Working group includes members from Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Cogeco, Eastlink and CWTA
TORONTO — Investment in the telecommunications sector is key to Canada’s future prosperity and governments must focus on regulatory clarity, timeliness and stability to help drive greater investments in critically needed infrastructure, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.
The think tank today issued the first communiqué from its telecommunications policy working group which includes among its 19 members the chief regulatory experts from Bell, Rogers and Telus, as well as executives from Cogeco, Eastlink and Shaw Communications, and CWTA president and CEO Robert Ghiz. The working group meets monthly to identify and distill policy directions on the challenges facing the Canadian telecom industry.
“Action by governments is urgently needed to ensure that public policy and the regulatory framework encourage deployment of the next generation of telecommunications infrastructure for Canada to remain competitive in an increasingly digitally mediated global economy,” reads the rather unsurprising communiqué.
“Government policy should support sustainable competition that will ensure that Canadians and Canadian businesses have choice with respect to their telecommunication services in all regions of the country,” it continues. “Facilities-based providers build the essential infrastructure necessary to deliver telecommunications services. Regulatory certainty, jurisdictional disentanglement and predictable policy is essential for long-term investments and sustainable competition in such a capital-intensive sector,” says the report.
Future communiqués from the working group will address specific policy recommendations regarding rate-setting for mandated access and for MVNOs, the framework and timeliness for allocating spectrum, and how to streamline federal and provincial programs and clarify jurisdiction.
For more information and to access the full report, please click here.
