The OECD has just released its Communications Outlook 2007. The report contains an incredible amount of comparative data on phone, broadband, and broadcast markets in all OECD countries. Each country will look for its own rankings (US, UK, Australia), but there has yet to be much Canadian coverage with the […]
Post Tagged with: "telecommunications"
Canadian Telecom Competition
The Globe and Mail on why telecom deregulation opens the door to price increases.
Bloc Seeks Regulatory Control Over Telecom
Interesting exchange yesterday in the House of Commons as the Bloc took the government's emphasis on deregulating telecommunications to the ultimate conclusion – "since the government is no longer interested in regulating telecommunications, why does it not just transfer its telecommunications authority to the Government of Quebec?"
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."
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