Reuters — Canada’s top wireless firms will now be required to accept requests for access to their networks from smaller companies, particularly those serving rural areas, and also to negotiate on wholesale prices, the country’s telecom regulator said Wednesday.
The ruling comes as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) looks to lower the cost of cellphone plans and increase competition.
For years, Canadian consumers have complained about high cellular bills, which rank among the steepest in the world, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has threatened to take action if the providers failed to cut bills by 25 per cent.
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The CRTC has since been under pressure to increase competition and lower prices where three companies — Bell, Telus and Rogers — control over 80 per cent of the mobile subscriber market.
Antitrust regulators for this reason have stalled the $16 billion acquisition of Shaw Communications by Rogers, on the grounds that the deal would further reduce competition.
In April last year, CRTC ruled that large telecoms firms must offer wholesale wireless access to so-called mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) — smaller outfits that can then resell the capacity at reduced retail prices and pass on the savings to consumers — but with several stipulations that were seen as wins for big companies.
In Wednesday’s ruling — which, along with the nationwide big three, will also apply to SaskTel, Saskatchewan’s Crown-owned phone and cellular utility — CRTC said the service will be mandated for seven years, giving the regional providers time to build and expand their wireless networks.
The CRTC said Wednesday its new ruling is “opening the door for more companies, in particular smaller regional wireless providers in more rural areas, to provide greater competition and choice to more Canadians by accessing the wireless networks of Canada’s largest providers.”
In addition, prices for MVNO access must be negotiated between the providers.
Bell, Telus and Rogers did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
— Reporting for Reuters by Eva Mathews in Bangalore; includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.
