Article content continued

“It is the Commission’s preliminary view that it would be appropriate to mandate that the national wireless carriers provide wholesale MVNO access as an outcome of this proceeding,” the CRTC said then.

“The Commission considers that, on balance, it is likely that the benefits that a well-developed MVNO market would deliver to Canadians are now more likely to outweigh any negative impacts that a policy of mandated wholesale MVNO access might have on wireless carriers’ network investments, particularly given the extensive investments that have been made in recent years.”

During the fall election campaign the Liberals promised to lower cell phone bills by 25 per cent, and in the Throne Speech last week, the government doubled down on that promise.

“If within two years this price target is not achieved, you can expand MVNO qualifying rules and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission mandate on affordable pricing,” Trudeau’s letter to Bains said.

Bains would not answer questions from the Financial Post Friday.

Already, independent ISPs are eager to become cellphone service providers, just as soon as the CRTC creates rules that will allow them to get in the game.

That tells me they’re expecting things within two years. I read urgency in this. Matt Stein, CEO, Distributel

“About half of what Canadians spend on their telecommunications services is wireless, and we’d like to continue to bring the competitive services that we offer on the wire-line side to wireless,” said Matt Stein, CEO of Toronto-based Distributel.