Disaggregated wholesale regime not ‘doom and gloom’: CNOC chair

With a shift to a disaggregated access model anticipated by the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC), Distributel Communications Ltd. CEO and CNOC chair Matt Stein, said Wednesday it is focused on determining how that model will play out. Stein said during his keynote address as part of day two of CNOC’s annual ISP summit that CNOC, which represents Canada’s competitive internet and telecommunications service providers, is facing two “equally important priorities.” Those would be its fight for fair third-party aggregated wholesale access for independent internet service providers (ISPs) and “figuring out how we’re going to shift successfully to a disaggregated access model -- one which the CRTC has placed great faith in.” In late August, the CRTC gave CNOC more time to analyze information the commission ordered incumbents to disclose about how they have structured their disaggregated network architecture in order to properly participate in the regulator’s ongoing proceeding on reconfiguring the disaggregated regime. Stein also noted Wednesday that the CRTC has said it’s committed to landing on a configuration that does work for independents. “I truly don't see disaggregation as doom and gloom because we're good at this stuff, but it will present its challenges,” Stein said. “There may be providers who can't afford to invest in building their own network, and that's a huge issue. We'll need to find ways to partner, to make this work.” Stein said he’s confident parties will “land on a configuration that works for all of us,” and said if CNOC’s moves to have the CRTC’s May decision on aggregated wholesale rates -- which reinstated higher rates for access by setting them back to the level of interim rates established in 2016 -- overturned, that will help position independents to transition to disaggregation. “Make no mistake, at some point, disaggregation is coming. We all have to figure out how we're going to make it work; how we can keep serving our customers fairly, innovatively, and affordably,” he said. Stein also discussed Wednesday how he and others were “shocked” by the CRTC’s decision to completely revert the rates, which was not one of the outcomes it anticipated. “We went through the process. We submitted our information in good faith. Everything the CRTC asked us to do, we did it. Any data they asked us to provide, we provided it. We acted with trust in this system. So to have all that work denied, to have the whole thing just tossed out after such a lengthy process, really it felt like a kick to the gut,” Stein said. “As independent internet service providers, we always seem to be the underdogs and we're constantly being blocked by the other side, as we try to fight our way down the field, yard by yard. And just as we're about to score, they change the rules on us, again and again,” he said earlier in his address. With a new government in play, Stein said the next minister of innovation, science and economic development will “need to do what's right for Canadians by creating an environment for healthy competition that supports growth and innovation amongst independent ISPs.” Ultimately, Stein said, ISPs need three things: referees that don’t appear to favour any one side, a level playing field where all parties follow the same rules without any unfair advantages, and to continue playing as a team. “Relying on the goodwill of incumbents simply doesn't work. They're always going to be the bullies taking on unreasonable positions because they can, for as long as the rules of the game reward them for doing so,” he said. “We're forced to keep fighting, to try to level the playing field, to have fair rules that make sense for everyone so that we can serve Canadians fairly and equitably.” - Reporting by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

Disaggregated wholesale regime not ‘doom and gloom’: CNOC chair

News | September 29, 2021

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Disaggregated wholesale regime not ‘doom and gloom’: CNOC chair

News | September 29, 2021

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