UPDATED: Quebecor alleges Bell breaching agreement on MVNO wholesale access

This story has been updated with comment from BCE Inc. Quebecor Inc., representing Videotron and Freedom Mobile, has lodged a formal complaint with the CRTC against BCE Inc., alleging anti-competitive manoeuvres by Bell in relation to access to its wireless network The dispute centres around the agreed-upon launch date of Oct. 11 for the use of Bell's wholesale access service by Videotron and Freedom. Despite meticulous coordination efforts, Bell has reportedly reneged on the agreed-upon date, according to Quebecor’s Part 1 application posted to the commission’s site Wednesday. “This is in line with a long series of delaying tactics aimed at slowing down the marketing of our wireless service offering in new territories, thus depriving Canadian consumers of benefiting from more affordable services,” Quebecor wrote, according to translation. Quebecor argues that Bell's actions contravene Articles 24, 25(1), and 27(2) of the Telecommunications Act, claiming that Bell's conduct impedes fair competition and consumer choice in the Canadian wireless market. "Quebecor’s application has nothing to do with its MVNO service. This is simply an attempt to abuse the CRTC process to extract a retroactive windfall payment from Bell, contrary to the terms of the approved tariff and October’s CRTC decision., " Bell said in a statement. "The tariff and the decision make clear that the MVNO arrangements will start after the parties have entered into a written agreement. Within days of the decision, Bell provided Quebecor a standard agreement. They have refused to engage. In the meantime, they have continued to access our network through existing roaming arrangements." Quebecor requests the CRTC to enforce compliance with Bell's tariff, retroactively applying the monetary tariff established by the CRTC in their final offer arbitration (FOA). Additionally, they call for measures to grant Videotron and Freedom access to Bell's network, imposing retroactive tariffs for end-users on the shared Bell and Telus Corp. network. Due to Bell's alleged recurring anti-competitive behavior, Quebecor is also urging the CRTC to impose administrative monetary penalties on Bell in accordance with the Telecommunications Act. Quebecor is also urgently appealing to the CRTC to swiftly address the matter, emphasizing the need for speedy regulatory intervention. In 2021 the commission elected to go with a limited MVNO model, restricting mandated access to incumbent wireless networks to regional providers that own a level of spectrum assets, and restricting the period of mandated access to seven years. In May 2023 the CRTC announced that it expects incumbents to have their MVNO service “operational and ready for use” no later than June 8, and agreements should be in place with regional providers availing of the service by Aug. 7, or else companies could head to FOA. Quebecor then went into FOA with Rogers Communications Inc. and Bell. In July, the CRTC chose Quebecor’s offer – which remains undisclosed for confidential reasons – over Rogers, having found that under Rogers’ proposal Quebecor would only be able to offer limited data, and a limited range of plans, without incurring losses. The incumbent is appealing the decision in court with Bell’s support. In October the CRTC chose Bell’s offer over Quebecor, stating they “were assessed based on whether they were just and reasonable and were evaluated on a number of public policy factors” and Bell’s “best meets the evaluation criteria.” – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca.

UPDATED: Quebecor alleges Bell breaching agreement on MVNO wholesale access

News | December 21, 2023

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