Fundamental Changes Looming in Canadian Telecom Policy

The convergence of the newly-released Report from the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel (Panel) and recent comments of the Minister of Industry make it likely that the Canadian telecommunications sector will soon undergo fundamental changes, including relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions. In its wide-ranging review, the three-person Panel, appointed by the previous Liberal Government in April, 2005, delivered a comprehensive status report on the telecom sector with a number of recommendations for basic change. In broad principle, instead of reliance on regulation, the Panel called for reliance on market forces "to the maximum extent feasible". The Minister of Industry in the new Conservative Government, Maxime Bernier, has welcomed the general approach of the Panel by saying that he intends to take a hard look at "sacred cows" and has remarked that "everything is on the table", in order to boost Canada's competitiveness in the sector. Some of the more notable recommendations of the Panel include:

• a phased liberalization of foreign ownership rules for telecom carriers that are not broadcasters
• allowing the big telcos to start setting their own rates for local services in areas in which they do not have significant market share
• establishing a new Telecommunications Competition Tribunal to help with the transition to a more market-oriented sector
• specific suggestions (structural and financial) to ensure that nearly all Canadians have broadband access by 2010, and
• a recommendation that a similar policy review be held for the broadcasting sector which is also undergoing technological change.

For the full text of the Panel Report, visit: http://www.telecomreview.ca For two news reports on the Panel Report and on the reaction of the Minister of Industry, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?J17426FDC; and http://makeashorterlink.com/?M38423FDC For Prof Michael Geist's take on the more consumer-oriented aspects of the Panel Report, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?G1A452FDC Summary by: The Editor