TekSavvy Calls on CRTC for Emergency Relief

Action needed to ensure Canadians have Internet access during the COVID-19 crisis

CHATHAM, ON, April 13, 2020 /CNW/ - TekSavvy Solutions Inc., Canada's largest independent ISP, is requesting the CRTC take immediate action to ensure the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who use independent Internet service providers (ISPs) continue to be able to access these services during the COVID-19 crisis.

Never have so many Canadians relied on their internet service as they find themselves working and studying from home during this unprecedented situation. Under the current wholesale rate structure, independent ISPs are forced to pay inflated fees to the big Canadian telecoms. On Thursday, April 9, Calgary-Nose Hill MP and shadow Minister for Industry and Economic Development, the Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, called on the government to act (Rempel Garner Announcement) to safeguard competitive internet access for Canadians. Her statement calls for urgent action to address the precarious conditions that put the independent ISPs at risk at a time when Canadians most need these services.

"Independent ISPs already pay inflated rates but the pressures of COVID-19 have made our costs impossible to meet," said Andy Kaplan-Myrth, VP of Regulatory & Carrier Affairs at TekSavvy. "The government has the solution right in front of it: the CRTC already calculated more reasonable rates in their August 2019 rate decision."

Further, TekSavvy has asked the CRTC to investigate unilateral changes that the big Canadian carriers are making to regulated processes for ordering, service installations and repairs. Without oversight by the CRTC, the big incumbent carriers may bestow undue commercial advantages to their retail services through the uneven application of stricter COVID-19 procedures.

TekSavvy has always supported fair prices for Canadians. Now, as Canadians live through these extraordinary times, TekSavvy is asking the government and the CRTC to ensure that fairness and stability are maintained through this health crisis. To do this, the government and the CRTC must enact emergency provisions to put in place the final rates from the CRTC's August 2019 decision on an urgent basis while ongoing appeals processes play out, ensuring independent ISP's continue to deliver service to Canadians from coast to coast.

About TekSavvy

TekSavvy has been proudly serving Canadians with reliable telecom services for more than 20 years and has won numerous awards for the quality of its service and for its commitment to fighting for consumers' rights online. With offices in Chatham, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec TekSavvy is Canada's largest independent telecom service company with over 300,000 customers from coast to coast.

SOURCE TekSavvy Solutions Inc.

John Settino, 416-662-2955; Or, Trevor Campbell, 647-201-5409, The iPR Group,[e-mail]