CRTC Review of Wholesale Wireline Services and Associated Policies

Following a public hearing and extensive review of the regulatory status of the Canadian wholesale services framework, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a decision to continue to mandate wholesale high-speed access services -- additionally including fibre-access facilities -- to encourage competition in the Canadian broadband Internet market. As part of the decision, incumbent telecom and cable providers will be required to share their network with competitors that provide Internet, television, and telephone services in the retail market. 

The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC), an association of independent telecommunications service providers and an intervenor in the proceeding, retained Analysis Group to assess the state of investment and competitiveness of the wholesale telecommunications services market in Canada. Analysis Group Vice Presidents Marissa Ginn and Markus von Wartburg filed a report and testified at the CRTC hearing that a strengthened regulatory wholesale regime with mandated access to next-generation fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks can encourage competition in the broadband market, offering consumers more choice and competitive broadband prices.

In its decision, the CRTC concluded that large incumbent companies possess market power in the provision of wholesale high-speed access services and will have to make these services available to competitors, including fibre-access services.