On Friday afternoon, Heritage Minister Josee Verner announced that Tim Denton will become a Commissioner at the CRTC.
His appointment represents an important counter to those who have suggested that the CRTC is populated with too many traditional telco minds.
In 1999, he wrote a paper Netheads versus Bellheads. His website shows that he is more closely associated with the nethead camp.
Mr. Denton is a specialist in legal and policy issues related to the Internet and communications, including telecommunications and broadcasting. He has been involved with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and the governance of the domain name industry and has also helped introduce long-distance voice competition in Canada as counsel to the Canadian Consumers’ Association.
Tim’s client base has also included: Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA); British Columbia Internet Association; Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP); and, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).
Coming into the upcoming new media proceedings, the Commission will gain a different set of perspectives – perhaps with greater interest and familiarity with technical details than is generally seen at Commissioner level.
Last year, he wrote a paper that considered telco investment in next-generation networks “as an opportunity to saddle the Internet with many of the characteristics of the current telephone system.” The paper seemed to challenge the CRTC’s policy of promoting facilities-based competition:
In my opinion, the telcos have succeeded partially in reducing competition by getting rid of the obligation to lease wholesale facilities.
It will be interesting to watch for his influence sitting on the other side of the hearing room.
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