OTTAWA – Wireless industry stakeholders are calling on the CRTC to initiate a separate review of the mobile data services framework and its applicability under the recently established Internet traffic management practices (ITMP) framework, rather than include the matter in a broader consultation on certain legacy telecom obligations.
They say the matter is largely administrative in nature and can be best handled separately.
“It would be a lot simpler in my mind to have dealt with that in a very small paper proceeding,” Michael Hennessy, Telus’ senior VP of regulatory and government affairs said in an interview.
“I suspect it’s quite specifically about whether or not the ITMP framework should be imposed on wireless and if so, how do you do it if sections 24 and 27(2) [of the Telecommunications Act] weren’t withheld by the Commission years ago when they forbore wireless. I don’t think it’s any broader than that,” added Mirko Bibic, chief of regulatory affairs at Bell Canada, agreeing that a simple paper proceeding is best.
Last week the CRTC launched a broad review of the contribution regime, the obligation to serve, the basic service objective (Telecom Notice of Consultation 2010-43) and competition in small ILEC territories. It also included a review of mobile data services forbearance framework with the goal of bringing it into compliance with the Internet Traffic Management Practices decision by applying sections 24 and 27(2) of the Telecom Act to the mobile Internet. These sections relate to undue discrimination and preference.
Ken Engelhart, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Rogers Communications, says this is about the Commission giving itself the power to intervene in a case where, as an example, an applications provider believes its application isn’t being fairly treated by the wireless carrier. It currently doesn’t have that ability so it needed to do a proceeding, he added.
Wireless applications providers raised this issue during the CRTC’s traffic management practices hearing. They wanted the Commission to make sure that their applications were given equitable treatment by the wireless carriers. However, the CRTC didn’t have the ability to adjudicate complaints on this specific matter because it didn’t have the authority to do so. When it deregulated the wireless industry in 1996, it did so for wireless voice, but not for wireless data.
Bell Canada, SaskTel, Telus Corp. and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association all filed comments on this with the commission in the last few days.
