Yes, that's because they own all the lines and Cogent has no other way to sign you up as a customer in a way that would be worth their while.

> The case here is that these small ISPs are not only terminating the loop, they're also using Bell's pipes beyond the termination, with contracts that were enforced when Bell really was a bonafide monopoly.

So, again, what choice do they have?

> There are actually a lot of competitive options when you're looking for bulk bandwidth, will Bell being a small, small player.

If that were really true don't you think these ISPs would switch to those competitors with their 'competitive options' instead of waging silly lawsuits?

Bandwidth is cheap. So cheap that it's hilarious to see the rates that Bell now charges these ISPs for transit.

Really, Canada just took a giant step backwards in time and you are cheering it on and I can't see what reasons you would have for that other than that you perceive Bell to somehow have a god given right to a chunk of the turnover of each and every bit of data that gets moved in Canada.

It really should not be that way, the sooner it ends the better. Every company that can afford it should be allowed to put in 'last mile' connections, and every company that can afford it should be allowed to use the former monopolists infrastructure at a cost-plus basis (and not a metered basis). That's the only way the situation will ever get to normal.

Canada is hurting it's citizens interests and the interests of Canada as a player in the global economy by putting the population at a disadvantage as compared to other countries.

Have a look at Korea for what's possible.