Bell Canada Seeks To Stifle Market Competition

Proposed changes will reduce telecommunication options for Canadians

For Immediate Release
Vancouver, April 6, 2008


Bell Canada is heading to court to reduce the amount of competition it faces in the phone and Internet services market. For a decade now, the CRTC has mandated that Bell allow third-party companies to rent its network, serving the public interest by encouraging competition and improving telecommunication services. An appeal filed by Bell with the Federal Court of Canada on Wednesday seeks to change that. If their appeal is successful, it could jeopardize smaller phone and internet service providers in Canada.


Bell insists that it does not need to continue to allow access to its network as it believes there is already sufficient competition in the market from cable and cell phone companies and voice over internet protocol (VOIP). The company also says access to their network was provided so third-party companies could have a base to build their own networks, which Bell claims has not been done.


Internet Technology Consultant Russell McOrmond finds faults with both of Bell’s arguments: “It is absurd for Bell to claim that there is adequate competition in the Canadian market. For any given customer premises there will be wires into the premises of at most one cable company and at most one phone company, with many locations outside of the urban core not even having both choices. The only way to change your cable provider is to move across the country. What we have in essence is a duopoly of service.”


“In addition, it is misleading for Bell to suggest that these competitors are not building their own networks. When a third-party business hires Bell as a wholesale DSL provider it is only hiring a connection between the customer premises and the third-party’s facilities. Within this connection it isn’t really ‘Internet’ traffic at all yet, but a point-to-point connection (not unlike a leased line or other type of connection) between the customer and the Internet service provider. From that point onward the competing ISP builds their own network, and through various business decisions sets the policy for that network.”


Canadians for Democratic Media National Coordinator Steve Anderson agrees: “Bell’s arguments are unsubstantiated. What they are really trying to do is suffocate smaller competitors out of the market. Canadians deserve to have a number of options when it comes to choosing their phone or Internet provider. More competition will result in better service options.”


Bell Canada is already under heavy criticism about its network management policies after it was discovered last week that the company was limiting Internet service to some consumers, a process called ‘throttling’.

Canadians can learn more at http://democraticmedia.ca/



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Campaign for Democratic Media! is a national, non-profit, non-partisan media reform network working to increase informed public participation in Canadian media policy formation. They strive to generate policies that will produce a more competitive diverse, and public service-oriented, media system with a strong non-profit and non-commercial sector.

Contact:

Steve Anderson

National Coordinator

Campaign For Democratic Media

[email protected]

Phone:(604) 837-5730