Home internet services in Manitoba are lacking choices, according to a survey from the Manitoba Coalition.
The research shows two main providers serve the province: Bell/Bell MTS and Shaw. Each provider holds 40 percent of the market share.
“Given the small scale of most of Manitoba’s regional providers, a majority of respondents reported having only one or two fixed broadband options to choose from,” Peggy Barker, a board member of the Manitoba Branch of the Consumers’ Association of Canada, said Monday during a regulatory hearing focusing on internet services competition.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is partaking in a week-long hearing under its review of internet competition and wholesale rates. While the CRTC did implement wholesale rates in 2019, it reversed the decision in 2021, implementing higher interim wholesale rates.
In November 2023, it released an interim decision ordering Bell and Telus to give competitors in Ontario and Québec aggregated access to their fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) facilities. The CRTC focused on the two provinces because of a notable decline in internet competition over the last couple of years.
The Manitoba Coalition includes three not-for-profit organizations: the Manitoba Branch of the Consumers’ Association of Canada, the Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg, and HarvestManitoba.
The coalition’s study includes online survey responses from 1000 Manitoba residents and an additional 100 responses from Northern residents. Prairie Research Associates conducted surveys between May 2nd and 8th, 2023.
The research showed that cost was one of the most important factors for Manitoba residents. On average, residents pay $100/month before taxes for internet services. This cost goes up as customers age and when they have higher speed caps.
This figure further increases for residents in the North, paying an average of $150/month, where they’re more likely to have access to satellite internet over fibre or cable internet.
Barker said residents can only make a price-based decision when they have multiple providers to choose from. “If these do not exist, which we know to be the case for many Manitobans, consumers will choose the service with sufficient speed and reliability even if it is more expensive.”
Benjamin Klass, a journalism instructor at Carleton University and competition expert, said the benefits of a wholesale marketplace are in “jeopardy.”
“The high-profile exit of numerous competitors in recent years should present a clear red flag that policies designed to enable access-based competition need correction and improvement.”
Klass said the CRTC needs to implement wholesale access frameworks that they regularly review to create “innovation and competition” in Canada’s telecom market.
The coalition agreed with the CRTC’s move mandating aggregated wholesale high-speed access, including to FTTP facilities. However, the coalition cautions the commission against using rate regulations in Manitoba, given the lack of competition in the province.
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