CRTC cuts wholesale internet rates by 10% in bid to spur competition

The CRTC announced an immediate cut to wholesale internet rates in a bid to boost competition to big telecoms.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said Wednesday it is launching a review of its wholesale regime and will immediately cut some of the rates small players pay to access the networks of big cable and telephone companies by 10 per cent.

The system, under which independent internet service providers (ISPs) pay for wholesale network access and then sell service to their own retail customers, has been under fire for the past several years as the small players say the rates are too high.

Numerous independent ISPs have sold to big telecoms over the past year, including Distributel and EBox to Bell, VMedia to Quebecor, Start.ca and Altima to Telus, and Oxio to Cogeco.

Vicky Eatrides, who took over as chair of the CRTC earlier this year, told the Star that the broader review will take some time and the regulator wanted to do something quickly" in the interim.

This is all about promoting competition. We know that the current approach is not working, it's not producing the results that we had hoped for," she said in an interview Wednesday morning. And so, what we're doing today is reviewing our approach in order to promote competition."

Eatrides added that the CRTC is also expediting its current review of whether to grant small players access to fibre-to-the-home service, which offers fast speeds and is in demand by customers.

She said she expects the formal, in-person hearing to review the wholesale regime will take place in early 2024.

More to come.