CRTC urged to look toward future on wireline regulation

GATINEAU, Que. — On Wednesday, the first day of replies in the CRTC’s wholesale wireline hearing, the regulator was consistently asked to look to the future in determining how best to regulate Canada's fibre and copper connections. Yet the groups presenting before the commission differed on what that future entails. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC), which presented together, said Canadians would need access to the high-speed transmission capabilities of fibre-to-the-premises connections in the future, making it necessary for the CRTC to open up these connections to wholesale access. “Even if the incumbents’ assertions that Canadians do not currently need the speeds made possible by FTTP are correct, the hearing has provided ample reasons to support our contention that the commission should be focusing on the future rather than today,” Jean-Francois Leger, a lawyer for PIAC and the CAC, told the hearing. The commission needs to act now rather than in the future to mandate the availability of FTTP on a wholesale basis, Leger said, despite the relatively low number of Canadians who are currently using the service. “It is pointless, in our view, to focus on what consumers are using today in order to define what incumbent service providers should offer to their wholesale customers tomorrow,” he said. Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs for Telus Corp., told the commission that his vision of the future includes much more competition for wireline broadband services from wireless technology. “A forward-looking regulatory framework, in our view, should recognize the trend already observed in voice and observable in data in countries like Japan and many others, towards exclusive use of mobile broadband as many consumers' only broadband subscription,” he said. Canadians are “spoiled for choice” when it comes to broadband connections, Woodhead said, and advances in wireless technology will only expand their available options. “In light of the competitiveness of the retail broadband market, there is no longer any need for the commission to intervene in the wholesale market,” he said. Despite calling for the end of mandated wholesale access, Woodhead said the CRTC still has a “major role to play” in delivering broadband networks to Canadians. “Maintaining the incentives of service providers of all kinds to invest in these networks would represent a significant contribution to Canada's future,” he said. Representatives from Shaw Communications Inc. said the CRTC needed to develop a “future-oriented regime” for regulation that takes a “long-term, dynamic view” of the broadband market. Paul Cowling, Shaw’s vice-president of regulatory affairs, said this means regulations that are “flexible” and market-based, rather than a mandated tariff structure or any regulation of pricing. “We don’t know what other disruptive technologies may emerge or what consumers will want next from broadband,” he said. “But the market will drive us in the right direction.” Jonathan Daniels, vice-president of regulatory affairs at BCE Inc., said the CRTC should delay any significant action until a future proceeding in five years’ time. “No significant harm will be caused to competition if the commission does not intervene today,” he said. “To the contrary, users will benefit from the deployment of new networks.” If the commission focuses on the needs of consumers rather than ISPs, he said, it’s clear that wholesale access for FTTP is unnecessary at this moment because consumers don’t demand the higher speeds that fibre connections provide. “Clearly, ISPs can compete without mandated access to FTTP now or in the foreseeable future,” he said. Representatives from Rogers Communications Inc. addressed concerns about the rates charged for wholesale access. “We reject the claims of those who call on the commission to artificially lower CBB rates,” Ken Engelhart, Rogers' vice-president of regulatory affairs, told the hearing. “With lower rates, we will soon be in a position where we have more wholesale end-users than retail end-users. This will lead to a substantial reduction in the quality of Internet services that Canadian consumers enjoy,” Engelhart said in reference to what he feels would be a diminished incentive of service providers to invest in their networks. This hearing on wholesale wireline services, which started Nov. 24, wraps up on Thursday. — With reporting by Peter Henderson at phenderson@thewirereport.ca and editing by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca

CRTC urged to look toward future on wireline regulation

News | 12/03/2014 8:44 pm EST

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