Late last week, the CRTC announced its interim wholesale rates that smaller internet companies will pay incumbents, for access to their fibre networks, nationwide.
The CRTC boldly proclaimed cheaper internet and choice was coming, thanks to its interim rates set for Bell, Telus and SaskTel. These would be areas in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan (SaskTel).
“Today’s decision will provide Canadians with new options for Internet, television, home phone, and smart home services. We are already seeing competitors using fibre access to bring new offers in Ontario and Quebec, and we look forward to this broader access benefiting even more Canadians,” said Vicky Eatrides, Chair and CEO of the CRTC, in a statement last week.
Well, that sounds fine and dandy, but smaller telecoms such as Freedom Mobile, which is owned by Quebecor, isn’t taking part.
“The CRTC’s decision on access to fiber Internet networks is very disappointing. We had hoped for a decision that would reflect market realities and allow us to offer Freedom Mobile customers prices that would help lower their telecom bills, as we’ve been doing with wireless services for nearly 18 months,” said Karl Pladeau, President and CEO of Quebecor, in an issued statement to iPhone in Canada on Sunday evening.
“Unfortunately, the CRTC’s decision leaves us no room for maneuver and will prevent us from launching our services on these networks,” added Pladeau.
Once you take a look at the interim rates set by the CRTC for smaller companies to access Bell, Telus and SaskTel’s internet networks at wholesale, you’ll understand why companies won’t want to play ball. Take a look at just some of the pricing below–these are supposed to be wholesale rates:
Bell Canada (Ontario and Quebec) Aggregated wholesale fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) Access Rates:
- 3 Mbps to 1500 Mbps – $68.94
- 1501 Mbps to 3000 Mbps – $78.03
Telus Aggregated FTTP Access Rates:
- Quebec (All speeds) – $65.25
- Alberta and British Columbia (15 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps) – $80.41
Telus Aggregated FTTP Capacity-Based Billing (CBB) Rates:
- Quebec – $75.86 per 100 Mbps
- Alberta and British Columbia – $75.86 per 100 Mbps
SaskTel Aggregated FTTP Access Rate:
- All speeds up to 1 Gbps – $77.57
On top of these prices for internet, there are charges for FTTP installs, moves or changes with a site visit, from $244 to $301, for example.
These seemingly expensive wholesale rates means there’s not a lot of profit to be made by smaller companies, by reselling internet to customers at these prices, and definitely will make them think twice about considering an internet business venture.
COMMENTS
Trevor Bates 2 days ago This article confused it a bit. It's actually even worse than they described. Wholesale must pay access fee per customer AND a rate for the data that goes across the incumbent network. The data rate is called CBB and they have to commit to a certain rate.