Post Tagged with: "crtc"

Canada’s Telecom Crisis: My Appearance Before the Senate Transport and Communications Committee

Two weeks ago, I appeared before the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications to discuss the state of telecommunications in Canada. The committee is conducting a study on the wireless sector and access to high-speed Internet. The full hearing last over 90 minutes and the transcript has just been posted online. My opening statement is posted below.

Appearance before the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications
May 26, 2009

Good morning. My name is Michael Geist. I am a law professor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, where I hold the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. I am also a syndicated weekly columnist on law and technology issues for the Toronto Star and the Ottawa Citizen. I served on National Task Force on Spam struck by the Minister of Industry in 2004 and on the board of directors of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, which manages the dot-ca domain name space, from 2000 – 2006.

I appear before the committee today in a personal capacity representing only my own views. I grateful both for the opportunity to appear before you and for your decision to address this issue. As you know, Canada was once a global leader in the telecom field. Companies like Nortel led the world and – befitting a country with our geography – Canada consistently ranked toward the top on most telecom measures. No longer. While RIM has carved out an important niche and become a household name, the Canadian telecommunications scene is in a state of crisis. This is no exaggeration. Following years of neglect by successive governments, the absence of a forward-looking digital agenda, and cozy, uncompetitive environment, we now find ourselves steadily slipping in the rankings just as these issues gain even more importance for commercial, educational, and community purposes.

I know that you are focused primarily on the wireless sector, but I think the problems within our telecommunications infrastructure are not so easily divisible. I would like to briefly discuss three issues – wireless, broadband access, and net neutrality.

June 8, 2009 — 26 comments — Committees, News

CRTC New Media Decision: Hands Off The Internet. . . For Now

The CRTC has released its 2009 new media decision (full decision here) and it looks not unlike the 1999 new media decision. Days of hearings, thousands of pages of submissions and the Commission has side-stepped the pressure to "do something," by maintaining its hands-off approach. It concluded that regulatory intervention would get in the way of innovation and that a compelling case was not made that additional support through an ISP levy was needed. Indeed, the decision notes that "the Commission is of the view that parties advocating repeal of the exemption orders did not establish that licensing undertakings in the new media environment would contribute in a material manner to the implementation of the broadcasting policy set out in the Act."

There is at least one very noteworthy change to the new media exemption, however. The CRTC was clearly troubled by allegations of undue preferences being granted by wireless providers (the issue raised by the Weather Network and discussed in this March column). It has therefore proposed amendments prohibiting such practices:

June 4, 2009 — 16 comments — News

CRTC Chair Says Broadcast and Telco Acts Need Overhaul

CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein told an audience last week that the Telecommunications Act and Broadcasting Act require an overhaul with a single communications law the better approach.

June 2, 2009 — 1 comment — News

CAIP Calls on CRTC To Reverse Bell Throttling Decision

The Canadian Association of Internet Providers has filed an application with the CRTC that calls on the Commission to rescind its November 2008 Bell throttling decision. The application alleges multiple errors of fact and law in the decision and points specifically to the CRTC's lack of a full understanding of the issues raised in the proceeding. CAIP argues that the CRTC specifically launched the larger net neutrality proceeding this summer in order to gain that fuller understanding, but argues that:

A broader proceeding in order to understand the complex issues raised in the CAIP application is a perfectly acceptable and responsible means of developing a thoughtful policy approach and decision on network management. What is entirely unfair and unacceptable, however, is the fact that the Commission rendered Decision 2008-108 without the benefit of a comprehensive understanding of the factual, legal and policy issues at play. In particular, if the Commission did not believe that it had an adequate evidentiary record or did not have a full understanding of the factual and legal issues raised by Bell's throttling of wholesale GAS services to be able to determine in an unqualified and final manner the issues raised in the CAIP proceeding, then it was procedurally unfair for the Commission to have rendered a decision on CAIP's application.

Moreover, CAIP highlights a concern raised by many in the net neutrality world – that the CRTC has already decided many of the bigger issues even before the July hearings begin. CAIP notes that:

May 21, 2009 — 7 comments — News

You Can’t Handle The Truth

Jim Henshaw has a great post on the CRTC licence renewal hearings, the use of in camera hearings to keep much of the discussion out of the public domain, and the questionable claims about local broadcast viability with a new fee-for-carriage plan [hat tip: Writers Guild of Canada] .

May 20, 2009 — Comments are Disabled — News