CRTC ponders Northwestel rates at YK hearing

Hearings that could have a major impact on the future of telecommunications in the Arctic took place in Yellowknife Oct. 4 and 5.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Canada’s regulator for telecoms, radio and television services, held two days of hearings to discuss Northwestel’s monopoly on local phone service, the amount of subsidy it receives from southern phone subscribers, and the rates Northwestel may charge customers.

The commission also weighed a request by Northwestel to raise local telephone rates by $2 per month.

Emily Younker, a spokesperson for Northwestel, said her company needs the extra money to cover costs on local landline service, which loses money.

“It would be bringing [monthly rates] up closer to what the cost of delivering the service is,” she said.

At the same time, Northwestel is seeking changes to the subsidy it collects from southern telephone subscribers.

Younker said Northwestel wants to be given the right to shift money from subsidies out of larger, more competitive markets to smaller communities.

But that’s only if other telecom companies start to move into providing local phone service.

One of those would-be competitors is the upstart SSI Micro, which complains Northwestel is hampering the launch of its Chatbox Voice Over IP (VOIP) telephone service.

Chatbox would serve as an alternative to Northwestel’s local phone service by transmitting telephone calls over the internet. It already works as a long-distance calling option similar to Skype.

Dean Proctor, SSI Micro’s chief development officer, said his company is ready to roll the service out as a local phone option, but Northwestel is making it hard for SSI to hook into the traditional telephone network, by claiming it’s too difficult and too expensive.

“We need to get 867 numbers for our customers to have true local service,” he said.

Younker said Northwestel isn’t opposed to local telephone competition.

She said the company filed confidential documents with the CRTC rebutting SSI Micro’s claims, but wouldn’t give details, citing competitive reasons.

The Oct. 4 hearing also marks a showdown in a simmering dispute between SSI Micro and Northwestel over the wholesale price of fibre optic bandwidth coming into Yellowknife from the south.

Northwestel is obligated to sell bandwidth to SSI Micro, but SSI Micro claims its bigger competitor is charging so much that SSI Micro can’t compete on local internet prices.

That’s predatory and against the rules, Proctor said.

Younker said she hopes the CRTC will issue rulings on the various issues raised at the Yellowknife hearings before the end of the year.