“Our primary concern in this area has always been the capacity of industry to implement any new requirements and who bears the cost.”
The message from Bell that it prioritizes cost on the lawful access issue should not come as a surprise. For years, the telecom and Internet provider community have focused most of their attention on the costs associated with divulging subscriber information or responding to other law enforcement requests. While recouping the costs associated with installing new surveillance-capable equipment is an obvious issue, the potential to turn subscriber information disclosures into a new revenue source is particularly troubling.