Telecom - Secretary General Letter addressed to Zineb Arbaoui (Director General) and Hacene Belgharbi (President)
Gatineau, 27 June 2025
Our reference: 8622-B89-202405711, 8640-Q33-202500090, 8622-B89-202503086
BY EMAIL
Director General
Zineb Arbaoui
legal@bravotelecom.com
President
Hacene Belgharbi
hbelgharbi@transattelecom.ca
Subject: Procedural directions related to Part 1 applications submitted by Bravo Telecom and Transat Telecom
Dear Zineb Arbaoui and Hacene Belgharbi,
We are following up on the letters we received from Bravo Telecom (Bravo), dated 10 February 2025, and Transat Telecom (Transat), dated 12 February 2025, in which they requested that the Commission reconsider their respectively suspended and returned Part 1 applications.
On 6 November 2024, Bravo submitted an application in which it alleged that Bell Canada (Bell) was engaging in anti-competitive practices to expand its market power to the detriment of competition for Internet services. Bravo had asked the Commission to require Bell to halt these practices and to suspend retail regulatory forbearance in Quebec.
On 6 January 2025, Transat submitted an application that similarly claimed that “dominant actors” [i.e., incumbent providers] were engaged in anti-competitive practices, and that the wholesale high-speed access (HSA) framework was not working. Transat also asked the Commission to end regulatory forbearance for Internet services in Quebec and Ontario.
On 6 February 2025, the Commission issued a decision in which it suspended consideration of Bravo’s application until separate applications to review and vary Telecom Regulatory Policy 2024-180 (TRP 2024-180) were complete and any outstanding determinations had been implemented. Subsequently, on 7 February 2025, Commission staff returned Transat’s application, indicating that it was subject to the same considerations as those laid out in the decision addressing Bravo’s application.
The Commission has now concluded its consideration of the review and vary applications of TRP 2024-180. Its new HSA framework, and associated interim rates, are now in effect across Canada. Given this, the Commission is now reopening the applications from Bravo and Transat, with the intention of building a fulsome record of the issues raised.
As suggested by Transat, and in the interests of efficiency and timeliness, we are consolidating these applications and opening a new proceeding. All documents filed under Bravo’s file number 8622-B89-202405711 and Transat’s file number 8640-Q33-202500090 will be consolidated under new file number 8622-B89-202503086. All interested parties must file their documents under the file number 8622-B89-202503086.
This proceeding will follow the standard process established in section 26 of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure (SOR/2010-277), such that any interested person has 30 days to submit an intervention, with Bravo and Transat then having 10 days to reply to those interventions.
As a result, interventions in this consolidated proceeding are due by 28 July 2025. Bravo and Transat may file their replies by 7 August 2025.
Requests for public disclosure of information designated as confidential must be filed with the Commission and served to relevant parties. Responses are due 10 days after the date of the request. The Commission will issue determinations on the requests promptly.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Philippe Kent, Director, Telecommunications, at philippe.kent@crtc.gc.ca or at 819-953-4057.
Sincerely,
Marc Morin
Secretary General
CC:
Philippe Kent, Director, Telecommunications, CRTC, philippe.kent@crtc.gc.ca
Andrew Gaiero, Senior Analyst, Telecommunications, CRTC, andrew.gaiero@crtc.gc.ca
Mason Rodney, Analyst, Telecommunications, CRTC, mason.rodney@crtc.gc.ca
Bell Canada, bell.regulatory@bell.ca
Community Fibre Company, ben@communityfibre.ca
- Date modified: