Canada's telecom regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), will officially implement its new capacity-based wholesale billing measure for the country's competitive service providers beginning Wednesday, Feb. 1.
All of Canada's incumbent telcos and cable operators, sans the Bell companies which had to make interim modifications to their plans while the CRTC addresses concerns raised by the Canadian Network Operators Consortium, can move forward with implementing their flat rate billing plans.
"We are moving ahead with the implementation as planned to ensure that independent ISPs will continue to offer competitive and innovative services to Canadians," said Leonard Katz, the CRTC's interim chairman, adding that "Some temporary adjustments have been made to ensure a smooth transition to the new billing regime and to ensure consumers are not inconvenienced."
Under the interim plan, competitive ISPs like TekSavvy that rent copper lines from Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE) will be able to either combine their business and residential Internet traffic, or put them into separate bins.
Last November, the CRTC ruled that incumbent telcos and cable MSOs will be allowed to charge wholesale customers a flat monthly fee.
While the CRTC regulates the wholesale rates ISPs pay, they don't regulate how ISPs price the broadband data packages for consumers.
For more:
- TeleGeography has this article
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