Toronto telecom provider seeks condo access

Beanfield Technologies Inc., an independent provider of fibre-based Internet, TV and phone services in Toronto, is asking the CRTC to help it gain access to one of the few condominium buildings it isn't already connected to in the city's Liberty Village neighbourhood. The company filed an application with the CRTC just days before Christmas, asking that it order the condominium management group for the building to provide it with "timely access on commercially reasonable terms." The building in question occupies 65, 75 and 85 East Liberty St. in central Toronto. Beanfield's application asked that the condo-management group provide access within 30 days of a CRTC order, and if it fails to meet that deadline, that other telecom service providers be ordered not to sign up new customers who live in the building or move there after the deadline. It said the providers currently operating in this building are BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Coextro. Coextro is a Toronto-area-based company that operates a fibre-optic network and specializes in providing Internet, phone and TV services to condominiums, according to its website. Beanfield said in its application that it currently provides service to most condominiums in the Liberty Village area. There were many attempts, starting in December 2013, to negotiate with the building management group for access, Beanfield said, adding that it had received requests for service from residents of the facility. It detailed a number of back-and-forth exchanges in the months that followed, which eventually resulted in a lawyer for the condo corporation responding that building management boards are within their rights to limit the number of service providers in a building. Beanfield said the result of the management company's actions is contrary to aspects of the Telecommunications Act that aim to foster competition in the industry and the precedent set by a 2003 decision by the CRTC to establish rules in the provision of telecommunications services in multi-dwelling units. Deborah Howden, a lawyer representing the building-management group, declined comment on Monday on the grounds that the matter is before the CRTC. However, she said in an email that her client "intends and looks forward to fully responding to the application." It's one of many disputes regarding access to condominiums by telecom service providers that has come before the CRTC in recent years. Last month, the CRTC issued a finding that Novus Entertainment Inc., through a development company it is affiliated with, Concord Pacific Developments Inc., had denied Shaw Communications Inc. timely and reasonable access to two residential buildings in the Vancouver area that were under construction. Toronto-based telecommunications consultant Mark Goldberg said that while he can't predict what the CRTC will decide in the case involving Beanfield, he doubts it will issue any orders that prevent service providers already operating at this building from picking up new customers. "My gut feeling is the CRTC will not issue a decision that denies consumers the ability to have communications services while Beanfield's sorting this out," he said in an interview. "That simply isn't in the consumer interest in any way." However, the CRTC issued a decision last year that it would prevent Rogers and Beanfield from providing service in another Toronto building that was not yet occupied with residents unless the developer gave Bell an opportunity to set up connections in the complex. Goldberg said the CRTC does not appear to have authority over property managers, and it is up to residents of the building to pressure their board if they feel they are being denied options for telecommunications services. "If the association has made a decision that three is enough ... how much more can you impose from the regulator?" he said. — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Shruti Shekar at sshekar@thewirereport.ca

Toronto telecom provider seeks condo access

News | January 4, 2016

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Toronto telecom provider seeks condo access

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