Bell says it’s ready to respond quickly to access requests from service providers for poles and other support structures in Quebec.
The Montreal-based national carrier says it’s committed to accelerating the deployment of high-speed internet access to everyone in Quebec by September 2022. It notes that it’s anticipating an increase in the volume of access requests in the coming months.
Bell says it has worked with partners like Hydro-Quebec and suppliers to accelerate the issuance of permits for service providers and speed up key projects.
“I am very proud of the Bell team’s collaboration with Hydro-Québec and our other partners to build a task force to meet the expected demand for access in the coming months. This is a huge project for Quebec and Bell is ready to make a very significant contribution to its success,” said Bell’s vice-chair, Karine Moses, in a statement.
Bell says it has deployed an action plan to simplify access to support infrastructure for telecommunications providers in the province.
It’s worth noting that this commitment from Bell comes as Vidéotron and other carriers have repeatedly called out the carrier regarding access to its poles.
Vidéotron has argued that Bell’s “anti-competitive and unfair practices are significantly limiting the ability of ISPs to deliver high-speed internet expansion projects to rural communities in Québec.”
In September 2020, the carrier launched a lawsuit against Bell and also filed a complaint with the Competition Bureau. The lawsuit alleged that Bell is slowing down and in some cases blocking access to its poles.
Following the announcement of the lawsuit, Bell stated that: “Just to be clear, far from slowing down broadband expansion, Bell is leading the way in its own investments while also improving access to our infrastructure for other service providers.”
Source: Bell