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Canadian Regulator CRTC Saves Independent ISPs
fmenard123 writes "The Canadian telecommunications regulator, the CRTC, has affirmed in a decision released on March 3rd 2008 that DSL wholesale and Cable Modem wholesale will continue (PDF) until such time as a meaningful competitive source of supply of wholesale facilities develops. Aside from preserving the status-quo, the CRTC has also determined that unaggregated ADSL access (DSL wholesale for competitors who self-supply their facilities into telephone company central offices) is an essential service given the lack of unbundling for sub-loops. The CRTC ordered phone companies to re-price unaggregated DSL wholesale at forward-looking costs plus a mark-up of no more than 15%, opening the door for a significant reduction in the rates ISPs pay to the telephone companies for access to DSL wholesale. This decision has interesting implications for the US, in which the FCC was not able to overcome the legal attacks against its Computer II regulatory framework. Perhaps ISPs in the US need to look north to try to make their case again."
Although they have to provide access to their infrastructure, Sympatico, Telus etc. are still the reseller of bandwidth to the small ISP. In my view, this is still anti-competitive in that the independent ISP continues to get raped by being forced to pay for bandwidth to the upstream big telco. The telco is essentially getting the bandwidth for free, while collecting revenue from the small ISP for the same commodity. It doesn't seem fair that the telco can be a wholesale bandwidth seller and at the same time compete directly with its wholesale customers by targeting last mile consumers.
If the CRTC really wanted to level the playing field, they would prevent the wholesalers like Bell Sympatico from selling directly to the consumer market. Then we'd see real competition and growth in the ISP industry.