Cablecos petition cabinet on speed-matching decision

Canada’s largest cable carriers have submitted a petition to the federal cabinet asking for equal treatment under the CRTC’s wholesale speed-matching decision earlier this year. Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Cogeco Cable Inc. and Quebecor Media Inc. asked government in a petition dated Oct. 26 to apply regulatory and competitive symmetry if it decides to reconsider the CRTC’s speed-matching decision. The speed matching decision, issued in August, reinstated speed-matching rules for incumbent phone companies, allowing third-party broadband providers that run on the incumbents’ networks to offer Internet speeds matching those of the incumbents’ retail speeds. The commission said the incumbents can charge a 10 per cent markup on the fees third-party Internet service providers (ISPs) pay for higher-speed, fibre-to-the-node services under the speed matching rule. The cable companies said in their petition that they have been required to provide matching speeds for their wholesale Internet customers since 2006. They said that removing speed-matching obligations for the incumbent phone companies would give them a competitive advantage if the obligations remained for cable carriers. “he petitioners respectfully request the Governor in Council to treat cable carriers the same as ILECs when considering the ILECs’ petitions to vary the speed-matching decisions,” the’ petition said. “If the Governor in Council decides to vary or rescind the speed-matching requirements applicable to the ILECs in the Speed-Matching Decisions, it should make the same variations to the Decision insofar as it applies to the cable carriers.” The petition to cabinet comes as the government is within its 90-day window to review the speed matching decision—which arose from a government-ordered review of an earlier CRTC decision. Last year, telcos Bell Canada, Bell Aliant and Telus Corp. successfully appealed a CRTC decision to the federal cabinet. On Dec. 10, 2009, the government ordered the CRTC to revisit the issue of speed-matching.

Cablecos petition cabinet on speed-matching decision

Brief | October 27, 2010

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us