Toronto neighbourhood in the Willowdale (North York) area" and replace it with a “fibre optic connection." TekSavvy said the changes were to take effect this Wednesday, and it was informed almost two weeks after end-users in the neighbourhood — including some TekSavvy customers — were notified by Rogers. The independent provider of Internet and phone services said in its application that it is due at least six-months' notice for a change like this that could affect its operations. While the CRTC ruled in July that wholesale access to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections would be subject to regulated-access rules for third-party ISPs, final regulations and tariffs are not expected to come into effect until some time before the end of next year. As interim relief, TekSavvy had asked the CRTC to ensure wholesale access to third-party ISPs continued to be provided at existing tariff rates "regardless of infrastructure," or that removal of coaxial networking technology that allows third-party access be halted by all carriers until the issues brought up in the application were resolved. A letter from the CRTC to the disputing parties on Tuesday said TekSavvy's interim relief was denied, arguing that "TekSavvy has failed to demonstrate that the harm is not speculative." The commission added that "the magnitude of the harm is a relevant factor. In this case, the issue is confined to a condominium townhouse complex, Rogers has stated that it has no plans to replace coaxial cable by fibre in other areas and Rogers has stated that TekSavvy’s existing customers will be grandfathered." Bram Abramson, chief regulatory officer with TekSavvy, said in an email that the CRTC's decision pertains just to the interim relief sought, not the final relief. As final measures in this issue, TekSavvy asked the CRTC to clarify the extent of Rogers' access-network changes, the extent to which such changes exempt Rogers from wholesale obligations and to ensure changes in the future are done in a way as not to disrupt retail services offered by smaller carriers dependent on wholesale access to networks. Abramson said he was "surprised" by the CRTC's decision. "The six-month notification requirement is intended to foster competition. Rogers chose to ignore that requirement, and withdraw competition from the market without telling anyone. The CRTC has decided to wait until 2016 to decide whether that’s OK. We are surprised by that. If notification requirements can be ignored, then what is their point?" Rogers spokeswoman Jennifer Kett said the company is pleased with the CRTC’s decision. “TekSavvy was asking for technical upgrades to be delayed,” she said in an email. “That would’ve negatively impacted consumers who deserve the best possible service. Wholesale access to fibre-to-the-premise will be available when the new wholesale structure is put in place. In the interim, Rogers has moved TekSavvy’s current customers to a new Rogers new plant so that they are not impacted.” — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Shruti Shekar at sshekar@thewirereport.ca

CRTC denies TekSavvy relief in Toronto wholesale issue

Broadcast | December 15, 2015

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CRTC denies TekSavvy relief in Toronto wholesale issue

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