- $100-million cost impact causes
Bell to scale back Wireless Home Internet rollout in smaller towns
and rural communities by approximately 20%
- CRTC order comes just a week after Competition Bureau warned of
the negative impacts of unrealistic wholesale rates
MONTRÉAL, Aug. 19, 2019 /CNW
Telbec/ - Following the CRTC's August
15 decision to significantly lower the wholesale rates that
third-party Internet resellers pay to access network infrastructure
built by providers like Bell, the company today announced the
estimated $100-million impact of the
CRTC's order will reduce the scope of Bell's broadband Internet
buildout for smaller towns and rural communities by 20%, or
approximately 200,000 households.
"The CRTC's decision transfers capital from providers like Bell
who are building Canada's modern broadband networks to wholesale
resellers that invest little to nothing – and there's no assurance
or requirement from the CRTC that any of it will be dedicated to
network buildouts or otherwise passed on to Canadian consumers,"
said Mirko Bibic, Bell's Chief
Operating Officer. "Putting this kind of unexpected and retroactive
tax on capital investment is not the way to ensure the continued
development of Canada's Internet infrastructure."
In 2018, Bell announced the rollout of its new Wireless Home
Internet (WHI) service to bring high-speed Internet
access to houses, farms and small businesses in areas that are
difficult for providers to reach with fibre or traditional cable
Internet access. Bell's original WHI rollout plan to serve 800,000
small-town households in Manitoba,
Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada was expanded to more than 1.2
million locations following the federal government's introduction
of the Accelerated Investment Incentive in November 2018. Bell has already rolled out WHI
service to more than 130 small communities in Ontario and Québec.
However, the estimated cost impact to Bell of the CRTC's
decision exceeds $100 million, most
of it in the form of retroactive payments to resellers, requiring
the company to reduce the scope of its WHI buildout plan by 200,000
households, to approximately 1 million locations.
On August 7, the federal
Competition Bureau issued a report on the state of Internet
competition that concluded Canadians are "well-served by world
class broadband networks" and "generally satisfied with their
Internet service provider." Emphasizing that the CRTC should set
wholesale access rates at realistic levels, the Bureau warned of
"the potential negative effects that a wholesale access regime can
have on the incentive for facilities-based competitors to make the
necessary investments to ensure that Canadians are served by world
class networks."
"Bell has made great strides in connecting smaller communities
with our innovative WHI technology, and we expanded the program due
to the federal Accelerated Investment Incentive that has advanced
capital investment across a range of Canadian industries," said Mr.
Bibic. "It is unfortunate that the CRTC's decision will hinder the
positive momentum we've built in bringing full broadband Internet
access to rural and other underserved communities."
About Bell
Bell is Canada's largest communications
company, providing advanced broadband wireless, TV, Internet and
business communication services to customers in every region of the
country. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with
leading broadcasting and content-creation assets in television,
radio, out of home and digital media. Founded in Montréal in 1880,
Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. To learn more, please visit
Bell.ca or BCE.ca.
The Bell Let's Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health
with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's
Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community care and access,
research and workplace leadership initiatives across the country.
To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
Media inquiries:
Marc
Choma
613-785-0622
marc.choma@bell.ca
@Bell_News
Investor inquiries:
Thane Fotopoulos
514-870-4619
thane.fotopoulos@bell.ca
SOURCE Bell Canada