Former New Brunswick premier Bernard Lord has been named president of the Canadian Wireless Telecom Association.
He led the New Brunswick with two successive majorities from 1999 to 2006 and was most recently Senior Counsel at McCarthy Tétrault.
The Association is responsible for representing the wireless industry to the government and various regulatory agencies, such as the CRTC. Issues include use of spectrum, the use of mobile technology in cars, tower location and other areas of industry-wide advocacy.
The story first broke yesterday in papers in eastern Canada. The Saint John Telegraph Journal wrote:
Lord was premier for seven years and is close to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and well-known to many of the MPs formerly in cabinet or likely to be appointed.
Lord most recently served as one of three co-chairs of the federal Conservative party campaign.
Among the challenges for the new association leader will be recruitment of new members – welcoming the new AWS spectrum holders under the industry’s umbrella. While the new entrants may harbour some resentment for the CWTA’s lobbying during the spectrum consultation, there are many issues for which the common interests of the industry should unite all of the players.
Update [October 24, 9:20 pm]
Peter Nowak’s story at CBC Online includes a segment on why the new entrants should join the CWTA:
Industry analysts said newcomers would have much to gain by joining the CWTA.
“They’re concerned with future spectrum concerns, the ability to build towers and ensuring that legislation for driving and using cellphones is done with full knowledge instead of emotion,” said telecommunications consultant Mark Goldberg. “All of this can be done with so much more credibility if presented on an industry-wide basis.”
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