Telecom Trends

Last December, Minister Bernier announced a variance to the CRTC's local forbearance decision. This afternoon, the order was finalized, accelerating the deregulation of the industry. According to the Minister, this order is in the interests of customers and taxpayers, to deliver lower prices, recognizing the level of competition in major urban centres across the country.

The order was issued, despite a report from the Parliamentary Industry Committee (INDU) to withdraw the variance order, but it took into account the concerns of parties that provided responses to the consultation process, especially targetting the concerns of smaller cable companies.

The final order maintains the simple test that was set out last December, but clarifies a few points - it broadens and clarifies the definition of who are competitors, tightens the definition of a forbearance region.

The Telecom Policy Review panel had made an extensive number of recommendations to update the industry framework in a competitive global environment. Some of these will require legislative changes and it seems unlikely that the current incarnation of INDU will set aside politics to move forward on policies that should attract bipartisan support. Recall that the TPR panel was created under the Liberal government and its report was delivered to the current Minister. Still, we may need to wait for a majority government to bypass the tone of the committee meetings.

As we have noted before, it strikes me as more than a little ironic that the initial implementations of the TPR's recommendations are derivatives of cabinet appeals that may not be permitted when reform is completed.

Technorati Tags:
CRTC, Maxime Bernier, cabinet appeal, local forbearance, TPR