The CRTC issued a consultation notice on Friday [2010-149] to ask for input on whether there are current regulatory measures that could be left to the discipline of a competitive marketplace.
The Commission set out a list of 17 items that could be up for review and it asked parties to comment on whether such a review is warranted for each of them, considering changes in the telecommunications industry.
This is a follow-up to a process that actually began 3 years ago, triggered by the Policy Direction given to the CRTC from Cabinet in late 2006, that ordered:
- the Commission should
- rely on market forces to the maximum extent feasible as the means of achieving the telecommunications policy objectives, and
- when relying on regulation, use measures that are efficient and proportionate to their purpose and that interfere with the operation of competitive market forces to the minimum extent necessary to meet the policy objectives;
So, the Commission has issued a number of decisions to implement changes following a set of priorities established after the initial consultation in 2007. Friday’s notice of consultation continues the process of letting the marketplace regulate more of the industry.