Canadian Regulator CRTC Saves Independent ISPs

[Steve]

fmenard123 writes "The Canadian telecommunications regulator, the CRTC, has affirmed in a decision released on March 3rd 2008 that DSL wholesale and Cable Modem wholesale will continue (PDF) until such time as a meaningful competitive source of supply of wholesale facilities develops. Aside from preserving the status-quo, the CRTC has also determined that unaggregated ADSL access (DSL wholesale for competitors who self-supply their facilities into telephone company central offices) is an essential service given the lack of unbundling for sub-loops. The CRTC ordered phone companies to re-price unaggregated DSL wholesale at forward-looking costs plus a mark-up of no more than 15%, opening the door for a significant reduction in the rates ISPs pay to the telephone companies for access to DSL wholesale. This decision has interesting implications for the US, in which the FCC was not able to overcome the legal attacks against its Computer II regulatory framework. Perhaps ISPs in the US need to look north to try to make their case again."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdot?i=Am9Q1X


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