Bell subsidiary must provide TPIA service to Videotron: CRTC

The CRTC has denied an application by BCE Inc. subsidiary Cablevision du Nord de Québec to eliminate its wholesale internet service, and ordered the company to sell that service to Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron. On Monday, the CRTC said in two decisions that Cablevision must keep offering the third-party Internet access (TPIA) service and must revise its tariffs. In 2018, Videotron told Cablevision, which operates in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Que. region, that it was interested in its TPIA service. “Despite negotiations between the parties from January to May 2019, on 15 May 2019, Cablevision filed with the Commission a tariff notice (TN) in which Cablevision requested authorization to withdraw its TPIA service as of 1 January 2020,” a CRTC decision outlined. It said that given negotiations were ongoing, “the company’s failure to inform Videotron of the steps it had taken with the Commission to have its TPIA service withdrawn demonstrates that Cablevision was not negotiating with its potential competitor in good faith.” The CRTC said Cablevision must “provide its TPIA service to any competitor showing a genuine interest in the service, as demonstrated by Videotron in this case.” Cablevision also has to file revised tariffs, the regulator ordered. The company’s tariffs are from 2014, meaning they don’t reflect various CRTC decisions since then that have lowered the price of wholesale internet service. That new tariffs, which have to be based on a recent cost study or on CRTC-approved rates, will apply if the two companies can’t come to a negotiated solution. But, the decision noted, “negotiations between the parties to establish an off-tariff agreement are permitted and encouraged, and the Commission considers that negotiating in good faith to conclude a TPIA service agreement is the best mechanism for resolving disputes between the two parties.” The decision follows two ongoing conflicts in Canadian telecom involving Bell and Quebecor, and the large telecoms and wholesale rates. Bell and Quebecor have been feuding on various fronts since April, when Quebecor cut the signal for TVA Sports from Bell TV subscribers at the start of the NHL playoffs, citing what it said was an unfair wholesale rate its own sports service nets compared to Bell’s. Bell then launched a $135-million lawsuit against Quebecor. At the same time, two companies have, alongside other incumbent telecoms, been fighting the CRTC’s move to lower TPIA rates in Federal Court and by appealing to cabinet. Quebecor cited those lower rates -- which it is now indirectly set to benefit from as a TPIA customer -- as the reason it had to eliminate its 1 Gbps internet service, with Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau saying the company couldn’t afford to keep offering it.

Bell subsidiary must provide TPIA service to Videotron: CRTC

Brief | December 16, 2019

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Bell subsidiary must provide TPIA service to Videotron: CRTC

Brief | December 16, 2019

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