The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected BCE Inc.'s request for a stay of a regulatory decision that will allow independent companies to sell internet services to their customers using its fibre network in Ontario and Quebec.
The court’s decision on Friday came a day after Bell Canada announced it was slashing 4,800 jobs and could further cut network spending based in part on the CRTC’s direction.
It also came just ahead of the next phase of the federal telecommunications regulator’s study of the same issue. The CRTC kicked off a five-day hearing on Monday as part of its review of internet competition in Canada.
The CRTC announced last November it would temporarily require large telephone companies, namely Bell and Telus Corp., to provide competitors with access to their fibre-to-the-home networks in Canada’s two largest provinces within six months.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected BCE Inc.'s request for a stay of a regulatory decision that will allow independent companies to sell internet services to their customers using its fibre network in Ontario and Quebec.
The court’s decision on Friday came a day after Bell Canada announced it was slashing 4,800 jobs and could further cut network spending based in part on the CRTC’s direction.
The CRTC announced last November it would temporarily require large telephone companies, namely Bell and Telus Corp., to provide competitors with access to their fibre-to-the-home networks in Canada’s two largest provinces within six months.
The CRTC’s decision last November was meant to stimulate competition for internet services, noting at the time its review could potentially make that direction permanent and apply it to other provinces.
Bell has accused the CRTC of “predetermined” outcomes when it comes to that review, noting the commission’s direction thus far reduces its incentive to continue building out its fibre network.
John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, urged the regulator not to succumb to the “threats of investment withdrawal” by large carriers.
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