Small ISPs ask CRTC to move quickly on wholesale rate R&V

After the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the incumbent telecom companies’ challenge of the CRTC's wholesale internet rates Thursday, independent internet service providers are now asking the regulator to move quickly to enforce the lower rates. In a series of letters sent to the CRTC Friday, TekSavvy Solutions Inc., Distributel Communications Ltd., and the industry group the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) have all asked to expedite the ongoing review-and-vary application. The application is one of three challenges launched by the incumbents, and is currently the only one still standing in the way of the implementation of the lower rates set in August 2019. In its letter, TekSavvy requested that the CRTC mandate the submission of new tariff pages by Sept. 17, pointing to the Federal Court of Appeal's decision. "TekSavvy notes that the FCA decision was unequivocal in its findings that the appellants did not have sound legal rationale for their appeal. In fact, the court held that many of their legal arguments were of 'dubious merit'," the letter reads. "As TekSavvy and other wholesale purchasers are forced to bear the burden of the incumbents’ aggressive and unjustified legal and regulatory delay strategy, TekSavvy asks that the Commission act promptly to implement TO 2019-288 now that the FCA stays have been lifted." CNOC said that a decision on the review-and-vary application should be the regulator's "highest priority." "There is nothing further to consider," CNOC writes, going on to argue that the CRTC should ignore the "political interference" of an Aug. 15 cabinet decision which declined to overturn the CRTC rates but said that the rates were too low. The statement accompanying the decision which argued that rates were too low, CNOC writes in the Friday letter, contains "unspecific, political opinions not likely based on a detailed, expert review such as that completed by the Commission," and are of "zero legal effect." "If those extraneous comments are considered or relied on by the Commission, they are prone to a fresh legal challenge on jurisdictional grounds," CNOC writes. Distributel wrote in another Friday letter that it backs the requests from Teksavvy and CNOC. "Accordingly, we fully agree that the Commission should require the incumbents that have not yet done so to comply with the Commission’s previous directions and issue revised tariff pages without delay," Distributel writes. In a release today trumpetiting what it called another "acceleration" of its rural broadband rollout, which it said would reach an additional 80,000 homes by the end of the year, BCE Inc. made explicit reference to the CRTC's wholesale rates. The release pointed to the Aug. 15 statement of Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains expressing concern about the lower rates affecting investment. Bell had previously cut back its plans for the roll out in response to the lowered rates. “The Wireless Home Internet program is fully funded by Bell but also enabled by a federal government policy environment that fosters investment in critical network infrastructure,” Bell said. “With COVID-19 underscoring the critical importance of high-speed Internet access for Canadians everywhere, and government support for enhanced investment, Bell is dedicating even more resources into expanding and enhancing our WHI network rollout to rural Canada." — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Small ISPs ask CRTC to move quickly on wholesale rate R&V

News | September 11, 2020

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Small ISPs ask CRTC to move quickly on wholesale rate R&V

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