On Wednesday, I wrote about the manner in which the government has proposed to amend the Telecom Act in order to permit increased levels of foreign ownership of satellite companies operating in Canada.
In effect, I wrote thatĀ the proposed language means that itĀ willĀ beĀ possible for a foreign-owned company to be approved asĀ a Canadian carrier – with all of the benefits and obligations associated with that designation – as long asĀ the ownership of transmission facilities is limited to a list set out in Section 16(5): international submarine cables; earth stations that provide telecommunications services by means of satellites; or satellites.
As I wrote, for as little as an investment in aĀ $200Ā satellite dish, resellersĀ may be able toĀ gain access to Canadian number resourcesĀ and lower their interconnection costs, thanks to “bill-and-keep” facilities.
What if the government added mobile wireless network equipmentĀ and spectrum as a fourth category of section 16(5) exempted apparatus? Would this be a simplified way to introduce liberalized foreign ownership for new entrants who still have fairly basic elements in their network configurations?
ThisĀ approachĀ could theoretically enable the existing integrated carriers to rearrange their businesses to separate the mobile assets, allowing more foreign direct investment in a purely mobile subsidiary, but it is not clear that there would be sufficient benefits to offset the restructuring.
Just saying.
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Does this mean if I buy a $200 satelite dish and mail it to ebay that we can finally get some Skype-in service working in Canada? š And google voice? That would be fantastic.