CRTC to decide if mandated access to inside wire applies to fibre

A small internet service provider (ISP) is asking the CRTC to order BCE Inc. to give it access to Bell’s fibre connections inside a Toronto apartment building in a case that could set a precedent as wireless internet becomes more common in urban areas. The case involves Kitchener, Ont.-based Cloudwifi Inc., who filed a Part 1 application involving Bell and a condo building in Toronto. Cloudwifi uses wireless technology to bring internet service to the building, the company's founder Gary Kenning said in an email. “Once we’ve invested in bringing our network into a building, we need an inside wire in order to reach our customers' units. In some buildings, we install new wiring, and in other buildings where it is not practical or in some cases even possible to do so, we use the existing wiring that can be either owned by the building, the consumer, or another carrier,” he said. The regime governing access to the inside wire is well-established, dating back to the early 2000s, well before companies began rolling out fibre-to-the-home (FTTH). It allows competitors to use the in-building infrastructure of another company for free or a nominal charge, and has been used to deliver phone, TV and internet service over copper infrastructure. It’s separate from the CRTC’s regime governing wholesale internet service. But in a Part 1 application posted on the regulator’s website Tuesday, Kitchener, Ont.-based Cloudwifi said it believes that CRTC regulations on inside wiring, as well as the Telecom Act, give it access to Bell’s fibre inside the building. There haven’t been any CRTC decisions or rulings on whether the regulations covering inside wire also apply to fibre, but to back up its argument, Cloudwifi included emails from a CRTC analyst saying there aren’t any restrictions on which technology it could use. So far, wirelessly delivered internet has been largely used in rural areas, though that could change, since the combination of fixed wireless with 5G shows promise for connecting city-dwellers. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.’s Duncan Stewart told The Wire Report in March that it could provide fibre-like access for urban areas where it’s too expensive to deploy fibre, and that it could be a legitimate competitor to wireline internet. Bell is opposing Cloudwifi’s claim, though not on the basis of its definition of an inside wire, but instead saying Cloudwifi isn’t entitled to access Bell’s inside wire because it’s not designated by the CRTC as a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), the application outlined. Cloudwifi argued that it doesn’t make sense to allow providers of landline phone service, “which are rapidly becoming obsolete, to access the wire at the demarcation point yet to disallow access for internet service providers which are vitally important for Canadians.” It has begun the process of becoming registered as a CLEC, it said. The dispute is also currently in front of Ontario Superior Court, which Bell is asking to declare that Cloudwifi can’t use the inside wire without consent, Cloudwifi said. Interventions are due Oct. 4. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca

CRTC to decide if mandated access to inside wire applies to fibre

News | September 7, 2018

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CRTC to decide if mandated access to inside wire applies to fibre

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