Bell said it will reduce its plan to build internet infrastructure for small towns and rural communities by about 200,000 households and lose in excess of $100 million. The company said the cuts are due to a ruling from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which reduced the rates small internet providers need to pay to large ones like Bell by between 15 per cent and 43 per cent. (The Logic)

Talking point: The CRTC ruling is meant to stimulate competition in the telecom industry and lower prices for consumers. It specifically addressed Bell’s cost model, arguing that the telecom uses outdated metrics to set its prices. Bell said there’s no guarantee the CRTC’s cuts will translate into savings for consumers. But when the CRTC cut rates for third-party resellers in 2016, TekSavvy and Start.ca both lowered their internet-plan costs. Investing in rural internet infrastructure has been lucrative for Bell in the past. On the front end, it’s subsidized by the federal government. So far, the company has received 84 grants as part of Ottawa’s $515-million Connect to Innovate program meant to subsidize rural internet infrastructure. Once the infrastructure is built, Bell charges smaller companies that want to resell internet access to consumers. Bell’s cutbacks come as the federal government—which can overrule the CRTC if it wants—is making significant investments in rural internet infrastructure: earlier in 2019, it announced $1.7 billion for rural internet with the goal of getting relatively high speed internet to 100 per cent of the country by 2030.