Telecom Trends: Developing a regulatory agenda

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Developing a regulatory agenda

The action at the CRTC is focussed on the future of broadcast distribution as the Commission has filled the rest of this month with its hearings that run through April 28. Those hearings may determine the level of consumer choice and the costs that might be incurred in offering a tailored delivery service.

At the end of the month, the CRTC will be releasing its multi-year plan for its review of social and other non-economic regulatory measures for the telecom side of the house, subsequent to the timetable that was part of its first public notice of the year.

Last year, the CRTC released an action plan for a review of its regulatory measures in the wake of the Minister's policy direction.

Some of the items were dependent on the establishment of the Telecommunications Consumer Agency:

In Telecom Decision 2007-51, the Commission stated that certain social regulatory measures (for example, privacy safeguards and obligations, retail quality of service rate rebate plan and standards, and Consumer Bill of Rights) would be prioritized for review subsequent to the establishment of a telecommunications consumer agency.