Independent telecom TekSavvy says the federal regulator must level the playing field for smaller providers when it comes to internet competition. The TekSavvy Solutions Inc. logo is seen in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, TekSavvy Solutions Inc.
TekSavvy, an independent telecom company based in Chatham, Ontario, emphasized the urgent need for the federal regulator to ensure fair competition in the internet market, especially as the landscape for small providers continues to diminish.
During its appearance before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on Friday, TekSavvy stressed the importance of creating a national wholesale framework. This framework would enable providers to offer fibre internet services to customers by paying a fee to access networks built by their competitors.
For TekSavvy, this regulatory proceeding is deemed as the most crucial in its history, considering it has seen a significant decline in subscribers, losing over 100,000 since its peak. The company highlighted the challenging regulatory environment faced by wholesalers as a contributing factor to its subscriber loss.
Andy Kaplan-Myrth, TekSavvy's vice-president of regulatory and carrier affairs, clarified that while the company is not currently up for sale or facing closure, it has been relying on hope for far too long. He emphasized that sustained business operations cannot depend solely on hope indefinitely.
Last November, the CRTC announced temporary measures requiring Bell Canada and Telus Corp. to grant competitors access to their fibre-to-the-home networks in Ontario and Quebec starting from May. Vicky Eatrides, the chairwoman of the CRTC, acknowledged earlier in the week the diminishing competition among internet providers, with many independent providers being acquired by larger companies and those remaining having fewer subscribers compared to before.
