CRTC ruling hailed as ‘great win’ for users

Indie telecommunications providers say the federal telecom regulator’s landmark decision to classify high-speed Internet a basic service will inject competition into the ecosystem — and ultimately lower prices and improve speeds for consumers.

Industry analysts reacted with a collective shrug to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision to create a $750-million fund for broadband in rural and remote communities and set ambitious target speeds, stating it will be neutral for major providers’ financial performance since the targets are aspirational, not mandatory, and the commission declined to regulate retail prices.

But some small Internet providers see the decision as a gamechanger. The crucial aspect, they say, is that the local voice subsidy that formerly went to telephone providers with monopolies in highcost areas, will now go to any player via a competitive bidding process that doesn’t favour a specific technology.

“It’s not just about broadband versus voice. It’s about choice versus monopoly. It’s about competition,” said Bram Abramson of TekSavvy, a provider that serves more than 250,000 customers from its base in southwestern Ontario.

The “agenda-setting” decision sets up changes to the entire regulatory framework as part of a pivot from voice to broadband, Ambramson said.

Equally important was the CRTC’s decision not to mandate a skinny Internet service.

Abramson views that as an endorsement of the wholesale pricing model as the way to more affordable access. TekSavvy, which buys wholesale access to major providers’ networks, recently increased its data caps and lowered its monthly prices for all customers by $2 to $10 after the CRTC drastically lowered wholesale rates.

“We have a model for low prices, it’s called retail competition,” Abramson said. “Network competition drives prices down toward their cost.”

Iristel, a provider of voice over Internet protocol services as well as wireless and Internet in the North through Ice Wireless, called the decision to open up the subsidy to competition a “great win” for independents and all Canadians.

“I believe the CRTC sees that the status quo is simply just not working and some major regime changes need to happen, and that’s exactly what that is,” Iristel president Samer Bishay said.