TekSavvy urges CRTC to block Rogers service cutoff

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. is urgently asking the CRTC to block Rogers Communications Inc. from decommissioning its copper network facilities, according to a Part 1 application obtained by The Wire Report. Scheduled for next week, the move by Rogers would force TekSavvy to disconnect its wholesale services. According to the Part 1 application, not yet publicly available on the CRTC’s website at the time of publishing, Rogers is planning on removing the coaxial cables of two multi-dwelling units (MDUs) on Sherbourne Street in Toronto, Ont. The telecom will be replacing them with fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) facilities, infrastructure that is only available to wholesalers through disaggregated access. “This application concerns whether a carrier that provides regulated wholesale services can remove the facilities that allow for competition and replace them with facilities that do not,” wrote TekSavvy. In a statement to The Wire Report, a Rogers spokesperson explained that the incumbent gave TekSavvy notice of the planned changes in December via email. “We’ve been working with the property management at this apartment complex to install fibre-to-the-home access for residents,” said Rogers. “Last year, we provided all relevant service providers, including TekSavvy, with the required notice set out by the CRTC.” However, according to TekSavvy’s application, that notice was “improperly” sent on Dec. 4 to a single, unmonitored email account used for indexing and archiving internal emails. A contact list, provided to Rogers in February 2023, states that all notices sent to the unmonitored address are also to be sent to other monitored email addresses, explained TekSavvy. As a result, the independent telecom claims it was not aware of the planned disconnections laid out in the December notice until Rogers sent a “reminder notice” on May 15, this time sent to the correct list of addresses. Rogers stated that the disconnections are scheduled for June 4, 2024. “Despite regular meetings between TekSavvy and Rogers to discuss wholesale operations, Rogers staff did not mention the scheduled termination of services at the Sherbourne Street addresses,” said TekSavvy. TekSavvy pointed to a recent dispute between itself and Cogeco Inc. over a similar issue earlier this year, as well as another dispute with Rogers back in 2016. In both cases, the CRTC chose in favour of maintaining competitor access when carriers perform network changes or upgrades. TekSavvy said it reminded Rogers of the previous CRTC decisions and asked if it would “respect” them. “In response, Rogers stated that, ‘... is unable to delay the decommissioning, and Rogers is unable to support wholesale access to end-users at’ 191 and 201 Sherbourne Street as of 4 June 2024,” wrote TekSavvy. “To be clear, TekSavvy does not oppose network upgrades, which are important for many reasons, not least because they bring improved services to consumers. However, they must not be done at the expense of consumers or competition,” the company stated. According to its application, TekSavvy has 29 active customers at the affected addresses who are at risk of losing their services. In a plea for urgent relief, TekSavvy is calling on the CRTC to “preserve the status quo,” asking it to block Rogers’ removal of the existing facilities or make the FTTP facilities available at the current wholesale rate. “If Rogers were permitted to proceed with these network changes and competitors thereby lost the ability to connect and serve end users on the affected footprints, incumbent carriers would effectively have tacit permission to make network changes that deny competitors the ability to serve customers,” wrote TekSavvy, “reducing consumer choice and competition across their networks.” – Reporting by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca

TekSavvy urges CRTC to block Rogers service cutoff

News | May 30, 2024

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TekSavvy urges CRTC to block Rogers service cutoff

News | May 30, 2024

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