Normalizing telecom competition • Telecom Trends

All businesses are regulated in some way or another, whether it is workplace safety, public health or consumer protection. Wednesday’s announcement from the Minister represents a move toward the continued normalization of regulation of the telecom industry.

As the statement from the CRTC says,

Both the Commission’s original framework and the modifications made by the Government today have the common objective of fostering competition in the Canadian telecommunications market.

The Cabinet directive gets us to that state faster.

Still, existing consumer safeguards, such as a price ceiling for stand-alone residential service will be maintained as well as continued price regulation in regions where there is little competition. Further, safety and social regulations, such as 9-1-1 and services for the disabled will remain.

The Competition Bureau will be an increasingly important guardian to address anti-competitive issues in the deregulated markets. The government has added $10.5 million over five years to its budget in order to strengthen its role in policing newly deregulated telecommunications markets.