CRTC says its wholesale internet rules balance need for competition and investment

Networking cables in a server bay are shown in Toronto on Wednesday, November 8, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Canada’s telecommunications regulator has once again determined the country’s largest internet companies should be able to provide service to customers using fibre networks built by their rivals — as long as they are doing so outside their core regions.

It marks the CRTC’s final decision on the contentious matter — which has pitted Telus Corp. against BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., along with many smaller providers — after a lengthy process filled with several interim rulings and reconsiderations.

Bell has argued against the policy, saying it discourages major providers from investing in their own infrastructure, while some independent carriers have raised concerns that it could make it more difficult for them to compete against larger players.

Meanwhile, Telus has defended it as a way to boost competition in regions where it doesn’t have its own network infrastructure, such as Ontario and Quebec, which then improves affordability for customers.

The CRTC says in its latest decision that the rules effectively balance the need for both competition and investment, while only having a “modest” near-term effect on the market share of regional carriers.

It says it plans to closely monitor the effect of the framework on the industry, noting there have been “early indicators of improved competitive intensity” but that the extent to which the new rules “will ultimately be successful is still unknown.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2025.

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press

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