Bell is pushing the federal government to step in after the CRTC refused to change its internet-sharing rules.
On Friday, the CRTC upheld a decision from last year that lets big telecom companies, like Bell, Rogers, and Telus, sell internet plans using each other’s fibre networks. The goal is to increase competition and give Canadians more options.
But Bell isn’t happy. In a statement, Robert Malcolmson, Bell’s chief legal officer, said the company is “profoundly disappointed” the regulator is sticking with the plan. He claimed it was made “despite overwhelming opposition from the vast majority of Internet service providers, many suppliers, unions, municipalities, provinces and consumer advocacy groups.”
Bell says the CRTC decision has already done damage. The company claims it cut $500 million in planned spending this year, and over $1.2 billion in total since the CRTC first introduced the policy in late 2023.
“The CRTC’s claim that there was no ‘evidence demonstrating a causal link’ between the decision and Bell’s previously announced reduction in fibre investment, affecting more than 1 million homes and businesses in more than 150 communities, is simply false,” Malcolmson said. He also criticized the CRTC for not even mentioning internal documents and modeling that Bell submitted as proof.
According to Bell, the current policy will discourage companies from building new internet infrastructure, especially in rural and Indigenous communities. Malcolmson said smaller internet providers will suffer too, since they won’t be able to compete with the bundles and deals offered by larger companies.
Bell ended its statement with a call to Ottawa: “The federal government must act to ensure we have the right policies to build, connect and grow Canada.”
What do you think about the CRTC’s ruling today and Bell’s (expected) response?
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Most interesting to me is that the top public servant in Canada (Clerk of the Privy Council) is the former CEO of Bell and so he would presumably be able to tell you whether Bell really cut those investments due to this policy or if they are using the policy as an excuse to justify cuts in investment that they would have made anyways or for other business decisions. It’ll be hard for telcos like Bell to pass their bogus arguments off when they have someone in the government and working on behalf of all Canadians who knows the true story as to why they decide to do what they do.
It's about time that the providers are going to be split up in "network providers" and "service providers". You'll get something like Bell Networks, Bell Internet, Bell Mobile, Rogers Networks, Rogers Internet, Rogers Mobile, etc. The Network providers will sell network usage to whoever wants/needs access. Same rate for all clients, meaning Bell Internet pays the same rate as Rogers internet to use the Bell Network and visa versa. The network companies can invest as they see fit, and increase profits as their networks get better. There will be more competition on the services. Small service providers will have access to networks just as the big ones. It'll all come to what the providers have to offer and their service to the customer.
This is not a new or innovative concept. It's done in Europe for many years with huge success. The providers need to be forced to change, it'll hurt in the beginning, but overall, they're going to do really well. And their customers will be proud again to be a Bell/Rogers/Telus/SmallCorp client again.
Poor, poor Bell.
Yah, riiiiight, consumer advocacy groups and municipalitoes complained about potential for better prices. NO, they complained that money-grubbing, employee-downsizing Bell reneged on infrastructure because enough profit wouldn't be extorted, er, I mean, 'earned' from running more fibe lines to the underserved communities Bell got Federal & Provincial funds and breaks for.