The CRTC intervened on Monday to force telecommunications giants to open their fiber optic networks to resellers, creating more competition and ultimately lower prices in Quebec and Ontario.
For the last twenty years, large cable companies have had to sell wholesale services to smaller companies, which in turn could sell cable Internet services to their customers. However, fiber optic services are currently exempt from this regulation.
Pending the conclusion of a public consultation on the issue, which will continue in 2024, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on Monday ordered giants Bell Canada and Telus Communication to temporarily open their fiber optic network (FTTP) to the smallest Players in Quebec and Ontario within six months. Other companies such as Cogeco or Videotron are not affected by this order for the time being.
The choice of these two provinces is not trivial. “At the end of 2022, independent, wholesale service-based competitors in Ontario and Quebec served 47% fewer subscribers than two years earlier,” noted the CRTC, which is concerned about this rapid decline in competition.
“Today’s initial decision will provide new internet options to more than five million households,” CRTC President and CEO Vicky Eatrides said in a press release.
This decision follows a decree passed by the Trudeau government earlier this year that called on the CRTC to find ways to “promote competition, affordability, consumer interests and innovation.”