Summary

  • On 1 September, CRTC staff said it intended to decide Northwestel’s Internet service-charge waiver application within 45 business days of its 17 August filing. A 22 October letter now targets a final decision within 120 calendar days of that original date.
  • The earlier approved waiver served returning Internet customers in the Far North. Its competitive effect divided the regulator in 2025; the new letters report a pending review, not its result.

A fee waiver can be a friendly welcome mat. In a thin market, it can also be a welcome mat positioned precisely outside a rival’s door. Northwestel wants to continue waiving service charges for customers coming back to its terrestrial Internet service. The CRTC is still deciding whether to allow the latest version.

The application, Tariff Notice 1290, arrived on 17 August. In a 1 September staff letter, the regulator withheld automatic interim approval on day 15 and said it intended to decide within 45 business days of filing. Its 22 October letter says the request will not be processed within that span. Staff now aims to issue a final decision within 120 calendar days of the original application, which puts the outside calendar point around 15 December. This is a revised decision aim, not a ruling on the fee.

The two letters also describe the tariff from different ends. September names Item 301.5(i)(6), the service-charge waiver. October names Item 1735, terrestrial Internet services. Those are linked in Northwestel’s published General Tariff: the dated April copy permits waivers for Item 1735 winbacks under Item 301.5(i)(6), from 11 September 2025 through 11 September 2026. The letters do not reproduce the August application or a newly approved tariff page. A fresh page and final order will settle the current terms.

Why spend public time on a waived installation charge? The 2025 order tells the story. The majority approved a twelve-month extension, reasoning that fees can stop customers switching or returning and finding minimal competitive effect in the material before it. Some evidence from Northwestel was confidential. Commissioner Bram Abramson supported removing processing fees when existing customers downgrade a package, but dissented on the targeted winback waiver. He wanted affected competitors heard before the incumbent received another selective promotion. His distinction was about the evidence needed to judge a market with few alternative networks.

The 2026 letters give no new competitive findings and no interim approval. The published 2025 permission carried a stated end date of 11 September 2026; the letters alone do not establish what charge any particular customer faces today. The live issue is the regulator’s decision record: will the next order show independent evidence on customer savings and rival impact, identify the applicable tariff clauses, and date the new permission clearly? A clock extension is small procedure with a large bill attached for whoever chooses an Internet provider in the North.

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