Rogers wants immediate MDU access in NB while Bell pushes for incremental enforcement

In a dispute over access to an apartment building under construction in Saint John, N.B., Rogers Communications Inc. is holding firm on its request for immediate access, while BCE Inc. -- currently the only provider with access to the building -- is advocating for an incremental approach to CRTC enforcement. In a pair of responses to a CRTC request for information in the proceeding last month, the two companies agree that IronGate Developments should be made to grant Rogers access to its properties, but disagree about exactly how the commission should do it. In a June 22 filing with the commission, Bell confirmed with the regulator that the agreement it entered into with the developer for access to the building is non-exclusive. The agreement "does not in any way prohibit or preclude any other service providers, including Rogers, from accessing the property on reasonable and timely terms and conditions to provide their competing communications services to residents," Bell wrote. "As such, our arrangement with IronGate is fully aligned with the Commission's long-standing regulatory framework of promoting choice and competition for the residents of MDU properties in terms of their communications services provider." As a possible solution, Bell points to a 2016 decision in which the commission mandated that a multi-dwelling unit grant Beanfield Technologies Inc. access to its building, and instituted an incremental enforcement mechanism. Under the decision, if the developer did not grant access to Beanfield within 60 days of the decision, then the existing providers in the building would be prevented from providing services to any new residents. If the period extended to 90 days, then the existing providers would be banned from upgrading or modifying their services. After 120 days, the CRTC said it would have "explored all regulatory options available", including a "stop serve order." "This is a prudent approach," Bell wrote, "because it refrains from impacting residents in the relevant MDU building that are already being served by other service providers and attempts to shield them from being impacted unless and until all other attempts to resolve the access dispute have been tried." Rogers, for its part, wrote in a June 28 letter to the commission that it needs immediate access, and that Bell's concerns about current residents being impacted are irrelevant, because the building is under construction and there are no current residents. Rather, Rogers points to two previous decisions in 2015 and 2014, in which Bell was granted immediate access to an MDU during construction. In its original May 6 complaint to the CRTC, Rogers wrote that Iron Gate Developments repeatedly asked for payments of $50,000 and $100,000 from Rogers in exchange for access to the properties. Rogers said that the developer has also sought to get other Saint John developers to deny the company similar access to other properties in the city. Rogers wrote in the June 28 letter that this "Brittain’s bad faith behaviour justifies an access order that would apply not only to the Property, but also to future IronGate developments." — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca

Rogers wants immediate MDU access in NB while Bell pushes for incremental enforcement

News | July 5, 2021

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Rogers wants immediate MDU access in NB while Bell pushes for incremental enforcement

News | July 5, 2021

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