Industry Canada is telling its Minister, Maxime Bernier, that Canada’s telecom industry has become too complacent and comfortable. In its briefing to the new Minister, there are signs that the federal department believes that Canada’s competitiveness has fallen behind in a number of important areas, including investment, innovation, broadband penetration, telecom prices and mobile wireless services.
The Inukshuk joint venture between Rogers and Bell is cited as an example of how the industry is enjoying a softening in competition and entering into a comfortable oligopoly.
The briefing notes suggest that liberalizing foreign ownership restrictions may be one way to re-energize the industry’s competitiveness. The department also suggests that there is a dampening in the investment climate due to regulatory uncertainty in respect of New Media and its overlap with Broadcasting.
The top 6 challenges from the perspective of Industry Canada:
- Improve opportunities for foreign investment in telecommunications
- Address specific concerns over foreign investment in cable TV companies
- Facilitate competition in telecommunications services
- Address specific issues of rural and remote areas
- Provide certainty regarding the policy and regulatory framework applicable to internet and “on-demand” services
- Manage spectrum to encourage new services and greater competition
The briefing may be providing some interesting foreshadowing for what we can expect to see from the Telecom Policy Review panel, which is releasing its report in a couple weeks.