Telecoms wrestle with spending decisions, regulations as annual conference kicks off

TORONTO – The head of Canada’s telecom industry group says recent regulatory decisions have aimed to solve non-existent problems and added unnecessary burden at a time that the sector faces an “inflection point.”

Canadian Telecommunications Association president and CEO Robert Ghiz warned Tuesday that if the direction of the CRTC doesn’t change, it will lead to “structural” underinvestment by companies that build and manage telecom networks, slowing down the adoption of new technologies.

“Over time, that affects the quality, resilience, and competitiveness of our networks,” said Ghiz in a speech delivered at the 25th edition of the annual Canadian Telecom Summit.

“Ultimately, it affects our ability to advance broader national priorities, such as building a more resilient economy, improving productivity, and strengthening Canada’s security and sovereignty.”

The two-day conference in downtown Toronto comes amid a transition for the sector, as major telecoms look to new sources of potential growth — such as automation, cybersecurity or sports assets — while high churn and slow population growth limit revenue from traditional sources.

Conference host Richard Jirka, vice-president of Macgregor Communications’ technology group, said there are opportunities for innovation in the telecom industry.

That ranges from satellite connectivity to artificial intelligence — which he said is “moving from the periphery of network management into its core, enabling autonomous self-optimizing networks.”

“Canada has significant strengths to build on but capitalizing on them requires that we make the right decisions at the right pace, with the right policy environment behind us.”

But some companies are pulling back on investment in telecom infrastructure. Last month, Rogers Communications Inc. announced it would slash capital spending by 30 per cent compared with last year, which it blamed on regulatory and competitive pressures, while Telus Corp. has said it is spending 10 per cent less year-over-year on capital projects.

Bell Canada cut $500 million in investment plans last year, while slowing its fibre network build, in response to a CRTC decision upheld by the federal government that allows major companies to resell internet service over each other’s networks, outside their core regions.

Ghiz pointed to commentary from analysts directly linking the decline in investment to the regulatory environment.

“We have yet to see a proper assessment from the CRTC on how these decisions are affecting investment in Canada’s telecommunications networks, but the financial market has already provided one,” said Ghiz.

“The evidence is already here. We are seeing a steady erosion of the incentives that drive investment in telecommunications infrastructure. The gap between how we talk about telecommunications and how we treat telecommunications is starting to show.”

CRTC vice-chairperson Adam Scott said the CRTC’s wholesale internet framework has so far had a positive effect, as evidenced by large providers moving outside their traditional serving territories and bringing new competition.

“As it stands, you’ll be hard pressed to convince me that Canadian consumers were better off when large (internet providers) only competed in their own backyards,” he said in a speech to the conference.

Still, Scott acknowledged some of the headwinds that telecom providers are coping with, including “intense competition putting pressure on top line revenues,” which he said has made “investment cases more challenging.”

He added that while some financial analysts call current pricing trends “irrational,” consumers believe they’re getting “a really good deal.”

“I see the capital budgets as well as jobs being cut,” Scott said.

“The balance is the hard part. Overall, I see a better balance than we’ve had in a long time, but those linkages are real.”

The CRTC has also unveiled a handful of consumer protections this year. That includes the elimination of fees when customers cancel or change plans, which it estimated can reach almost $80.

That measure — along with new rules that give consumers self-serve options to adjust their plans and mandate service providers to notify customers when a promotion is about to expire — is about empowering customers, said Scott.

A recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, touted by the CTA, said telecom services have become more affordable relative to household income in Canada, with mobile and internet costs falling 41.8 and 6.2 per cent, respectively, between 2020 and 2024.

“The deals are out there, but Canadians need to be empowered to take advantage of them,” Scott said.

“If a price falls in the forest but nobody’s around to hear it, does it make a difference?”

But Ghiz said prohibiting fees meant to cover the cost of delivering certain services is an example of regulation that moves “beyond setting the rules of the market and further into managing its day-to-day operations.”

“Providers are being asked to take on new responsibilities that extend beyond their traditional role, frequently without a clear mechanism for recovering the associated costs,” he said.

“Some of these decisions attempted to solve problems that really did not exist.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2026.

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