IP: Two back-to-back major decions of the CRTC to increase competition in high-speed Internet access.

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Permission granted to distribute worldwide.
>
> -=Francois=-
> Two back-to-back major decions of the CRTC to increase competition in
> high-speed Internet access.
>
> Montreal, August 21st 2000 @ 15:38PM,
> by Francois D. Menard, Consultant, fmenard () fmmo ca
>
> On friday August 18th 2000 and today, August 21st 2000, the Canadian
> Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has released two
> decisions which may have a significant impact on the outcome of open access
> in the U.S.
>
> The first order is entitled:
>
> Order CRTC 2000-788: CRTC orders Videotron to offer resellers lower rates
> for high-speed Internet services. Available at the following URL:
> http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/Orders/2000/O2000-788.htm
>
> The second order is entitled:
>
> Order CRTC 2000-789: Terms and rates approved for large cable carriers'
> higher speed access service. Available at the following URL:
> http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/Orders/2000/O2000-789.htm
>
> With respect to CRTC order 2000-788, the seven page document explains that
> Videotron has to immediately provide the resale of its cable modem services
> at the fixed price of 22.46 Canadian dollars per month to anybody who
> registers with the CRTC as a reseller of high-speed Internet access
> services. The registration process is as simple as sending an email to the
> CRTC saying that one considers itself as a reseller. There are no fees or
> other conditions. There are no foreign ownership restrictions that apply to
> resellers.
>
> The price has been set at 22.46$, which is 25% below the lowest retail 
rates
> of Videotron of 29.95$ as required by the CRTC. Previously to this order,
> Videotron would only make services available for resale at the price of
> 29.95$ which was the reason for a complicated dispute between the Canadian
> Association of Internet Providers (CAIP, www.caip.ca) and Videotron. The
> CRTC was asked by CAIP to statute on the non-compliance with CRTC Decision
> 99-11 (http://www.crtc.gc.ca/INTERNET/1999/8045/02/d99-11.htm).
>
> The availability of services sold under resale agreements is expected to 
last
> until mid-2001 until rates based on interconnection rather than resale are
> implemented in the marketplace.
>
> With respect to CRTC order 2000-789, the 47 page document explains the term
> and rates approved for large cable carrier's higher speed access services.
> In this decision, the CRTC orders Canadian cable carriers to provide 
service
> to ISP's at rates ranging from 19.00 to 21.50 Canadian dollars per month,
> excluding the costs of the point of interconnection. Those costs will be
> approved in another process to be launched imminently by the CRTC. In order
> 2000-789, the CRTC makes many references to the effect that industry will
> need to participate in a CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC,
> http://www.crtc.gc.ca/cisc_e.htm) working group to negotiate the technical
> underpinnings of the interconnection between ISPs and incumbent cable
> carriers. The CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) is an
> organization established by the CRTC to assist in developing information,
> procedures and guidelines as may be required in various aspects of the
> CRTC's regulatory activities. CISC is the same formal body which is
> addressing the nature of interconnections between local exchange carriers,
> wireless service providers and competitive local exchange carriers. The
> technology which has been agreed upon to provide equal access for the
> Canadian market is source-address routing rather than so-called
> "open-access" technologies based on the non-standardized Point to Point
> protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) protocol used in several proprietary access
> concentration routers.
>
> By way of requiring that issues be debated as part of a CISC working group,
> the CRTC is creating the very first public forum mandated to look at the
> architecture of public points of interconnection between ISPs and incumbent
> carriers. The attendance of CISC meetings is open to all parties interested
> and the consensus that will be developed in this new working group will be
> of great importance for further developments on network-layer
> interconnections between ISPs and facilities-based carriers.
>
> In conclusion, the immediate availability of high-speed access services for
> resale across Canada and the expected availability of cable modem-based
> last-mile links under approved facilities-based carrier rates will
> undoubtebly dramatically change the landscape of telecommunications over
> the next few months. Competitors will be allowed to innovate and
> end-users will be presented with better services at lower costs.
>
> END
>
> -=Francois=-