The Bluff Ottawa Has Heard Before
Ottawa is once again at the centre of a high-stakes standoff with Canada's major telecom companies — and according to a sharp new opinion piece in The Globe and Mail, it's time regulators stopped letting the industry play them.
The argument is a familiar one in Canadian telecom policy circles: Rogers, Bell, and Telus warn that if Ottawa — meaning the CRTC and federal government — pushes too hard on competition rules or mandated wholesale access, the companies will pull back on building and upgrading the very networks Canadians depend on. It's a threat that has shaped regulatory decisions for years. The Globe opinion contends it's a bluff, and that Ottawa has been folding too often.
Why the Spending Threat Doesn't Hold Up
Canada's major telecoms are among the most profitable in the world. Canadians consistently pay some of the highest wireless and internet rates among developed nations — a fact that has drawn international attention and domestic frustration in equal measure.
The argument that tighter regulation would gut network investment runs into a simple problem: these companies have strong commercial incentives to build networks regardless of regulatory pressure. Connectivity is their core product. Customers and businesses — including federal government clients — demand reliable, fast service. Walking away from capital expenditure doesn't just hurt regulators; it hands ground to competitors.
Critics of the telecoms' position point out that the spending-cut threat tends to surface precisely when Ottawa is considering moves that would benefit consumers: lower wholesale rates, more robust mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access, or stronger rural broadband mandates. The timing, they argue, is not a coincidence.
What Ottawa Can Actually Do
The federal government and the CRTC have more leverage than they often appear to use. The CRTC's 2023 wholesale internet decision — which initially lowered rates before being partially walked back — showed how quickly the regulatory mood can shift when industry applies pressure. Advocates for consumers and smaller ISPs have long argued that Ottawa's inconsistency is the real problem, not the rules themselves.
If Ottawa holds firm on competition-friendly policies, the theory goes, telecoms will adapt rather than actually reduce investment. Their shareholders wouldn't accept the alternative. The opinion piece in the Globe suggests that regulators and the federal government need to recognize the pattern and respond with consistency rather than concession.
Why This Matters for Ottawa Residents
For people living and working in Ottawa, the stakes are practical. Internet and phone bills remain stubbornly high. Small businesses in neighbourhoods from Westboro to Vanier to Kanata depend on competitive, affordable connectivity to operate. And as more federal public servants work hybrid schedules from home, reliable residential broadband isn't just a consumer issue — it's an infrastructure one.
The debate over how aggressively Ottawa regulates its telecoms is ultimately a debate about who the system is built to serve. The Globe's opinion is clear on where it stands: it's time to call the bluff.
Source: The Globe and Mail via Google News Ottawa RSS feed.
