Bell Canada has filed a lawsuit to prevent the company from having to open its fiber optic network to small independent businesses, as ordered by the CRTC last week to spur competition in internet prices in Quebec and Ontario.
• Also read: Fiber optic internet: No more competition within 6 months in Quebec
In a filing Thursday with the federal appeals court, the company claims that opening its fiber-optic network to competition would cost $30 million in training and equipment, including $14 million that would be irreparably lost.
Bell Canada would also lose a competitive advantage over its rivals, it argues in court documents, according to a Globe and Mail report.
The telecommunications giant believes it is unfair to have to open up its fiber optic network after investing around $4 billion a year to expand it over the past decade.
In early November, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ordered Bell Media and Telus Communications to open their fiber optic networks to independent resellers of internet services in Ontario and Quebec within six months. Other cable companies, such as Cogeco and Videotron, are not affected by this interim order, which was issued while awaiting a public consultation to consider the matter.
On the same day as the CRTC’s announcement, Bell Canada announced it would reduce spending on its fiber optic network by $1 billion in 2024 and 2025.
The CRTC made this decision after finding that the number of independent business subscribers had declined by 47% in two years. Keep in mind that in Canada, large companies are required to open their cable Internet network to independent resellers, but fiber optic cables are currently not subject to regulation.
The CRTC has not commented on the matter because it is now before the courts.