I’m in the middle of busy month from a personal perspective, so I have not devoted as much time to keeping this blog current. There are another 2 weeks to go before I can devote time fully to work, so please excuse the recent tendency of a more intermittent nature than usual. When possible, I have tweeted a comment here and there – as an aside, I wonder if most of my blog readers are Twitter followers and vice versa.

The regulatory framework surrounding vertical integration is continuing to evolve. In this increasingly converged digital world, The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit will be looking at broadcasting issues as well, hearing from some of the most important leaders in this field: opening on June 4 with Rogers Communications chief Rob Bruce and hearing from Bell Media’s Kevin Crull and CBC’s Kirstine Stewart on June 6. Sandwiched in the middle will be discussions with CRTC Acting Chair Len Katz and our annual Regulatory Blockbuster, featuring the top advocates for Allstream, Bell, Globalive/Wind, Rogers, TELUS and PIAC.

Last Thursday, the CRTC issued a determination on negotiation parameters for a group of independent broadcast distributors (Bragg/Eastlink, the CCSA, Cogeco, MTS and TELUS) in their dealings with Bell Media. The decision provides some insights on Commission perspectives on issues such as bundling of content:

The Commission, while strongly encouraging BDUs to adopt consumer friendly packaging options, notes that programming services will need time to adapt to an increasingly consumer-focussed environment. However, the Commission considers that a programming service should not expect to be completely insulated from the effects of consumers exercising choice.

…

The Commission considers that, in return for the increased flexibility, the programming undertaking may reasonably request higher wholesale rates from a BDU in recognition of the fact that lower penetration, and thus lower volume, may result under a flexible packaging option. Consequently, it would be commercially unreasonable for a BDU to expect fixed unit pricing based on fixed penetration levels while enjoying the flexibility of delivering fluctuating penetration levels.

The CRTC prefers to have parties negotiate a commercial agreement, guided by the determinations in last week’s decision.

Just 8 weeks remain until The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit. Have you registered yet?

Today, the CRTC launched a “Proceeding to consider whether the conditions in the Canadian wireless market have changed sufficiently to warrant Commission intervention with respect to retail wireless services“.

The public notice responds to a number of events that have led some parties (representing carriers and consumer) to have the CRTC establish an industry wide committee to develop a national wireless services consumer code.

The CRTC says that it thinks the state of competition in the consumer marketplace needs to be examined first, given that the Commission has forborne from regulating retail mobile services.

The Commission is of the view that before it can consider what form of intervention, if any, may be appropriate with respect to retail wireless services, it must first determine whether there is evidence that Commission intervention in this matter is necessary and appropriate in light of the Commission’s forbearance from regulation of the wireless industry and the Policy Direction.

In other words, the CRTC found that the market was sufficiently competition to have made its forbearance determination, so how can it intervene in developing a code, without first determining that the market is no long as competitive as it was at the time of forbearance? The Policy Direction requirement to “rely on market forces to the maximum extent feasible” would appear to be guiding the CRTC.

Recall that Industry Canada just completed a study of the state of competition in Canadian wireless services, as part of its Policy and Technical Framework for the 700 MHz band.

The CRTC consultation is structured pretty basically: one round of comments (interventions), due in 4 weeks (May 3), followed by a reply due just 11 days later (May 14).

The Commission is seeking comments on whether the conditions for forbearance have changed sufficiently to warrant Commission intervention in the development of a national retail wireless services consumer code. In their interventions, interested persons should provide evidence as to the need for Commission intervention.

Will this CRTC call for comments attract more than what they expected?

We will explore this issue and so much more at The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit, June 4-6 in Toronto. Have you registered yet?

Media Awareness Network has just released a new guidebook, Responding to Online Hate (pdf), to assist educators, law enforcement representatives and community groups in countering hateful content on the internet.

The guide talks about dealing with content that sometimes contravenes federal and provincial Human Rights legislation and, in some cases, the Criminal Code of Canada.

A little while ago, I wrote that many people seem to grant online media an exemption for hate content that is illegal in print form, yet many of these same advocates supported the passage of anti-spam legislation that over-reaches and bans commercial electronic messages that are completely legal on paper.

Media Awareness Network has a wealth of resource materials available to assist teachers and parents in guiding thoughtful consumption of digital content for young people. Online hate is just one of the areas addressed by MNet, a Canadian non-profit organization that has worked to develop media literacy and digital literacy programs since its incorporation in 1996.

Bell Media’s Kevin Crull and CBC’s Kirstine Stewart will speak at The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit, bringing new perspectives to attendees on the increasingly converged world of telecommunications. They join 17 other keynote speakers, including Industry Minister Christian Paradis and Acting CRTC Chair Len Katz, as well as 50 other industry leading speakers at Canada’s foremost ICT event, taking place June 4-6, 2012 at the Toronto Congress Centre.

The Canadian Telecom Summit is where leaders of the industry join regulators, policy makers, suppliers, colleagues, customers and competitors to discuss the issues that impact the development of Canada’s digital economy.

This year marks 20 years of competition in  telecommunications services in Canada. Canada’s wireline and wireless carriers, large and small, cable and telephone companies, have followed different strategies to continue to grow, delivering value to their customers and shareholders.

What is ahead? How will government policies impact the development and adoption of ICTs in Canada? How will Canadians find their place in creating and consuming digital content?

You need to be at The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit in June.

Have you registered yet?

Let me reminisce a little.

For the past 25 years or so, automated systems are designed to connect an operator to the oldest call in the line, but it wasn’t always so. In the olden days of manual switchboards, a call to the operator would show up as a flashing red light. Operators had to try to answer the call within a certain time period, or a counter would increment, indicating a late call. Each shift (and totaled each day and each month), the late answer calls would be tallied and measured as a percentage of all calls. So operators could cheat on the service quality metrics by never getting around to answering the really stale calls. After all, once the call is late, it is already scored as a failure. Answering that call would put all of the fresh calls at risk. Automated systems put an end to that kind of gaming, and brought all sorts of new metrics as well.

That brings us to today’s post.

Coming up on two years ago, the federal government launched a multi-faceted consultation to develop a national digital strategy. As I have written many times, the government is embarrassingly late in delivering what was supposed to have been a 12-18 month exercise. I wonder sometimes if we will ever see the output from that consultation, or will it be like the calls that were ultimately abandoned on the switchboards of old.

Late on Thursday, we will see a new federal budget, a new opportunity for the government to demonstrate digital leadership. Will we see a digital strategy line in the budget?

At The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit, June 4-6 in Toronto, we will explore the issue of Building a Digital Canada. It has a powerful lineup of speakers who discuss a wide range of issues associated with transforming our economy to compete effectively in a digital marketplace.

Have you registered yet?