Canada’s telecommunications regulator has upheld for now its decision allowing the country’s largest providers to offer wholesale access to rivals’ networks outside their core serving regions.
The CRTC says its announcement comes as it continues to assess long-term concerns about investment and competition, with a final decision still to be made.
The federal government had asked the commission to reconsider a portion of recently established rules surrounding wholesale fibre services, as Ottawa said it was concerned about the viability of smaller internet service providers to act as alternatives to the big players.
A series of recent CRTC decisions paved the way for smaller internet providers to sell their services through fibre networks owned by companies such as Telus Corp. and BCE Inc.
Telus has argued the big players should also be allowed to sell their services to customers using rivals’ networks, as long as their ability to do so is limited to regions outside of their traditional internet-serving territories.
But some of the smaller providers said allowing the Big 3 to access wholesale fibre internet would decrease competition, in part because of their advantages related to brand recognition and bundle offers.
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