CRTC says no to interim fibre in-building wire access

The CRTC has denied a CloudWifi Inc. request for an interim scheme to allow small internet service providers to access other providers’ fibre in-building wire (IBW) in multi-dwelling units (MDUs) until the regulator sets a new tariff. In a decision published on its website on Thursday, the CRTC said CloudWifi had not specified which policy the regulator failed to consider in its December decision, when it announced a halt on access while it consulted on what would constitute a fair price for access to fibre IBW in MDUs. That lack of specificity made it “even more difficult” to find CloudWifi had demonstrated there was sufficient doubt that the ruling was correct, the CRTC said in its decision. The regulator also said there was no evidence of CloudWifi’s key argument that competition and consumer choice had been harmed by the decision, saying there was a number of facilities-based competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) serving customers in MDUs where CloudWifi operated, with many installing their own facilities in those building. The December decision meant that no new connections to BCE Inc.’s fibre IBW could occur until a specific tariff was established, but any local exchange carrier or internet service provider who had connected to Bell IBW in accordance with the interim scheme established by the CRTC in June 2019, could continue to to provide service. That scheme copied the rate for copper IBW, of 0 cents per subscriber per month, but was discontinued in December when the CRTC determined the difference between copper and fibre IBW was “greater than previously anticipated.” In CloudWifi’s application for a new interim scheme, following the December decision, it said the access rate should be 52 cents per subscriber each month, the rate to access cable inside wire according to section 10 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations. The dispute between Bell and CloudWifi over IBW access dates back to 2018, when CloudWifi filed a Part 1 with the CRTC, asking for it to be given access to Bell’s wire. CloudWifi had been using Bell’s wiring without permission in a Toronto condo. In April, the CRTC ordered all ISPs using Bell’s IBW as of Dec. 16 last year to give the provider a list of all buildings in which they were accessing the wire to provide service to customers. Later that month, the CRTC rejected Bell’s request to delay the consultation process until the COVID-19 pandemic had abated, or Bell had been given time to check its IBW in every apartment where CloudWifi had connected to it. In its intervention to that consultation process in May, Bell argued fibre IBW failed to satisfy the regulator’s “essential facility” criteria and mandating third party access was not necessary. In March, Bell was ordered by the CRTC to sign an agreement that allowed CloudWifi to progress its application to become a CLEC, with the regulator finding Bell’s refusal to do so was “unnecessarily hindering competition and consumer choice. — With reporting by Adam Langenberg at alangenberg@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

CRTC says no to interim fibre in-building wire access

News | July 9, 2020

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CRTC says no to interim fibre in-building wire access

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