Will the new entrant wireless carriers need to pass two levels of Canadian ownership scrutiny?
Recall that when Bell Canada had its review of its proposed restructuring, there were two different reviews: one by the CRTC in a public forum; and one by Industry Canada.
The current focus is on Industry Canada’s review of ownership structures for the new licensees. After all, our federal treasury has already cashed more than a billion dollars in cheques from companies that have never operated before in Canada in any form. They aren’t cable operators or phone companies.
So Industry Canada has to approve of their ownership structure before issuing licenses.
But there is still the question of the CRTC. In order to operate telecommunications facilities (which includes mobile wireless transmission), the CRTC has to approve the registration of the operator as a carrier. The CRTC’s processes are different from those used by Industry Canada and the Commission could theoretically subject the operators to a different standard.
Is it possible that an operator will be Canadian enough to hold an Industry Canada license, but not have enough maple syrup and Timbits in their veins to pass CRTC scrutiny?
Will this add a delay to start-up schedules?
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