CRTC blocks Videotron from removing low-speed wholesale internet tiers

This decision reinforces the regulatory priority of affordability over technical speed-matching requirements for dominant carriers. By maintaining access to low-speed tiers, the CRTC ensures that smaller ISPs can continue serving niche markets like retail payment terminals and low-income households without facing massive wholesale cost spikes. Within the broader ecosystem, this highlights the ongoing tension between infrastructure owners and independent providers who rely on regulated access to remain competitive against flanker brands like Fizz. Watch for whether the CRTC initiates a broader review of wholesale pricing structures following the price-squeeze allegations raised by Bravo Telecom.

Videotron's wholesale internet obligations sit within a broader Canadian regulatory framework that has been under active review. In 2024, the CRTC issued Telecom Decision 2024-180, which established new aggregated wholesale high-speed access rates and mandated interim access to fibre-to-the-premises networks, a move that reshaped the economics for independent ISPs across the country. That decision followed years of pressure from smaller providers who argued that incumbent carriers were pricing wholesale access at levels that made retail competition unsustainable. The Videotron tier removal request is the latest flashpoint in that ongoing tension between infrastructure owners and resellers who depend on regulated access to serve niche markets in Quebec and beyond. Quebecor, Videotron's parent company, has simultaneously pursued aggressive retail expansion through its flanker brand Fizz, which launched in 2018 and has since grown to become one of Quebec's largest low-cost internet and mobile providers. The CRTC's decision to preserve low-speed wholesale tiers directly affects competitors like Bravo Telecom and ColbaNet, which serve customers in segments where Fizz's consumer-focused plans may not reach, including point-of-sale terminal connectivity and subsidized low-income programs. In a related development, the CRTC in March 2025 opened a proceeding to review whether wholesale rates for high-speed access services remain just and reasonable, a proceeding that could further reshape the pricing landscape for all wholesale-dependent ISPs in Canada, including those relying on Videotron's network. The technical and economic stakes of low-speed wholesale tiers extend beyond Quebec. Across Canada, independent ISPs have argued that wholesale price structures create a squeeze where retail margins become negative at lower speed tiers, making it impossible to profitably serve customers who need only basic connectivity. The CRTC's preservation of the 5 Mbps to 20 Mbps tiers reflects a policy judgment that affordability for end users outweighs the incumbent's interest in simplifying its wholesale product catalogue. This aligns with the regulator's stated objective in its 2023 policy direction to ensure that Canadians have access to affordable, high-quality telecommunications services regardless of market concentration, a directive that continues to shape wholesale access disputes across all major Canadian carriers.