Court awards big telcos, cablecos temporary stay over wholesale rates

Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal has issued a temporary stay of a regulatory decision that seeks to force the country’s largest fixed ISPs to offer smaller rivals lower wholesale access rates, reports CBC. In August the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ordered Bell Canada (including Bell MTS), Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw, Telus and Videotron to reduce wholesale tariffs, backdated to 2016. A group of six telcos/cablecos including Bell and Rogers asked the court to overrule the decision, resulting in the new wholesale rates being suspended whilst the case is examined.