CRTC’s interim wholesale access rates ‘sensible’ but lack transparency, MTS says

The CRTC’s interim rates for wholesale high-speed access services won’t lead to “significant change” from the status quo but may lack transparency, MTS Allsteam says. Chris Peirce, MTS’ chief corporate officer, said in an interview that the commission’s decision that set the rates last week is “a reasonably sensible way to proceed.” The interim rates, which will apply until the commission reaches a decision after its usage-based billing hearing next month, calls for incumbent local telcos and cablecos to discount wholesale residential services by 35 per cent and business rates by 15 per cent from their retail prices within 30 days. Incumbent telcos lease access to their networks on a wholesale basis for small competing providers and companies that operate networks. “This retail-minus approach that the commission’s putting in place probably won’t lead to significant change from where the current rates are,” Peirce said. He said the approach lacks transparency because retail rates aren’t regulated. “The only concern we have … since retail rates aren’t regulated, there’s no transparency to an approach which uses this retail-minus equation. If the regulator can’t see what the retail rate is, it’s a bit naïve to think that you can then have a regulated retail-minus rate,” he said. The commission ordered the incumbent telcos and cablecos to issue tariffs corresponding to the new rates by June 23. Peirce said that each party will disclose its retail rates upon filing. He said he didn’t expect further disagreement over the rates but cautioned that he will have to wait and see. Rogers Communications Inc. spokeswoman Patricia Trott wrote by email that the interim rates are higher than the previous rates, and added that they aren’t necessary. “We don't think that interim rates are necessary. The Commission should move quickly to bring in final rates and the current rates are sufficient for the next few months before the final decisions,” she wrote. Trott and Peirce said they expect a decision on final rates this fall. In its decision, the CRTC wrote that the interim rates “do not reflect a final determination by the Commission but rather an expedient approach to provide competitors with access to higher-speed and increased POI aggregation services with as minimal a delay as possible.” The commission also noted that the hearing in July to review the CRTC’s wholesale usage-based billing policy will deal with data usage, noting that “no inferences of any kind should be drawn from the fact that this interim tariff, given its short and transitory nature, contains no separate usage component.” Peirce said he was happy to see that the CRTC did not apply a usage-based interim rate. “There were some other potential outcomes afoot that the commission seemed to be considering—which we were concerned about—and I’m glad they didn’t go there,” he said. Bell Canada declined to comment. mburgess@thewirereport.ca

CRTC’s interim wholesale access rates ‘sensible’ but lack transparency, MTS says

News | June 21, 2011

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