2023-11-18 00:45:42
Bell Canada has filed a legal challenge to try to avoid having to open its fiber optic network to small independent companies, as ordered by the CRTC last week to stimulate competition in internet prices in Quebec and in Ontario.
• Read also: Fiber Internet: no more competition within 6 months in Quebec
In an application filed with the Federal Court of Appeal on Thursday, the company alleges that opening its fiber optic network to competition would cost it $30 million in training and equipment, including $14 million that would be lost irreparably.
Bell Canada would also lose a competitive advantage vis-à-vis its rivals, it argues in court documents, according to a report from the “Globe and Mail”.
The telecommunications giant considers it unfair to have to open its fiber optic network following having invested some $4 billion per year over the last decade to develop it.
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 Internet service resellers in Ontario and Quebec within six month. Other cable companies, once morest Cogeco or Videotron, are not affected by this temporary order, taken while waiting for a public consultation to examine this issue.
The same day as the CRTC’s announcement, Bell Canada announced that it will reduce spending on its fiber optic network by $1 billion in 2024 and 2025.
The CRTC made this decision following noting that the number of subscribers of independent companies fell by 47% in two years. Remember that in Canada, large companies are required to open their cable internet network to independent resellers, but optical fiber escapes regulation for the moment.
The CRTC has not commented on the matter since it is now before the courts.
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