Rogers is under fire again for telecom market domination in Toronto

Smaller telecom providers in Canada are speaking up against the big three players' domination of the market, particularly when it comes to service deals that some have for entire residential towers in Toronto.

Though Rogers may be the source of the bulk of user complaints in Canada,  it is the default choice for internet, home phone and/or cable for many condo dwellers thanks to bulk contracts with a developer, property owner, or condo board.

Independent provider Beanfield has filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as a result, arguing that these agreements give Rogers an unfair advantage and "effectively eliminate end-user choice" and are thus in contravention of the Telecommunications Act.

They can also create some serious issues in the case of outages, which Rogers customers are certainly no strangers to.

Go Beanfield!

This would be a great win for freedom of choice.

— Aaron Binder (@theaaronbinder) February 12, 2024

Beanfield execs say, per the Canadian Press, that nearly half of new condo communities in the GTA have these deals in place, representing tens of thousands of potential customers lost.

Meanwhile, Rogers has argued that these deals are convenient and beneficial for customers, who get access to discounted pricing.

It also claims residents can still technically opt to go with other providers, even if a bulk agreement is in place — something Beanfield contends is unlikely given that packages are rolled into maintenance fees, meaning users would have to "pay twice for overlapping services" if they wanted to use a different company.

The application with the CRTC is still under review.

Last year, the federal government stepped in to ensure that Rogers did not have a monopoly on cell phone service on the TTC, giving competitors access to Rogers' underground infrastructure and mandating that all carriers have contracts in place to provide service.

Unlike condo internet, though, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the move was necessary because cellular connectivity on the TTC is "a critical public safety matter."

Forcing? That's an interesting choice of words, they're a greedy telecom company who provides bad services and has monopolies so no one can use their towers. I live in a remote area and I can't get any other service than Rogers, people visit my house and they have no service.

— 🐦‍⬛Eᖇᗰᗩ GEᖇᔕᕼ 👽 (@HappyMammaries) September 11, 2023

Champagne, who has said that "Canadians pay too much and see too little competition" for telecom services, is also pushing to get more competition in the nation's grocery sector by trying to woo a foreign company to enter the market.