Stikeman Elliott’s Communications Law Blog has a new post (“CRTC tweaks anti-spam regulations“) that describes the recently filed final regulations made by the CRTC under Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL). David Elder from Stikeman’s indicates 5 points where the regulations have seen some changes and clarification.

As indicated, we are still waiting for Industry Canada to finalize its regulations and for a vendor to be selected to operate a Spam Reporting Centre.

I continue to have doubts that any of us will see a decrease in the volume of real spam – offers for anatomical enhancement, debt relief, etc. This bill, as it was passed, will serve to dramatically increase the cost of electronic business and act as a deterrent for e-commerce adoption by legitimate businesses in Canada. The government should sit on this one until its impact can be assessed and integrated into an overall national digital strategy.

For the past 18 months, Bell has been trying to upgrade its infrastructure in Montreal’s Outremont district. According to a file submitted to the CRTC, the local council has been delaying Bell’s building permits for installing Fibre to the Home (FTTH; FALM – fibre à la maison – in French) and internet speed increases through Fibre to the Pedestal.

It is an interesting file to examine. It all started in September 2010, with what should have been somewhat routine applications for wiring upgrades. It is hard to imagine what gets into the minds of municipal politicians when they reject a fibre build due to “des prétendus impacts sonores et de santé relativement aux ondes émises par l’équipement FALM”. Noise and health impact associated with the waves emitted by the FTTH equipment.

Donnez moi un break.

The initial response of the City to the Bell application provides fascinating insights. “We see no urgency…”, despite delays to customer affecting capacity exhaust set out in the Bell application. Bell had not only asked the CRTC for an expedited process,  it asked for immediate approval of two of the permits where equipment was operating at capacity.

Around the world, governments at federal, provincial and city levels are spending gazillions of taxpayer dollars to upgrade communications infrastructure. Governments have begged and subsidized carriers to encourage them to install fibre optic connections for their citizens. But, in the city playing host this fall to The World Congress on Information Technology, roadblocks are being put in front of private sector investment in FTTH.

“Fulfilling the Promise of the Digital Age”?

Not in parts of the host city.

As Bell states in its application, Outremont’s concerns about protecting the “heritage” aspects of the district cannot leave its citizens restricted to legacy services over quaint copper connections. It is time for Outremont to develop a greater sense of urgency and encourage investment in digital networks.

When will we see the auction policy announced for the 700 MHz band?

This has been the hot discussion topic among the telecom policy wonks for the past few months. It is now reasonable for the smart money to be looking at dates a couple of months from now.

Why? Let’s look at how the announcement ties into the federal budget, which is scheduled now for March 29. At one time, a number of us thought it might be reasonable for the announcement to precede the budget. Our thinking was that the legislation required to liberalize foreign ownership in telecom carriers – likely to be announced prior to or as part of the auction policy – would be buried in the budget implementation bill as a means to expedite its passage. The federal government may still announce foreign ownership liberalization in the budget, under a heading of digital economy measures, without announcing the specifics of the spectrum auction.

The problem is that the auction can reasonably be expected to generate billions of dollars in revenues for the government. If the auction policy is announced immediately before, coincident or immediately after the tabling of the budget, it would be reasonable for the auction proceeds to be included in the revenue estimates for the budget. Since the AWS auction generated $4.25B, will this auction bring more or less?

But, the billions of dollars in windfall revenues is inconsistent with a budget that is expected to demand significant cuts in expenditures. Further, the government is not likely interested in signalling the amount of money it expects to raise. As the vendor, would you want to signal your baseline number, or allow the bidding to proceed unconstrained. Further, if the government is going to allocate 10-20MHz of spectrum to public safety, how would the opposition parties respond to cuts in services for various agencies when the government is choosing to forego auction revenues for up to 20% of the spectrum that is available?

So, the spectrum auction policy may continue to simmer away on the back burner until after the government passes its budget. Based on the 2011 Budget timetable, we could need a further 3 weeks from the time the Budget is tabled until it receives Royal Assent. The government may not want to announce its spectrum policy in that interim period, because of the magnitude of the funds that would be generated.

This theory implies that we won’t see a spectrum policy announcement for another month (to March 29) until the Budget is tabled, followed by at least 3 more weeks until the it is put to bed. That moves us toward late April or early May.

Of course, all of this is just an outside perspective that may have nothing to do with any of these considerations. Your comments, as always, are welcomed.

In any case, The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit, taking place June 4-6 in Toronto, will be the place to debate the spectrum policy issues and we have a forum scheduled for the afternoon of June 6 to focus on precisely that area. No other event brings together all of the leading stakeholders for the sector that is driving Canada’s digital economy.

Have you registered yet?

It sometimes feels like the government is great at launching consultations; it just doesn’t seem to get around to doing anything about it.

I have written extensively about the long overdue results of the consultation regarding liberalization of foreign investment in the telecom sector. Around the time that the government should have made a decision, that got bundled into the consultation on the 700 MHz spectrum auction. So now we have two issues that are both overdue for a decision.

There is also the National Digital Economy Strategy consultation. We have seen lots of spending that is said to be consistent with that strategy, but the strategy itself has never been released.

While we are inventorying stagnant files, let’s not forget the regulations for the Anti-Spam law. Although as I have written many times, this is one file that is best allowed to stay on the back burner.

Even when a consultation results in a report, we don’t necessarily see the government acting on the report. Take the Telecom Policy Review Panel. It issued its report in 2006 – and the government has shut down its website. Or Competition Policy (2008). Last week, the government launched a consultation for the aerospace sector.

Last fall, Tom Jenkins delivered a report on innovation and R&D policy. Yesterday, the government handed out $5M to a bunch of companies, on top of investment by BDC in some of these firms, but the reference to the report stated:

We received the report, and while we don’t necessarily subscribe to all of its recommendations, we do agree with the direction of the changes that need to be made to address the challenges faced in business-related R&D, and we will act soon.

Actually, the government is doing more than just acting soon. They are spending $5M without first stating what the policy will be going forward. Which pieces of the report are going to be adopted? Once again, shouldn’t we have a strategy followed by spending consistent with the policies that come from that strategy?

Tom Jenkins will deliver the closing keynote address on June 6 at The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit. Early Bird registrations end tomorrow, February 29. Be sure to take advantage of savings by registering early.

The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit takes place June 4-6. For 3 days, the leadership of the telecom, broadcast & IT industries will converge at the Toronto Congress Centre to discuss the key issues and trends that will impact this critical sector of the economy. Join more than 500 of your peers, suppliers, policy makers, regulators, customers and competitors in attending telecom’s most important gathering. Early Bird rates for The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit are only available for 3 more days; after February 29, rates increase so you should register now.

Since 2002, The Canadian Telecom Summit has developed a reputation of presenting an unequalled program that has featured the absolute cream of the crop of Canadian and international communications executives and personalities. The Canadian Telecom Summit has become a must attend event for companies doing business in the Canadian communications and IT market. The Canadian Telecom Summit is the largest and most prestigious gathering of stakeholders interested in the Canadian communications and IT industries.

Take a look at the latest version of the conference brochure or visit the conference website.

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