SME telephony markets deregulated

Bell Canada has been given clearance by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to set its own fixed line telephony rates for SMEs in 59 large urban markets across Ontario and Quebec, including Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. The incumbent telco’s rates for small businesses in smaller metropolitan areas were deemed by the regulator to lack sufficient competition to warrant deregulation. Recent deregulation in the residential telephony sector has already seen Bell, its sister telco Bell Aliant, and fellow regional incumbents Telus, MTS Allstream and SaskTel, offer discounted prices for home telephone services and introduce options for consumers to bundle landlines with other services, including ADSL internet and TV, for further discounts. The rule changes have allowed the wireline operators to compete more effectively with cablecos such as Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco, Videotron, Access and Eastlink.