Ottawa upholds CRTC ruling on wholesale internet access to 'allow for more competition'

Ottawa says it will uphold a ruling by Canada's telecommunications regulator allowing the country's largest internet companies to provide service to customers using fibre networks built by their rivals — as long as they do so outside their core regions.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement Wednesday evening that the CRTC's policy "will immediately allow for more competition on existing networks for high-speed internet services across the country."

"Their decision to uphold the mandatory wholesale access framework was based on extensive consultation with experts, the Competition Bureau and over 300 public submissions," Joly said in the statement, posted on X.

"To that end, the government is declining to alter the CRTC's decision to expand mandatory wholesale access."

In June, the regulator issued its final decision on the contentious matter, which has pitted Telus Corp. against rivals Bell Canada and Rogers Communications Inc., and many smaller providers that opposed the framework.

Bell had argued against the policy, saying it discourages the major providers from investing in their own infrastructure, while some independent carriers raised concerns that it would make it more difficult for them to compete against larger players.

Telus had defended it as a way to boost competition in regions where it doesn't have its own network infrastructure, which then improves affordability for customers.

A previous version of the framework initially kicked in May 2024 on a limited basis, when the regulator began requiring Bell and Telus to give competitors — including both big and small companies — access to their fibre-to-the-home networks, in exchange for a fee.

While those rules initially applied only in Ontario and Quebec, the CRTC then announced last August they would be extended to networks owned by telephone companies countrywide.

The CRTC chose to apply the policy only to existing fibre networks, in recognition "that building out fibre is expensive." Any new fibre infrastructure built by the large telecoms can't be made available to competitors for five years.

But the federal government then asked the commission to reconsider whether the Big Three providers should be able to act as wholesalers under the rules, citing concern about the viability of smaller internet providers to act as alternatives.

The CRTC opened a consultation into the matter and issued a temporary decision this past February that upheld the policy, while continuing its review.

In June, the CRTC said it determined its framework effectively balances the need for both competition and investment, while only having a "modest" near-term effect on the market share of regional carriers.

Ottawa had until Aug. 13 to uphold or alter the CRTC's ruling.

"By immediately increasing competition and consumer choice, the CRTC's decision aims to reduce the cost of high-speed internet for Canadians and will contribute toward our broader mandate to bring down costs across the board," Joly said Wednesday.

Bell, along with Rogers and the Canadian Telecommunications Association, had called for the federal government to overturn the regulator's decision.

Bell responded to the February decision by cutting $500 million in investment plans this year and slowing its fibre network build by 1.5 million locations it had intended to connect.

Meanwhile, Telus began offering fibre internet service throughout Ontario and Quebec last November under the wholesale regime, saying it planned to extend its offerings to the Atlantic provinces too.

Telus president and CEO Darren Entwistle commended the federal government's decision, calling it "a landmark ruling that reinforces Canada's commitment to competition, choice, innovation and nation-building infrastructure investment."

Last month, the company announced it would spend $2 billion to deliver broadband services across Ontario and Quebec over the next five years — an investment it attributed to the CRTC's wholesale fibre framework.

"This decision affirms that public policy in our country is guided by due process, a national diversity of voices, evidence and the long-term interests of Canadians," Entwistle said in a statement.

"It sends a strong signal to consumers, businesses and investors that the Canadian regulatory system is robust, transparent and effective in balancing the needs of stakeholders, and enabling government policy."

Bell representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.