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Truce reached in telecom wars
SSI Micro approves new wholesale Internet service proposed by NorthwesTel; decision still pending from Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Thandiwe Vela Northern News Services Published Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The telecom giant has reached an understanding with SSI Micro in the form of a new wholesale Internet transport service called Wholesale Connect, that provides connectivity to the south--a solution now subject to the approval of the CRTC. "From a technical level this seems to be a good step forward," said Dean Proctor, chief development officer of the SSI Group of Companies. "If the rates that are ultimately set by the commission are proper, then yes, this is a good resolution." SSI has accused NorthwesTel of using its position as the owner of all fibre and microwave connectivity to the south, to eliminate its competitors in the Yellowknife Internet market since last summer, when the Yellowknife-based Internet service provider filed a complaint to the CRTC. In January, the commission sided with SSI Micro, ordering NorthwesTel to submit a cost study and publish the rates for its V-Connect service. NorthwesTel appealed the decision and instead created a new wholesale Internet transport service between Yellowknife and Edmonton, which SSI Micro publicly rejected. "They actually took that to heart and reached out to us about a week after we filed our comments," Proctor said. Paul Flaherty, president and CEO of NorthwesTel, said the company did not fully understand SSI Micro's needs when the last Internet transport service was created. "I had understood, incorrectly as it turns out, that they were looking for a service from Yellowknife to Edmonton, and they were looking for something much more than that," Flaherty said. "So we knew if we were going to be able to address the situation we needed to do something that was broader in scope than what we had done before." The so-called Wholesale Connect is a backbone connectivity service that can carry both voice and data traffic to the edge of NorthwesTel's operating territory in High Level, Alta., where service providers will be able to interconnect with other carriers in the south. Wholesale Connect covers 30 communities served by fibre and high capacity microwave radio transport facilities--fewer communities than V-Connect—thus it is expected to cost much less. "Given that there's less service provided, there's less communities involved, and there's less functionality, by necessity it has to be less expensive," said Proctor. NorthwesTel will implement Wholesale Connect within six weeks of approval from the CRTC, charging a nominal rate of $1 for the service until the commission rules on the price. NorthwesTel has committed to filing cost studies for Wholesale Connect to the CRTC by the end of the month. "We believe that a cost study will demonstrate rates that are just and reasonable, but more importantly, actually affordable for us to use," Proctor said. If the backbone rates are determined to be affordable, SSI will enter the local telephone market as early as May, Proctor said. NorthwesTel has requested that the CRTC approve the new plan within one week. The commission has yet to respond to the company's original appeal, filed last month.
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