Every nation has its own way of regulating communications services. In the United States, for example, telcos are not required to sell wholesale access to "fiber to the home" facilities to competitors, though they must do so on copper facilities.
No U.S. cable companies are required to sell competitors wholesale access. This is not the case in Canada, where cable companies as well as telcos have to provide wholesale access, as telcos do (at least that is my understanding of the matter).
Apparently there has been dispute about whether the wholesale obligations also include the availability of wholesale access at the same speeds a facilities-based telco or cable company must provide to potential wholesale partners.
The CTRC apparently has ruled that this must be done, and that the obligations apply to cable as well as telco services.
"This will enable competitors to make use of the cable companies' services just as easily as those of the telephone companies," the Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission now says. The CRTC says telcos, at least, are allowed to mark up wholesale prices to "10 percent above network costs."
In the U.S. market, telcos have argued that provides an insufficient profit margin, since many other costs also are involved. Competitors, on the other hand, likely will argue that the fees are too high. It's just another example of channel conflict in the ecosystem.
The decision does appear to mean that, for the moment, competitors will in most cases have a choice of two underlying providers in each local market, and will be able to match prevailing speeds offered by the telcos and cable companies in each market.
CRTC ruling
