Quebecor turns to Competition Bureau, court over Bell structure access

An ongoing dispute between BCE Inc. and Quebecor Inc. has escalated as the latter has turned to the Competition Bureau and the courts to investigate what Quebecor said in a press release are practices used by Bell "to slow down and, in a number of cases, even block access to its support structures.” At the same time, Quebecor has filed suit in Quebec Superior Court, in which it seeks damages the company estimates at just under $12.5 million, pending the report of Quebecor's own forensic accountant. The complaint to the Competition Bureau -- which Quebecor declined to release, citing confidentiality -- "provides multiple documented examples of the Canadian telecommunications giant's stratagems to limit competition," Wednesday’s release said. "These tactics, which are depriving entire communities of access to 21st century digital infrastructure, are destructive and must be stopped." The complaint to the Competition Bureau comes on the heels of a Part 1 complaint on the same issue the company filed with the CRTC in June, in which it accuses Bell of unreasonable delays in responding to requests for permits and delaying access to its structures, not respecting construction standards, as well as offloading costs to replace outdated or deteriorated structures onto those requesting access. "Bell's anti-competitive manoeuvres must cease," Videtron president and CEO Jean-François Pruneau said in the release. "Quebecers are entitled to healthy competition and quality telecommunications services. Everyone is unfairly penalized when Bell blocks access to other service providers in their region, municipality or neighbourhood. It's simply unacceptable." In an email to the Wire Report, Bell spokesperson Marc Choma declined to comment on the specific complaint, but wrote that poles "are owned by communications companies, sometimes used jointly, and also by Hydro Québec." "There is a strict CRTC regulatory and permitting process that must be followed but Bell, Telus and Hydro-Québec are part of a working group with the Government of Québec that is focused on ensuring faster access to poles for all service providers while adhering to all safety standards," he said. Choma added in a follow up email that "far from slowing down broadband expansion, Bell is leading the way in its own investments while also improving access to our infrastructure for other service providers." Quebecor's simultaneous French-language lawsuit for damages says that Bell's anti-competitive practices fall into four categories: unreasonable delays in processing applications for use of its support structures; unreasonable and discriminatory application of construction standards; delay of access to structures citing the need to carry out work that should have already been done; and the transfer of replacement costs for obsolete or deteriorated support structures to Videotron. The suit alleges these practices have delayed the expansion of Quebecor's network, because it needs access to Bell’s infrastructure for a number of initiatives, such as expanding to new residential areas and commercial buildings. In the release, Quebecor said that "it is difficult to understand why it can take Bell more than two-and-a-half years to process a request for access to a single pole." "Given that Videotron submitted more than 1,400 access requests in 2019 alone, these completely unreasonable delays are causing considerable harm to the affected communities." — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Quebecor turns to Competition Bureau, court over Bell structure access

News | September 30, 2020

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Quebecor turns to Competition Bureau, court over Bell structure access

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