Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission helps sustain competition in broadband market
The CRTC’s services framework sets out the terms & conditions and rates whereby telecommunications providers are required to partition a percentage of their networks over to their competitors.
“As Canadians participate more actively in the digital economy, they will need access to higher Internet speeds to power their broadband homes and businesses. By continuing to mandate certain wholesale services, and including access to fibre facilities, we are continuing our work to drive competition so Canadians have access to more choice, innovative services and reasonable prices. At the same time, we fully expect that companies will continue to invest in their networks, including in fibre technology, to meet the growing needs of consumers.” – Jean-Pierre Blais, CRTC Chairman
On July 22nd, the CRTC announced measures to facilitate competition between companies that offer broadband Internet. These measures are intended to provide Canadians with more choices, foster innovation, and provide services at reasonable prices.
After conducting an extensive review, the CRTC found that large broadband companies continue to possess leveraged market dominance and anti-competition provisions of high-speed access services and the CRTC is requiring that they make wholesale access to these services available to competitors.
* The CRTC will continue to take action to ensure that Canadians have more choices for high-speed Internet services.
* The CRTC will continue to mandate access to wholesale services, including high-speed access services, to encourage competition in the broadband Internet market.
* Additionally, the CRTC is requiring that competitors have access to wholesale high-speed services of the large established companies that use optical fibre facilities.
* The CRTC is encouraging further investment in high-quality networks.