Rant thread: @Bell is installing Fiber to the home (FTTH) in my building right now. The technicians are great, but the company's policy of denying 3rd party access to their highest tier infrastructure is terrible.

#Bell #teksavvy #internet #canada #Government

@Bell generates over 20 billion dollars of revenue a year in Canada. After operating expenses, they have about 10 billion in profit, which they cut down via additional costs, depreciation, taxes, etc. End of the day, balance sheet is net positive at about 3.5 billion $/year.

I've read their financial reports - their profits have been growing at a steady rate for the past 10 years. Likewise, they and the other big telecoms have been fighting tooth and nail against opening up Canada's internet infrastructure.

They appeal @CRTCeng rulings requiring access/fair pricing, and have succeeded in convincing the @JustinTrudeau government to support their position by threatening to hold back investment in rural areas. This isn't a good policy for two reasons:

1. Bell doesn't have any intention of investing in rural telecommunications unless there's a profit for them (they are a business), so it's going to have to be subsidized by tax cuts or provincial investment.

2. @SpaceX's Starlink project will disrupt this plan anyway.

What it comes down to is stalling - the big three telecoms in Canada will fight to prevent competition for as long as possible because it allows them to keep their rates high and their shareholders happy. The problem is this also allows them to overcharge their customers.

Long story short, I've now got an FTTH line installed in my wall and no intention of using it unless Bell opens their network. And don't be fooled - @Bell will still profit from selling wholesale bandwidth to 3rd parties.

Why? Because if they don't, some of their fiber optic lines will sit idle, gathering dust doing nothing. And they price their bandwidth higher than fair market value - this is confirmed by the @CRTC and the recent Federal Court of Appeal decision (2020 FCA 140).

Anyway, rant over. Hopefully I'm not just screaming into the void. I'm sure at least some of you agree with this - it's not like customer satisfaction as the big three is at an all time high right now.