TekSavvy won’t bid in wireless auction, may raise prices after CRTC rate decision
Posted May 28, 2021 1:07 pm.
Last Updated May 28, 2021 1:08 pm.
TORONTO — Independent telecom provider TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has shelved plans for more wireless services and may exit some internet markets as a result of Thursday’s CRTC decision on wholesale internet rates.
TekSavvy’s spokesman, Andy Kaplan-Myrth, says it’s too soon to predict whether it will raise its prices because of the decision.
The Chatham, Ont.-based company had expected to get some money back from what it has paid since 2016 to rent bandwidth on the networks of larger cable and phone companies, a rate the CRTC previously ruled was too high.
However, the CRTC on Thursday scrapped a set of wholesale rate cuts it ordered in 2019, leaving intact most of the higher rates in effect since 2016.
TekSavvy says it no longer has the financial resources to participate in a wireless spectrum auction that begins in June.
Kaplan-Myrth says TekSavvy wanted to use some of the rebated money to buy spectrum that would eventually allow it to offer mobile phones service to its customers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2021.
The Canadian Press
