OTTAWA, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Large Canadian

telecommunication companies will have to share fiber internet

infrastructure with smaller competitors from next year, Ottawa

said on Tuesday, expanding a measure designed to lower prices

and increase choices.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications

Commission (CRTC), the telecoms regulator, has been trying to

make services more affordable, citing declining competition

among high-speed internet service providers.

In November, it asked large telecoms companies to give

smaller rivals access to their networks in Ontario and Quebec:

the two most populous provinces and the worst impacted by a

decline in competition. Tuesday's decision will expand that

provision to the entire country, starting in February 2025.

"(This) will deliver more choice to Canadians who want

higher-speed Internet at lower prices by enabling competitors to

use the fiber networks of the large telephone companies and will

maintain incentives for companies to invest in high-quality

networks," the CRTC said in a statement.

The provision would only apply to fiber network that has

already been built. Any new network built by telephone companies

will be made available to competitors in five years, the

regulator said.