CRTC says wholesale access is having ‘positive impacts’ amidst job losses, spending cuts in telecoms sector

TORONTO—As some of Canada’s largest telcos shed jobs and reduce investment, the CRTC is defending its wholesale high-speed access regime. Adam Scott, the regulator’s vice-chairperson, said preliminary evidence shows the policy, which allows ‘resellers’ to offer services on a competitor’s network, is having “positive impacts” on competition and wireless pricing. “We are seeing large ISPs (internet service providers) move outside their traditional serving territories to bring new competitive dynamics,” said Scott at the Canadian Telecom Summit. “In total, these large ISPs are offering, or planning to offer, new choices to about 8.5 million homes.” “As it stands, you would be hard-pressed to convince me that Canadian consumers were better off when large ISPs only competed in their own backyards.” Wholesale access has been a controversial regulatory development within the industry, especially given the CRTC also granted incumbent carriers access to rival networks. The final wholesale rates, released last month, which determine how much network owners can charge competitors, also received negative reviews from smaller independent ISPs. On May 12, as many private sector leaders converged on downtown Toronto for the two-day summit, the CRTC faced an attack on multiple fronts. Before Scott’s speech, Robert Ghiz, president of the Canadian Telecommunications Association, said the regulator’s recent efforts to promote more competition in Canada’s telecoms sector have created more problems than solutions. Ghiz raised concerns over the “increasing strain” facing telecoms, which he largely attributed to regulatory burden. “We are at an inflection point,” said Ghiz at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. “Canadians are getting more for less. Prices have dropped, services have improved and intense competition has delivered tangible benefits for Canadians.” “ the better we do, the more that is expected of us.” In his remarks, Ghiz singled out the CRTC’s wholesale access policy, which he said has had a “material impact” on the bottom lines of various carriers. According to Ghiz, opening up access to fibre networks that were previously private deters investment in physical infrastructure, which only serves to worsen network competition, resilience, and security in the long-term. “We’re seeing regulation move beyond setting the rules of the market and further to managing its day-to-day operations, often in ways that increase costs and complexity,” he said. “Providers are being asked to take on new responsibilities that extend beyond their traditional role, frequently without a clear mechanism for recovering the associated costs.” “Some of these decisions attempted to solve problems that really do not exist.” The former P.E.I. premier said the CRTC was yet to justify its approach to wholesale access, though financial markets have already signalled the policy is a mistake. “The evidence is already here,” Ghiz said. “We are seeing a steady erosion of the incentives that drive investment in telecommunications.” Last month, Rogers Communications Inc. cut its capital expenditure plans by 30 per cent compared to the previous year, which company executives said was necessitated by “regulatory hurdles.” Meanwhile, a recent bombshell report from The Globe and Mail revealed the telecoms giant is offering buyout packages to approximately half its workforce. BCE Inc. and Telus Corp., which round out the country’s ‘Big Three,’ have also shed personnel in recent months. In recent days, Globe and Mail business columnist Andrew Willis and industry commentator Mark Goldberg have both taken aim at the CRTC’s wholesale decisions, with the latter arguing the commission’s "regulatory hypothesis is failing.” In response, Scott acknowledged there have been difficulties in the sector. “I see capital budgets, as well as jobs, being cut,” he said. “Which makes clear the linkages that exist between the policy objectives we are trying to balance.” But, he continued, the CRTC’s wholesale access regime has undoubtedly benefited Canadian consumers, as wireless prices have fallen by nearly 50 per cent since 2019. “Without it, Canadians would have less choice,” Scott said. “The evidence to date shows that they are increasing the competitiveness of the broadband and mobile markets and we’ll be monitoring the effectiveness of those frameworks going forward.” dlegree@thewirereport.ca

CRTC says wholesale access is having ‘positive impacts’ amidst job losses, spending cuts in telecoms sector

Regulatory |
By Davis Legree
|May 13, 2026

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CRTC says wholesale access is having ‘positive impacts’ amidst job losses, spending cuts in telecoms sector

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By Davis Legree
|May 13, 2026