Bell and MTS file Cabinet appeals on network sharing

If the federal government isn’t already busy enough trying to mend the economy, it will now have to try and fix problems in the telecommunications industry after Bell Canada and MTS Allstream petitioned Cabinet to look into two somewhat related network sharing matters. Bell is appealing speed matching provisions as set out in a December 11, 2008 decision and a CRTC order of March 3, 2009. The company says the two decisions “threaten to slow and even eliminate” investments the telcos are making by forcing them “to provide competitors with regulated access to their newly constructed next-generation networks,” such as fibre-to-the-node. “Telecom is one of the few sectors of the economy where companies are continuing to invest despite the economic downturn, with Bell in the forefront,” says Mirko Bibic, Bell’s senior VP of regulatory and government affairs. “The cabinet needs to act urgently to prevent the further damage to the Canadian economy that would result from a slowdown in investment in a sector crucial to all Canadians.” Cybersurf Corp. raised the speed matching issue last June when it asked the CRTC to order the ILECs to offer the same speeds on a wholesale basis that they were offering to their own retail customers. But after ordering the telcos to match speeds for all high-speed services, Bell and Telus Corp. balked, telling the commission that they would only do so for services delivered over copper facilities, and not for newer services offered over fibre. MTS wants Cabinet to overturn rulings related to the March 3, 2008 essential services decision that allow the incumbent telephone companies to charge retail rates for access to certain parts of their networks. Alternatively, it wants Cabinet to refer the decisions back to the commission for further review. MTS says access to these network elements are critical for competitors and essential for the creation of a competitive telecommunications sector, and therefore rates should be reasonable and cost-based. “The CRTC has lost its way,” says the Manitoba incumbent. “At a time when public policy should support and encourage competition, innovation and productivity, the CRTC has refused to remove the roadblocks to full and fair competition in the provision of broadband services.” MTS argues that Canada should be taking its telecom deregulation cue from the United Kingdom, and not the United States. Rampant deregulation in the US has seen competitors fold up their tents or sell off to the incumbents. The experience has been the opposite, contends the Manitoba incumbent. “Carefully tailored regulation that provides cost-based access to leading-edge telecommunications facilities does not deter investment, nor does deregulation of those selfsame facilities necessarily incent investment on the part of the former monopoly providers,” writes MTS. “Rather, regulating where necessary on a wholesale level, as has been done in the United Kingdom, enables competitive market forces to bring the benefits of price and innovation to consumers and businesses in a deregulated retail environment.” Network Letter will have more on the two Cabinet appeals in the coming days.

Bell and MTS file Cabinet appeals on network sharing

News | 03/12/2009 6:32 pm EDT

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