Judge rules Rogers needs to accept Quebecor’s MVNO rates

Rogers has been fighting Quebecor (owner of Freedom Mobile and Videotron) for almost two years over how much it can charge the Quebec-based carrier to use its network. Now, a final arbitration has been made siding with Quebecor’s original proposed rates.

Taking a step back, this all started in 2021, when the CRTC established new rules for how the large carriers in Canada need to share their mobile networks with smaller players. This was a slow-moving process, but in the spring of 2023, the CRTC stepped in again and set a three-month deadline for the carriers to make agreements.

Part of this rule was that if companies couldn’t reach an agreement amongst themselves, they would have to appear before the CRTC, and the commission would decide what deal would be made through a process called final offer arbitration.

This is what happened to Rogers and Quebecor. When they both finally presented their deals to the panel in July 2023, the CRTC chose Quebecor’s rates. Rogers didn’t like that and worked to appeal the decision.

Now that the appeal has also been shut down, Rogers is once again being forced to accept the deal by Quebecor. At the end of the latest lawsuit, the judge also ordered Rogers to pay Quebecor’s legal bills.

Rogers built its argument on three pillars, each targeting the process of how the CRTC arrived at its ruling, but in the end, the CRTC and the Federal Court of Appeals both claim that Rogers will still make money on the wholesale rates set by Quebecor, so all of the arguments are moot.

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