The CRTC and the regulation of telecom market has generated an enormous amount of interest in recent weeks with the Telecom Policy Review and CRTC decisions on local forebearance and regulation of mobile television. The coverage from the mainstream media has become entirely predictable – supplemented by supportive quotes from […]
Post Tagged with: "telecom policy review"
Telecom Policy Review Panel Calls For Net Neutrality Legal Safeguards
The Telecommunications Policy Review Panel report was released earlier this afternoon and while the immediate reaction will no doubt focus on the recommendations for a market-oriented approach with significant changes to the CRTC, I would call attention to three other recommendations gleaned from reading the executive summary (the full document is nearly 400 pages).
First, the Panel has called for a new legislative provision protecting net neutrality standards. The panel calls this an open access provision, with Recommendation 6-5 stating that:
"The Telecommunications Act should be amended to confirm the right of Canadian consumers to access publicly available Internet applications and content of their choice by means of all public telecommunications networks providing access to the Internet. This amendment should
(a) authorize the CRTC to administer and enforce these consumer access rights,
(b) take into account any reasonable technical constraints and efficiency considerations related to providing such access, and
(c) be subject to legal constraints on such access, such as those established in criminal, copyright and broadcasting laws."
(b) take into account any reasonable technical constraints and efficiency considerations related to providing such access, and
(c) be subject to legal constraints on such access, such as those established in criminal, copyright and broadcasting laws."
A Fourth Wireless Carrier?
The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Telecom Policy Review panel may recommend creating a fourth wireless carrier in order to stimulate competition. Not surprisingly, the established players say it is completely unnecessary. Number portability would be another way to stimulate competition as would greater attention to the broadband […]
The Telecom and Copyright Policy Review?
Reply comments in the Telecommunications Policy Review were due on Thursday and the deadline brought yet another avalanche of submissions. The first round generated over 100 submissions (mine here) and thousands of pages of reading material. I decided to skip providing a reply since just reading all the submissions seems […]
Number Portability
While I have been focused on the do-not-hesitate-to-call list issue this week, there has been another telephony issue making waves in Canada. The lack of cell phone number portability is widely viewed as a consumer impediment to switching providers and fostering a more competitive wireless marketplace in Canada. The U.S. […]
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