Industry Minister Tony Clement announced this morning that the Government has overturned the CRTC decision on Globalive, giving the go-ahead for the fourth national wireless carrier to enter the marketplace. Clement stated "Globalive is a Canadian company, and meets Canadian ownership and control requirements under the Telecommunications Act." While Clement was careful to say that the decision applies solely to these facts, the Order-in-Council seems to suggest that the door is open to greater foreign involvement in the Canadian wireless marketplace.
The key paragraphs focus on the need to interpret the Canadian control requirements with enhanced competition in mind and on the absence of foreign investment restrictions under the law: