As we wrote earlier, yesterday saw coverage of two distinct appeals to cabinet. TELUS filed an appeal on Wednesday that covers the same CRTC decisions as Bell/Bell Aliant.
The Bell and TELUS appeal argues that the CRTC’s decision to mandate resale of its fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network will inhibit investment in next generation infrastructure.
MTS Allstream is arguing that the lack of access to unbundled ethernet access will serve to limit competition in the supply of next generation networks to the business market.
The applications should not come as a surprise.
As mentioned in December, I had questions about the statistics upon which the Commission based its decision under appeal by MTS Allstream. At the time, I asked:
How can we be sure its conclusion is correct for all markets across Canada?
I have to wonder if the Public Works / DND dispute with Bell and TELUS could be resolved any easier had the CRTC had ruled in favour of MTS Allstream in Decision 2008-118? That case may demonstrate that there could be a difference in how to regulate (or forbear from regulating) the very large enterprise market versus the smaller business markets.
The CRTC’s Telecom Policy pronouncement 2009-34 [also part of the MTS Allstream appeal] launched a proceeding that considers the feasibility of an unbundled ADSL access service. This does not go far enough for MTS Allstream to serve its business customers’ networks.
The Bell application was equally foreshadowed by the fundamental disagreement between the ILECs and the language contained in Decision 2008-117. I described this in January and the CRTC affirmed that interpretation last week.
While Cabinet has until December 2009 to deal with these applications, there are fundamental issues at stake that beg for a more urgent handling. In both cases, we can see requests for a statement on how this government views the evolution of next generation network services in Canada.
Broadband policy is more than simply improving accessibility in rural markets. Direction from the government could determine the availability of next generation services for businesses and consumers, impacting productivity and the ability to lead an information economy as we emerge from this recession.
Will these applications to the Governor-in-Council drive a policy framework for digital infrastructure – accelerating development of a vision for a Digital Canada?