Quebecor headquarters is seen in Montreal on Thursday, May 11, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
GATINEAU, Que. – Quebecor Inc. CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau slammed Bell Canada’s recent warnings to the CRTC that it could further scale back investments in its fibre network, saying the company is “exasperating Canadians.”
Speaking in French, Péladeau said Thursday “it’s high time” that Bell, along with Telus Corp., play by the same rules as cable distributors when it comes to letting smaller carriers sell internet services to customers using their networks.
The federal telecommunications regulator is in the midst of a hearing that could affect whether it expands its November decision that required Bell and Telus to temporarily allow wholesale access to their fibre networks in Ontario and Quebec.
Péladeau says that decision has started to put an end to the “regulatory asymmetry” that places cable companies like Quebecor, which were already required to offer resale over their networks, at a disadvantage compared with telephone companies.
He told commissioners that with Quebecor-subsidiary Videotron’s wireline footprint still limited outside Quebec, allowing the company to sell to customers over its rivals’ networks would help it expand its internet offerings in other provinces.
He says Bell’s ongoing appeals of the November ruling are proof of its “habitual obstruction” and accused the company of seeking to protect a “near-monopoly” on fibre internet services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:QBR.B)
