Nucleus leases the lines from Shaw (and I believe, Telus for DSL). The initial plan of the big telcos (led by Bell) was to impose UBB on wholesale clients like Nucleus, Tek Savvy, etc., which would effectively eliminate the competition and solidify the oligopoly. And then, of course, impose UBB on their own retail customers once any reasonable competitor was unable to offer a different product/price than the big guys.
The CRTC thought this was just fine, gave them the green light, and then the #### hit the fan. Industry Minister Tony Clement stepped in and told the CRTC to review the decision... and then this election came along and, well, here we are.
Essentially, the CRTC is only reviewing the decision to impose UBB on wholesale customers, but this is the key to UBB being successful for Bell, Rogers, Shaw, and Telus. That's why this thing is so sneaky - grease the wheels at the CRTC, eliminate competition, lower caps, slap on absurd overage charges. What are people going to do if they can't switch to anyone better?
Shaw's decision to revisit UBB now is actually a bit of a surprise right now, especially before finding out what the CRTC and the government are going to do with the issue. On the other hand, as we know, Shaw dominates this market and they realize more than anyone that consumers here have very limited options. So even if the CRTC decision is reversed and UBB isn't allowed on wholesale customers, Shaw can do whatever they want with their own customers.
Personally, I think that they can do whatever they want with their own clients, but keep your hands off of the independent ISPs. Give people the choice of a competitor.
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