A regulatory masterclass

Those who watched the TELUS panel yesterday at the CRTC’s Wireless Review hearing witnessed a master class in regulatory affairs.

From the opening statement through to a passionate peroration, the elocution by each member of the panel articulated the TELUS position with clarity, greeting each question from the CRTC with alacrity.

CPAC has the session available on-demand. You should watch it.

There has been a lot of chatter on Twitter about statements made by the TELUS panel. Watch it yourself. Whether or not you agree with the positions set forth, you might learn something about how to prepare for a regulatory proceeding.

Be sure to tune in especially at the 1:52:07 mark, where the question by Commissioner Chris MacDonald is greeted with reserved laughter. He asked TELUS if it is “part of ISED’s Connected [sic] Families initiative”. It speaks volumes about failures in CRTC market awareness that the Commission didn’t know the history of the program, the leadership of TELUS and Rogers in launching the service and the companies freely sharing their early experience to help take the program nationwide.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know where Connecting Families came from.

It wasn’t just the history of Connecting Families that was troubling. The CRTC seemed completely unaware of the extremely wide range of products and service plans that are available. What other aspects of the industry are missing from the CRTC’s knowledge base?

The CRTC prepares an annual Communications Monitoring Report filled with facts and figures. Has it become so entangled tabulating its detailed measurements that it is missing out on broader observations? You know, that old forest – tree thing?

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