Bell Canada, the company that owes its fortune to nearly a century of public investment, is fighting that rule, saying that it and it alone should have the right to sell access to its new fiber networks. The CRTC, Canada's telcoms regulator, told them to pound sand, but they've appealed to the new Liberal government.
John Tory, the mayor of Toronto -- and a former cable executive -- has taken up their cause, sending a letter to the federal government demanding that his city's electronic nervous system be owned by a single company that gets to enjoys billions in public subsidies in the form of rights-of-way and access to infrastructure, with no public duty and no competition. He was joined in this position by Ottawa mayor Jim Watson.
By contrast, the mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi, submitted a 28-page letter to the feds saying that letting other companies use Bell's lines didn't go far enough: Calgary and other cities should build and operate their own electronic infrastructure.
The Canadian government has received many duplicative comments in support of Bell, many using identical language to the letters sent by Bell's own top executives.
The federal government decision on the appeal may be months away, but the competing submissions paint dramatically different pictures of how Canadian cities are addressing the critical need for affordable high-speed Internet services.
It suggests that Toronto and Ottawa are seemingly content to wait for the large telecom companies to install new networks and have no problem with the higher consumer and business costs that reduced competition would bring. Calgary, meanwhile, is actively building competitive networks, monitoring municipal developments around the world, and promoting a more open, competitive environment. All the mayors claim their cities are working to become leading hubs of innovation, yet only one seems to be doing much about it.
Moreover, Calgary focused on the need for cities to build their own network infrastructure to complement the services offered by the telecom giants. It noted the public interest benefits that arise from building municipal networks, which offer the chance for more competition and ensure that cities are not held hostage by large companies threatening to delay or withdraw network investments.
Calgary also reminded the government that companies like Bell have long enjoyed benefits from public funding, protection from competition, and access to municipal infrastructure. While the new fibre connections do not rely on legacy infrastructure, their powerful market positions are directly linked to those earlier privileged positions.
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Why Mayors John Tory and Jim Watson Are Against Competition for Access to Affordable Fast Broadband - Michael Geist
John Tory, the mayor of Toronto -- and a former cable executive -- has taken up their cause, sending a letter to the federal government demanding that his city's electronic nervous system be owned by a single company that gets to enjoys billions in public subsidies in the form of rights-of-way and access to infrastructure, with no public duty and no competition. He was joined in this position by Ottawa mayor Jim Watson.
By contrast, the mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi, submitted a 28-page letter to the feds saying that letting other companies use Bell's lines didn't go far enough: Calgary and other cities should build and operate their own electronic infrastructure.
The Canadian government has received many duplicative comments in support of Bell, many using identical language to the letters sent by Bell's own top executives.
The federal government decision on the appeal may be months away, but the competing submissions paint dramatically different pictures of how Canadian cities are addressing the critical need for affordable high-speed Internet services.
It suggests that Toronto and Ottawa are seemingly content to wait for the large telecom companies to install new networks and have no problem with the higher consumer and business costs that reduced competition would bring. Calgary, meanwhile, is actively building competitive networks, monitoring municipal developments around the world, and promoting a more open, competitive environment. All the mayors claim their cities are working to become leading hubs of innovation, yet only one seems to be doing much about it.
Moreover, Calgary focused on the need for cities to build their own network infrastructure to complement the services offered by the telecom giants. It noted the public interest benefits that arise from building municipal networks, which offer the chance for more competition and ensure that cities are not held hostage by large companies threatening to delay or withdraw network investments.
Calgary also reminded the government that companies like Bell have long enjoyed benefits from public funding, protection from competition, and access to municipal infrastructure. While the new fibre connections do not rely on legacy infrastructure, their powerful market positions are directly linked to those earlier privileged positions.
more
Why Mayors John Tory and Jim Watson Are Against Competition for Access to Affordable Fast Broadband - Michael Geist