Industry Minister Tony Clement will be speaking at The Canadian Club of Toronto on Thursday, which could provide the backdrop for his announcement on the appeals of a number of CRTC Decisions from late 2008.
On December 11 of last year, the CRTC issued decisions dealing with a variety of wholesale services issues. These were the main subjects of the cabinet appeals [officially called Petitions to the Governor in Council].
Decision 2008-117 dealt with speed matching – the requirement for ILECs to provide wholesale customers with access to all upgrades in speeds offered to retail consumers. Decision 2008-118 was a determination by the CRTC that its findings in Decision 2008-17 were correct.
The appeal of 2008-118 is a procedural last gasp – the timing for appeal of the original 2008-17 decision had expired. The Cabinet review included another CRTC Decision, Order 2009-111, which was a follow-up to 2008-117.
Got it straight?
It is appropriate to have Cabinet provide guidance on these decisions. At issue are questions of consistency with government competition policy. The essence of the appeals goes to the vision of how to foster a sustainably competitive telecom industry. To what extent will companies with advanced access infrastructure be required to share it on a regulated basis?
Thursday’s speech from Minister Clement should be examined to see how the current government views the future of competition in the communications sector: will the Minister continue to encourage facilities-based competition? How does this policy manifest itself in stimulating investment in next generation infrastructure?