Bell's Claims Against Telus: A Battle for Internet Access in Western Canada
In a recent filing with the CRTC,Bell has accused Telus of not providing a “functional wholesale fibre service” in Western Canada. This complaint, submitted on february 11, highlights Bell's frustrations with Telus adn seeks to enable Bell to offer wholesale internet services to residents in Alberta and british Columbia.
Robert Malcomson, who serves as Bell’s executive vice president and chief legal officer, stated that the company is urging the CRTC to foster more competition in the internet market within these provinces. He emphasized that consumers in B.C. and Alberta are already paying higher prices for broadband services. Unluckily,he claims that Telus has hindered competition by failing to deliver an effective wholesale fibre service.
As of now, Telus has not responded publicly regarding this matter before publication.
The Ongoing Dispute Over Wholesale Fibre Internet
This latest filing is part of an ongoing conflict between Bell and Telus concerning access to wholesale fibre internet. To recap briefly: The CRTC mandated that major internet providers must allow other companies access to their fibre networks so they can offer their own services.
Following this ruling, Telus began offering home internet services using Bell’s network in Ontario and Quebec. Initially resistant to this decision, Bell later announced plans to provide its own internet service using telus’ infrastructure in Western Canada.
The relationship between these two telecom giants hasn’t been smooth sailing since then. They have clashed repeatedly over various issues related to their respective regions' wholesale systems. For instance, both companies filed lawsuits against each other over television service disputes earlier this year. Recently, there were accusations from Telus claiming that Bell was obstructing its ability to attract new customers for fibre services in Ontario and Quebec.
Bell refuted these claims by asserting that it was actually Telus who had failed at providing a functional process for activating wholesale orders; however, when pressed on the issue by regulators like the CRTC—Bell took action through its recent filing.
Allegations of Deliberate Obstruction
Bell's February 11 submission alleges that for several months now; it has faced obstacles from Telus preventing it from launching its services effectively across Western Canada due largely “to various deliberate actions.” Specifically mentioned were complaints about how poorly organized the ordering system was for processing installation requests as well as issues surrounding access speeds promised at 1.5Gbps which were not being met adequately by telecommunication provider’s installations ordered through them during October last year when they first launched operations there utilizing said network infrastructure owned primarily by TELUS itself!
Bell pointed out concerns regarding how TELUS had implemented only manual processes instead of automating them despite previous assurances made back during discussions held with regulatory bodies like CRTC where timelines suggested automation would be ready sometime around June 2025! Instead what remains today appears mostly unchanged—still relying heavily upon outdated methods rather than modernizing approaches needed urgently!
For further details on this matter check out the full document here.
A Closer Look at Anti-Competitive Practices
The situation escalated when both parties exchanged accusations regarding interference affecting each other's abilities within specific markets such as Ontario & Quebec recently too! In fact just last month while discussing those matters we learned about some underlying technical difficulties experienced which led one side blaming another entirely without acknowledging any faults themselves either way!