CRTC orders some incumbent disclosure to CNOC in disaggregated regime consultation

In a dispute between a trade organization representing wholesale-based internet service providers (ISPs) and facilities-based ISPs over the amount of information the latter should disclose in a proceeding on how to reconfigure the disaggregated wholesale internet regime, the CRTC has ordered the swift disclosure of some of the information wholesale-based ISPs were seeking. In its Thursday decision, the CRTC directed BCE Inc., Bragg Communications Inc., Cogeco Inc., Quebecor Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp., Shaw Communications Inc., and Telus Corp. to disclose a certain amount of information -- including the locations of incumbent local exchange carrier central offices and cable carrier sites -- to the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC). The commission declined, however, to order the disclosure of the number of aggregated wholesale HSA service end-users per province, saying that the harm to incumbents from the disclosure would outweigh the public interest. In a separate Thursday letter not yet posted to the website, the CRTC directed Bell to disclose information on the company's average central office (CO) "make-ready cost." The information, the commission wrote, "would inform competitors of what to expect when establishing a disaggregated point of interconnection (POI) without providing any insights to estimate Bell Canada’s supplier discounts." Incumbents must make their disclosures by Sep. 1, with replies due two weeks later on Sep. 14. At stake in the regulator's directions around disclosure is just how much money wholesale-based ISPs will have to spend to gain access to end-users in a new disaggregated wholesale regime, and upon what information competitors will be able to build their business cases. Under the older aggregated regime currently in use, wholesale-based providers connect to one point in a telco’s network, or a limited number of points in a cableco’s network, to obtain wholesale service. The idea behind the disaggregated regime was that it would include access to fibre-to-the-home networks in exchange for the smaller, wholesale-based providers building their own transport links to individual incumbent central offices or head ends. The CRTC announced the move toward the disaggregated regime in 2015; though initially supported by CNOC, the group sounded the alarm that the system had turned out to be “unworkable” in 2017, and asked the regulator to reconsider aspects of the regime. The CRTC then acknowledged that the level of disaggregation may need to be reconsidered, initiating a consultation in June and suspending its proceeding to set final rates for the regime. Last October, CNOC had requested a swath information about how the incumbents networks were configured, and argued that it could not meaningfully participate in the CRTC's proceeding on the matter without such information. "This lack of disclosure deprives CNOC and other interested parties of bare minimum levels of information that are needed to participate in this proceeding and scrutinize the disaggregated HSA service configurations of the Incumbents, let alone more detailed information that would enable CNOC and others to propose a workable disaggregated regime,” CNOC argued at the time. The incumbent telecom companies objected to the request, citing competitive sensitivity. “The type of confidential information sought by CNOC is clearly competitive sensitive information that if disclosed, may be used by interested parties to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors, causing direct and significant harm to us,” Bell wrote at the time. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

CRTC orders some incumbent disclosure to CNOC in disaggregated regime consultation

News | August 13, 2021

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CRTC orders some incumbent disclosure to CNOC in disaggregated regime consultation

News | August 13, 2021

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