Canada

The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected BCE Inc.'s request for a stay of a regulatory decision that will allow independent companies to sell internet services to their customers using its fibre network in Ontario and Quebec.

The court's decision on Friday came a day after Bell Canada announced it was slashing 4,800 jobs and could further cut network spending based in part on the CRTC's direction.

It also came just ahead of the next phase of the federal telecommunications regulator's study of the same issue. The CRTC kicked off a five-day hearing on Monday as part of its review of internet competition in Canada.

The CRTC announced last November it would temporarily require large telephone companies, namely Bell and Telus Corp., to provide competitors with access to their fibre-to-the-home networks in Canada's two largest provinces within six months.