What wholesale access means
Many internet providers don't own any wires. They rent the phone and cable companies' lines at CRTC-set rates. Here's how that works, what changed with fibre in 2024 to 2026, and why we doubt it changes much in smaller centres.
Transcript
Look at the internet providers for almost any Canadian town. You'll see a dozen names. Most don't own a single wire there. They rent the phone or cable company's lines. That's wholesale access, and the CRTC sets the rules.
What matters is aggregated access. The competitor connects at as few as one central point per province, and the incumbent carries traffic from every house back to it. The CRTC said in 2024 that competitors hadn't succeeded with the alternative: connecting at many local offices.
So in 2024 the CRTC told Bell, SaskTel and TELUS to open their home fibre on aggregated terms. Fibre built after August 2024 stays off-limits until 2029. In 2025, it declined to change that. In 2026, it set final rates: for TELUS, about seventy-seven dollars a connection, plus capacity.
In plain terms: where TELUS has built fibre, an independent provider can now sell you service on it at a regulated price. TELUS can't do that in Alberta, its home territory. Bell can, and has announced it will.
In our view, it won't change much in Medicine Hat, Brooks or Taber. You can't resell fibre that isn't there. New builds are off-limits until 2029. And seventy-seven dollars a customer, plus capacity, transit and support, leaves little room to undercut the incumbent.
In our view, what changes a smaller centre is more than one physical network: more fibre, more paths out of town, a local place to exchange traffic. That comes from building more network infrastructure, and from public ownership of fibre in the ground, to ensure fair and equitable wholesale access. That draws in competitive providers who can challenge the incumbents.
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Many names, few wires
In almost any Canadian town, most providers don’t own a wire there. They rent the phone or cable company’s lines: wholesale access. The CRTC stopped regulating retail rates in the late 1990s, but makes big phone and cable companies rent networks to independents at regulated rates (2012 decision). On cable it’s TPIA (third-party Internet access). The independent supplies its internet connection, support and billing.
Aggregated access: it connects at as few as one point per province, the incumbent carrying every house’s traffic there. Disaggregated access needs many local points, each with its own transport; in 2024 the CRTC said competitors hadn’t succeeded with that over fibre.
Four homes in a town, three of them buying from different brands A, B and C and one from the incumbent itself. All four connect to the same single incumbent line, which runs to one central handoff point. From the handoff, three separate lines lead to the networks of brands A, B and C.
Several brands sell service in town, but every home rides the incumbent's one line. With aggregated access, the incumbent carries all of it to a central handoff (as few as one per province), where each brand's own network takes over. Each brand supplies its own internet connection, support and billing. The CRTC calls this wholesale high-speed access (HSA), over DSL, fibre-to-the-node and fibre to the premises; on cable networks, third-party Internet access (TPIA). Illustration -
The fibre decisions
2024-180: by February 2025, Bell, SaskTel and TELUS must open their home fibre on aggregated terms. Fibre built after 13 August 2024 stays off-limits until 2029; the largest providers can’t use access in their home territory.
2025-154: the CRTC declined to change that.
2026-77: final rates; the CRTC says dozens of competitors used the interim ones. TELUS can’t use this access in Alberta, its home territory; Bell, based mostly in the east, has announced it will.
A timeline. May 2024: temporary aggregated fibre access in Ontario and Quebec. August 2024, Telecom Regulatory Policy 2024-180: Bell, SaskTel and TELUS must offer aggregated access to their fibre to the premises by 13 February 2025; fibre built after 13 August 2024 is off-limits until 13 August 2029; the largest providers can't use it in their home territory; cable companies, whose fibre reached about 5% of households, need not open their fibre but must offer their cable networks at top speeds; the CRTC found many competitors struggled to compete at higher speeds. Late 2024: interim rates. June 2025, Telecom Decision 2025-154: three groups argued it would cut investment and hurt regional competitors; the CRTC found no substantial doubt and declined to change it. April 2026, Telecom Order 2026-77: final rates, similar to the interim ones; for TELUS in Alberta and BC: $77.21 a connection for 15 to 1,500 Mbps, $81.81 for 1,501 to 5,000 Mbps, $42.12 per 100 Mbps of capacity and $250.67 for an install with a site visit, including the CRTC's standard 30% markup. Bell (home territory mostly in the east) announced it will sell aggregated fibre access in Alberta and BC. August 2029: the head start ends.
The CRTC's fibre decisions, 2024 to 2026: what each one did, the final rates for TELUS in Alberta and BC, and Bell's plan to sell there. Sources: CRTC 2024-180; CRTC 2025-154; CRTC 2026-77 -
In our view: smaller centres
In our view, little changes in Medicine Hat, Brooks or Taber: no fibre to resell, new builds off-limits until 2029, and about $77 a customer plus capacity, transit and support leaves little room to undercut. A central handoff keeps hauling local traffic out of town.
In our view, a smaller centre needs more than one physical network, and public ownership of fibre in the ground for fair and equitable wholesale access, drawing in providers who can challenge the incumbents.
Two neighbouring homes in Medicine Hat are on different networks. Traffic from one to the other runs about 300 kilometres west to Calgary, where the networks meet, then back to Medicine Hat. Sometimes it goes on from Calgary, south across the US border, before it comes back.
Your traffic to the house next door can go to Calgary and back. Illustration
Alberta’s own wholesale network: SuperNet
Transcript
Long before the CRTC's fibre decisions, Alberta tried its own kind of wholesale network. It's called SuperNet: fibre and wireless links across the province. The Government of Alberta says it connects over four thousand two hundred schools, hospitals, libraries, and government and municipal offices, in four hundred and twenty-nine communities.
It comes in two parts. Bell built and runs the part serving twenty-seven of Alberta's largest communities. The other four hundred and two communities make up the rural extended area.
SuperNet was also meant to let private internet providers reach rural customers over it, and the Government of Alberta says many do. From what we've seen on the ground, it helped several competitive wireless providers get established in rural Alberta.
In our view, SuperNet also took the anchor tenants off the open market: government, schools and health care. Those are the customers that usually make a local fibre build pay for itself.
Without them, the case for any provider to build fibre got much weaker, incumbent or independent alike. That hits hardest in towns without big-city density, where there are fewer other customers to carry the cost.
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SuperNet's two parts
SuperNet is fibre and wireless links across Alberta. According to the Government of Alberta, it connects over 4,200 schools, hospitals, libraries, and government and municipal offices in 429 communities. Bell built and runs the part serving 27 of Alberta’s largest communities; the other 402 make up the rural “extended area” (Cartt).
It was also meant to let private internet providers reach rural customers (Cybera), and many do. From what we’ve seen on the ground, it helped several competitive wireless providers get established in rural Alberta.
A bar split to scale into two parts. A thin slice of 27 communities, labelled Bell: the 27 largest. The rest, 402 communities, labelled the rural extended area. Above the bar: 429 communities, over 4,200 facilities connected.
SuperNet's two parts, by number of communities (to scale): Bell's part serves 27 of Alberta's largest communities; the other 402 are the rural extended area. In all, over 4,200 facilities in 429 communities. Sources: Government of Alberta, Alberta SuperNet; Cartt, SuperNet operational -
In our view: the anchor tenants
In our view, SuperNet also took the anchor tenants (government, schools and health care) off the open market. Those customers usually make a local fibre build pay for itself. Without them, the case for any provider to build fibre in towns without big-city density got much weaker.
Opinion. On the left, three anchor tenants: government, schools and health care. Each is connected by a solid line to SuperNet. Their link to a local fibre build is drawn faded. The local fibre build is left with a few other customers, labelled as fewer customers to carry the cost.
In our view, SuperNet took the anchor tenants (government, schools and health care) off the open market. They're the customers that usually make a local fibre build pay for itself; without them, fewer customers are left to carry the cost. Illustration
Sources
- CRTC, Telecom Regulatory Policy 2024-180, Competition in Canada's Internet service markets (13 August 2024)
- CRTC, Telecom Decision 2025-154, Consolidated applications to review and vary Telecom Regulatory Policy 2024-180 (20 June 2025)
- CRTC, Telecom Order 2026-77, Final rates for aggregated wholesale high-speed access over FTTP (24 April 2026)
- CRTC, Telecom Decision 2012-141 (defines third-party Internet access, TPIA)
- Government of Alberta, Alberta SuperNet
- Cartt, SuperNet operational
- Cybera, SuperNet Vision and History