The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada’s telecom regulator, has lowered the rates for wholesale broadband access to spark competition among internet providers.
The lower rates announced by the CRTC mean that it will be cheaper for smaller internet providers to buy broadband capacity on the networks owned by Canada’s big telecom providers. The CRTC requires that the large cable and telephone companies make available parts of their network, at rates set by the regulator, to improve competition and lower prices.
In 2016, the CRTC set interim wholesale rates after it decided the rates proposed by the telecom companies were not "just and reasonable." The regulator says the final rates are 15% to 43% lower than the interim rates for monthly capacity, and 3% to 77% lower for access rates.
Major telecom companies such as Rogers, Bell and Telus have warned that their investments in expanding infrastructure could be impacted if wholesale rates are set too low.
