Toronto City Council Backs CRTC vs Bell in Wholesale Internet Case

Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ottawa Major Jim Watson spent some of their precious time penning a lengthy letter to the federal cabinet asking it to overturn a CRTC decision that aims to foster competition for fast, fibre Internet services.

Fast broadband speed

You may think that the two letters reflect the cities’ standpoints on the matter, since they from officials who represent the city, but – SURPRISE! – they weren’t. As revealed by Michael Geist in a blog post, the letters from Mayors Tory and Watson were written not on behalf of the city but from a personal point of view supporting Bell’s position.

You may recall from earlier reports that Bell is fighting the CRTC over the regulator’s decision to require the incumbent to share its infrastructure with other carriers on a wholesale basis. And you may already be familiar with Bell’s standpoint: Let those smaller players build their own networks.

Back to the letter: The Toronto Mayor’s letter raised the ire of the city council; hence, Councillor Mike Layton filed a motion in which he asked the city council to support the more competitive approach and the CRTC’s ruling to give access to smaller players.

The motion was debated yesterday and was passed 28–5, reflecting the city council’s support for a competitive market.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.