CRTC rejects Bell request for expedited process in seeking access to Rogers’s TTC network

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Canada’s telecommunications regulator has rejected BCE Inc.‘s BCE-T request to speed up its ruling on access to Toronto’s subway wireless network, now owned by Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T, saying the telecom will have to wait for the 40-day procedure to play out.

Since Rogers acquired the rights to develop wireless service in the Toronto Transit Commission subway system in April, its rivals Bell Canada and Telus Corp. T-T have argued for a joint model where all three telecoms would build the network together.

On June 15, Bell filed an application asking the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to intervene, alleging that Rogers is attempting to gain a commercial advantage by delaying access for non-Rogers customers for “as long as possible.”

Citing the “urgency” of the situation, Bell asked the CRTC to expedite its application and rule by July 1.

Rogers has vowed to provide access to all customers through “good-faith commercial negotiations,” with arbitration available if the telecoms are unable to reach agreements. In a June 19 response to Bell’s application, Rogers said there is no credible basis for deviating from typical procedure.

The CRTC agreed. In a letter to the companies sent June 23, posted on its website, the CRTC said it would not expedite the process, as doing so would unduly limit the ability for others to participate in the consultation process.

“The public interest would best be served by maintaining the standard time frames of 30 days for parties to submit interventions and 10 days for Bell to submit reply comments,” said Leila Wright, the CRTC’s telecom sector director, in the letter.

The typical Part 1 application process undergoes a 40-day consultation before being considered by the CRTC, a process which itself can take months.

Ms. Wright also urged the companies to work together to resolve “what mainly appear to be contractual and technical matters” to avoid the need for “unnecessary regulatory intervention.”

Bell’s application asks the CRTC to grant it access to install its own equipment, and prohibit Rogers from on-boarding its own customers onto the network until other providers can do the same.