IT Business covered the Minister’s speech.

Reuters couldn’t bring themselves to refer directly to the event. The Minister spoke at “a telecom summit in Toronto.” Are there any others?

Lots of press, lots of stories, lots of buzz. And most important, a great evening of just plain down time at the Rogers Centre to watch the Jays beat the Orioles with perfect evening weather.

Update: The Globe carried a review by Catherine McLean and Simon Tuck of the Minister’s speech with broad reaction from the members of the regulatory panel.

The Post continued its extensive coverage of The Canadian Telecom Summit with another full page, including a story by Kevin Restivo looking at Darren Entwistle’s speech and another by Mark Evans looking at Minister Bernier’s address.

Darren also raised the issue of the Broadcast Review Panel.
Again, 4 recommendations:
– TPR approach of minimalist regulation
– Adopt right of fair use while respecting intellectual properrty rights
– Allow IPTV providers to direct contributions to new media funds
– Set a firm HDTV transition date

Darren Entwistle acknowledged the move to consumer created and shared content and announced TELUS’ intent to lead in content delivery.

Instant gratification. Delivering what younger consumers want, when and how they want it. Games, software, news, information and education.

Update: Talk about instant gratification. This blog posting was made via Blackberry from the Telecom Summit conference floor.

Heckuva morning at The 2006 Canadian Telecom Summit. Sir Terry Matthews, Canada’s enthusiastic teecom entrepreneur delivered a strong message as a lead-in to the annual Regulatory Blockbuster.

Janet and the boys (Mirko, Ken, Jean and Chris) again brought life to a subject that might otherwise not make for entertainment.

Minister Bernier spoke to a packed room, announcing that this morning, the goverment had delivered its first policy direction to the CRTC, instructing it to place market forces at the forefront of its decision-making process.

At lunch, Darren endorsed the Telecom Policy Report, saying the TPR got it right. Darren recommended 4 priorities to the Minister:

– Remove restrictions on win-backs
– Amend Telecom Act to give effect to reliance on market forces
– Enhance regulatory effectiveness by matching CRTC size and skills to the policy approach
– Establish Telecom Competition Tribunal

The Canadian Telecom Summit appears in 3 of the 4 Toronto dailies. The National Post included a two page centre spread in the Financial Post section. The Globe has an article as does the Toronto Sun.

Help me understand a fine point of journalistic integrity. When there are leading telecom consultants in the audience, why would the National Post and Globe and Mail seek quotes from analysts who weren’t even at the Summit?

Update: The Toronto Star, which hasn’t covered the Canadian Telecom Summit in 4 years, came out of the dark in a story that featured a discussion of Monday’s Illegal Content session. Their reporter thought we were in Mississauga (The Toronto Congress Centre really is in Toronto). Maybe the Star’s reporters have been missing the conference because they are going to the wrong location!