Today, we learned what the Government of Canada thinks about Bell’s petition to overturn the CRTC 2015-326 Telecom Regulatory Policy, which will open fibre networks to wholesale access. I’m not sure if anyone is surprised by this decision, since there were no indications that the Liberal cabinet (namely, Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development) was predisposed to favour Bell’s position. In fact, there hasn’t been much indication of what the Liberal government’s stance is on telecom policy, or how it differs from the previous government. As a result, many are looking at this decision as a “first hint” of what to expect.
So, let me join the speculation about what this 200-word government statement really means:
First, cabinet recognizes that “wholesale broadband is a proven regulatory tool for enabling retail competition in the Internet service market”. This aligns with the increased legitimacy granted to wholesale access by the previous government, along with the CRTC’s decisions in recent years. The wholesale access regime is no longer imagined as some temporary stepping stone to facilities-based competition; mandated wholesale is here to stay. If the CRTC wants to focus the scope of facilities-based competition on the middle-mile, that’s fine, but this government values retail competition and consumer choice.
This government also seems to be playing it safe and leaving its options open. Supporting the CRTC is the default choice for cabinet, and there’s no strong reason or principled policy here for doing otherwise. The language used by the Minister echoes the Conservatives’ consumer-focused telecom populism, but it also indicates that the government’s telecom policy boat is maintaining its current heading. If this continues, the Liberals could simply avoid leaving their mark on telecom policy and manage the file according to a familiar pattern: espousing the importance of competition, supporting access to incumbent facilities, and distributing one-time injections of funding to individual broadband projects.
The other option would be for the Liberals to do something distinctive, which is probably what CRTC Chairman Blais was hoping for when he brought up the lack of a broadband policy in this country. There’s still no reason for me to believe that any distinctive digital policy in the works, and if it is, it will likely be a long time coming as the Liberals have plenty already on their plate. In the short term, the Bell-MTS deal could be another opportunity for the government to spell out what its vision of a competitive telecom industry looks like. However, my guess is that we will learn more from the government’s decision in that deal than whatever brief statement accompanies it.