Source: Winnipeg Free Press

OTTAWA -- Canada's big telephone and cable companies must provide the highest broadband speeds available when they sell access to smaller Internet service resellers, the federal telecom regulator ruled Monday.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said companies that own the nation's Internet infrastructure, such as Bell (TSX:BCE) or Rogers (TSX:RCI.A), can no longer hoard those high speeds for themselves.

The commission said the decision helped safeguard the principles of public access and greater competition. Currently, smaller Internet service providers, or ISPs, only account for 7.3 per cent of the market.

"Access to broadband Internet services is a key foundation for the digital economy," CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said in a release.

"The large telephone and cable companies are bringing their fibre networks closer to Canadian homes and businesses, which allows for faster Internet connections. Requiring these companies to provide access to their networks will lead to more opportunities for competition in retail Internet services and better serve consumers."

Large telephone companies such as Bell will be permitted to charge an additional 10 per cent markup on the costs of providing access to their highest speeds.

© Winnipeg Free Press