The print version of our brochure for The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit has been approved for mailing out this week. We have 6000 pieces going out.

We are particularly happy that Industry Minister Tony Clement will be delivering the opening keynote on June 7, which should help set the stage for our discussions. As my regular readers know, The Canadian Telecom Summit is the place where Canada’s communications industries get together.

You can read the latest version of the brochure here, without waiting for the mail delivery. Have you registered yet?

Last Tuesday, Verizon Chair and CEO Ivan Seidenberg had a ‘fireside chat’ with Alan Murray of the Wall Street Journal at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. The transcript of the interview is worthwhile reading and it includes Seidenberg’s masterful handling of an open Q&A as well.

You can also watch the interview on video. Some of his comments are particularly relevant to a number of activities we’re following on the Canadian policy and regulatory front: regulated wholesale access (CRTC 09-261); the obligation to serve and basic service objective (CRTC 10-43); national digital strategy; Parliamentary INDU Committee hearings; and more .

Among the tidbits that resonated most with me:

I fear that when industry — not just us, but any company makes capital allocations decisions, if we start out with 2, 3, 4 billion dollars worth of government mandates that really don’t have any reality in how the market works, I worry about that, because that just adds costs, it reduces our incentive to invest in this country, and it affects hiring, and you know all the other things that go with that.

And

Anytime government — whether it’s the FCC or any agency — decides it knows what the market wants and makes that a static requirement, you always lose. So this FCC decided that speed of the network was the most important issue. So that’s all they measured.

…

In Japan, where everybody looks at Japan as being so far ahead, they may have faster speeds, but we have higher utilization of people using the Internet. So our view is, whenever you look at these issues, you have to be very careful to look at what the market wants, not what government says is the most important issue.

Seidenberg talks about universal service obligations, about choice, about freedoms to let service providers innovate. Interesting points to talk about over the water cooler this week.

On Wednesday, I wrote about the manner in which the government has proposed to amend the Telecom Act in order to permit increased levels of foreign ownership of satellite companies operating in Canada.

In effect, I wrote that the proposed language means that it will be possible for a foreign-owned company to be approved as a Canadian carrier – with all of the benefits and obligations associated with that designation – as long as the ownership of transmission facilities is limited to a list set out in Section 16(5): international submarine cables; earth stations that provide telecommunications services by means of satellites; or satellites.

As I wrote, for as little as an investment in a $200 satellite dish, resellers may be able to gain access to Canadian number resources and lower their interconnection costs, thanks to “bill-and-keep” facilities.

What if the government added mobile wireless network equipment and spectrum as a fourth category of section 16(5) exempted apparatus? Would this be a simplified way to introduce liberalized foreign ownership for new entrants who still have fairly basic elements in their network configurations?

This approach could theoretically enable the existing integrated carriers to rearrange their businesses to separate the mobile assets, allowing more foreign direct investment in a purely mobile subsidiary, but it is not clear that there would be sufficient benefits to offset the restructuring.

Just saying.

My conference co-chair Michael Sone and I are excited to announce that The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, will be delivering the opening keynote address to The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, on the morning of June 7. Our opening remarks are now going to take place at 8:20 am so that Minister Clement can speak at 8:30 am.

Breakfast and registration opens at 7:00 am on June 7. Delegates should be sure to arrive on-time to hear the opening address starting promptly at 8:30.

Now celebrating our 9th year, The Canadian Telecom Summit is Canada’s leading industry event, attracting more than 500 of the most influential people who shape the future direction of communications and information technology and services in Canada.

For 3 days, The Canadian Telecom Summit delivers thought provoking presentations from the prime movers of the industry from around the globe. This is your chance to hear from and talk with them in both a structured atmosphere of frank discussion & high-octane idea exchange, and network in a more relaxed social setting of genial conversation over an espresso or cocktail.

The Canadian Telecom Summit features keynote addresses by leading Canadian and international wireline & wireless service providers, information technology companies, global equipment suppliers, and government policy & regulatory decision makers.

This year’s theme, New Economic Realities, New Approaches: The Communications Industry in Transition, is one that is sure to engender substantive and lively discussion. Discuss what technology and marketing facilities are in development to address changing needs, and how suppliers are positioned to meet customer demands.

Join us June 7-9 in Toronto to hear perspectives on the direction of the industry, with engaging discussions on broadband initiatives & services, mobile service & device development, mobile commerce trends, next generation technology direction, new business models, advanced wireless services, competitive dynamics, content development & adoption and policy evolution, including a special focus on Tuesday, June 8 looking at the development of Canada’s national Digital Strategy.

The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit opens in two months.

Have you registered yet?

Section 16 of the Telecom Act has the ownership and control provisions. 

A friend pointed me to the proposed changes that are part of the Budget bill [scroll down to Part 23 of the link]:

If the government merely wanted to exempt satellite operators, it seems they need only have changed 16(5) to add “satellites” to the list. But the proposed legislation does more as 16(1)(b) expands the definition of who can operate as a “Canadian carrier.” As a result, it expands the definition of who can receive the benefits accorded only to Canadian carriers. What is the purpose of the proposed new 16(1)(b)? Does it foreshadow further contemplated changes?

So what does this all mean? There are a few implications that I think could be interesting.

Hypothetically, the new rules could allow a number of foreign controlled carriers to become CLECs in Canada. Here’s how – an owner of an international submarine cable, an earth station, or a foreign owned satellite could establish a presence in Canada sufficient to make it “subject to the legislative authority of Canada”. This Canadian presence combined with operations as a telecommunications common carrier (via permitted s. 16(5) transmission facilities) would meet the definition of “Canadian carrier” under the Act.

CLECs have to be Canadian carriers but they do not actually need to own or operate any other transmission facilities to operate as a CLECs – rather, they can (as many CLECs do) lease what they need from the ILECs for interconnection and enjoy all of the CLEC benefits, such as bill and keep interconnection and access to Canadian numbering resources.

The proposed change to Section 16(1) would allow any company – foreign or domestic – to set up a Canadian subsidiary, and for the cost of a $200 satellite dish (an “earth station” under Section 16(5)(b)), under the new 16(1)(b), they are eligible to be Canadian carriers.

Was this the intent of the proposed 16(1)(b), or is it an unintended consequence?