On a conference call on Tuesday, Minister Bernier indicated that he wants to move forward on Telecom Act amendments in order to implement more the of the recommendations of the report of the Telecom Policy Review panel.

We need to recognize some practical realities. This is, after all, a minority government. It returns us to the challenge of gaining opposition party support for telecom policy reform, a process, incidentally, that was launched by the last Liberal government.

Among the reforms that require legislative change is relaxation of foreign ownership. Some observers believe this may be the best way to provide meaningful wireless competition. The consultation for the next wireless auction, alluded to in Quebecor’s response to Monday’s Ministerial announcement, will be issued by Industry Canada early in the New Year.

What will it take to get support for further telecom policy reform?

Yesterday’s announcement to overturn the CRTC’s local forbearance decision is expected to more speedily open full price competition for local phone services.

Included in the changes is a 120 day countdown timer for the CRTC to respond to applications for forbearance once the criteria are met. As Minister Bernier stated in his announcement:

About 60 percent of the Canadian population lives in regions that meet the competitive infrastructure test, including most major urban centres. For Canadians living in remote areas of the country where there is limited choice, our government will be there to ensure universal access to telecommunications services at a reasonable price.

As pre-condition, however, the major incumbents, Bell and TELUS, will still need to improve their performance on Quality of Service for facilities that are provided to their competitors. Reports are that the ILECs still have failing grades, even on the subset of metrics under the new rules; improvement on this requirement will result in better service for customers of all industry players.

In the meantime, restrictions on promotions are being lifted, as are the prohibitions associated with winbacks. Both of these should provide more immediate visible signs of competition for consumers. We’ll continue to look at the implications of the impact of the relaxation of these rules in the coming days.

It is becoming clear that Competition Bureau chief Sheridan Scott will be taking on an increasingly important role for the telecom sector. Her experience at both the CRTC and Bell make her well suited for the task. She will be speaking at The Canadian Telecom Summit in June.