Appeared in the Toronto Star on April 20, 2013 as CRTC Should Force Broadcasters to Compete Last month, Jean-Pierre Blais, the chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, delivered a much-discussed speech at the Canadian Media Production Association’s annual conference. The CMPA is Canada’s leading organization for the production […]
Archive for April, 2013
Canadian Wireless Association Breakup Points To Industry Divide on Competitiveness
Appeared in the Toronto Star on April 13, 2013 as Deep Divisions Surface in Canada’s Wireless Industry The Canadian wireless sector was shocked last week by the abrupt departure of the three major new entrants – Wind Mobile, Public Mobile, and Mobilicity – from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. The […]
The Challenge of Enforcing the Do-Not-Call List Against Foreign Telemarketers
Last October, the CRTC announced that it was taking action against two India-based companies for violating Canada’s do-not-call list. The action against Pecon Software Limited was particularly noteworthy, as the Commission ordered a stop to the violations and payment of $495,000. Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer was quoted as saying that “foreign-based telemarketers have been put on notice that they must comply with our rules when calling Canadians.”
The tough talk was welcome, but months later, the CRTC has struggled to get Pecon Software to pay up. Liberal MP Lawrence MacAulay asked the government to provide an update on the action and Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore provided the following update to the House of Commons on Friday:
Debate Over Wireless Competition in Canada Continues in the House of Commons and on the Air
The debate over the state of wireless competition in Canada continues to rage. Last week, I appeared on CBC’s The Current, as part of a 30 minute segment devoted to the wireless industry. The issue was also discussed during Question Period at the House of Commons, with Industry Minister Christian Paradis focusing on competition and consumers:
We want to enhance competition and investment in this country, and this is why we adopted this policy back in 2008 for the AWS spectrum. Let me say that the price went down by an average of 11% since then, and we will continue this way with the 700 megahertz spectrum. We launched consultation with the industry to make sure that we enhance competition and provide better choice and better rates for our consumers.
Open Media: Why High Cell Phone Bills Have Nothing to do With Canadian Geography
OpenMedia has an interesting post that takes a close look at the claim that the large Canadian geography is responsible for high cell phone prices. The post notes that coverage actually focuses on as little as 20 percent of the country.
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