Bell responds to CRTC decision by cutting fibre investment

BCE Inc. has announced its decision to cut capital expenditures and reduce the expansion of high-speed fiber Internet services, following a recent decision by the CRTC. Bell's decision to reduce planned network investment by over $1 billion in 2024-25, including a minimum of $500 to $600 million in 2024, directly stems from the CRTC's decision to mandate competitors’ access to last-mile fibre. Prior to the CRTC's decision, Bell had plans to bring high-speed fiber internet to hundreds of thousands of additional homes and businesses in various communities, with a near-term target of expanding its fiber network to nine million locations by the end of 2025. However, the recent CRTC decision has forced Bell to reconsider these plans and reduce its 2025 build target to 8.3 million locations. “When others scaled back investment at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bell leaned in and accelerated our annual capital expenditures to historic levels to provide Canadians with the reliable connectivity that they needed,” Bell president and CEO Mirko Bibic said in a press release issued Monday. Bibic noted that Bell invested $18 billion since 2020 in its networks and to expand its high-speed fibre internet across Quebec, Ontario, Atlantic Canada and Manitoba. “When public policy conditions in telecommunications support major investments and job creation, Canadians in small and large communities benefit directly from the best network technology available,” he stated. Bell's fiber network currently serves more than seven million homes and businesses, with a substantial presence in Quebec and Ontario. The CRTC's decision mandates that Bell opens its fiber network in these provinces but does not require access to fiber-to-the-premises networks in western Canada, where there are over three million fiber locations already in place. This asymmetrical approach, according to Bell, leaves western Canadian consumers without the benefits of increased competition, better service, improved value, and lower prices that result from Bell's fiber network expansion.

Bell responds to CRTC decision by cutting fibre investment

News | November 6, 2023

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Bell responds to CRTC decision by cutting fibre investment

News | November 6, 2023

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