CRTC accused of omitting critical report data
TekSavvy Solutions Inc. lodged a complaint with the CRTC on Wednesday, saying that critical statistical information compiled by the federal telecommunications regulator was omitted from last year’s edition of an annual industry report.
The Ontario-based independent internet provider (ISP) said that the CRTC’s omission of the information makes it more difficult for companies like TekSavvy as they compete with industry giants, particularly Bell Canada.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said it’s reviewing TekSavvy’s complaint.
TekSavvy said the 2018 Communications Monitoring Report issued Dec. 20 didn’t follow the CRTC’s usual practices for reporting things like consumer appetite for faster internet, capital spending by independent ISPs and their market share.
Industry data normally available in December would have helped independent ISPs make their case at CRTC hearings in December and January, said Andy Kaplan-Myrth, TekSavvy’s vice-president for regulatory affairs. The lack of certain types of information at a critical time “definitely raises questions and concerns” Kaplan-Myrth said, but he declined to speculate on the reason for its omission.
Instead, Kaplan-Myrth said he hopes to get an explanation from the CRTC that addresses these concerns without escalating the complaint to the minister responsible for telecommunications, Navdeep Bains.
TekSavvy and its peers have been trying for years to get the CRTC to make it easier for wholesale internet resellers like them to offer higher-speed internet service to their customers.