CRTC puts out request for information on wholesale wireless

The CRTC has issued a request for information from the incumbent wireless carriers and their wholesale competitors on wholesale wireless and roaming access. The Aug. 19 letter poses eight questions to the ILECs and seven to the competitors. The move comes over a year after a 2021 policy that mandated the large telecoms provide access to their networks to some facilities-based competitors. But there were restrictions on who could compete. Only owners of spectrum could serve as mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) and the policy was only in effect for seven years. The 2021 policy found that the large players – BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp., and Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holdings Corp. – were exercising market power in the selling of retail services. The CRTC determined that Final Offer Arbitration (FOA) would be made available to settle disputes between the newer companies and the established entities. The four large companies are to provide the commission with all relevant agreements with regional wireless carriers, whether they are still in force or have been terminated or renegotiated in the last year. They must identify and rank the 10 agreements the companies believe are most comparable to wholesale MVNO access agreements for the purposes of FOA on rates with tariffed terms and conditions. If some of the agreements do not fall into that category, the large phone companies must explain why. They must also comment on what factors should be used to determine FOAs and the weight each issue should have. The nearly three dozen CLECs contacted do not have to answer the question about the 10 agreements but all of the other questions posed to the incumbents are raised with the competitors. The commission outlined a series of proposals to determine FOA procedure. Both ILECs and CLECs must give detailed analysis of the proposals. The answers to the RFI, with one exception, must be filed with the regulator by Sept. 19. That exception is a question about the methodology used to establish the rates for wireless service agreements. That question does not have to be answered until Oct. 3. The move also comes after months of complaints about delays in establishing the MVNO regime. In July, Xplornet Communications Inc. announced it would shutter its Xplore Mobile brand by the end of August, blaming regulatory delays in establishing the MVNO regime. "In the end, we could not overcome the cloud of uncertainty created by regulatory delays, such as those associated with the CRTC’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) process and the high roaming rates that significantly exceed retail prices,” the company’s July statement read.

CRTC puts out request for information on wholesale wireless

Brief | August 24, 2022

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CRTC puts out request for information on wholesale wireless

Brief | August 24, 2022

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