Ottawa says it will uphold a ruling by Canada’s telecommunications regulator allowing the country’s largest internet companies to provide service to customers using fibre networks built by their rivals — as long as they do so outside their core regions.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says in a statement the CRTC’s ruling “will immediately allow for more competition on existing networks for high-speed internet services across the country.”

In June, the regulator issued its final decision on the contentious matter, which has pitted Telus Corp. against rivals BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., and many smaller providers that opposed the framework.

The federal government had previously asked the commission to reconsider whether the Big Three providers should be able to act as wholesal

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