OTTAWA – After thousands of words of testimony from various telecom industry players and consumer groups, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology has recommended the Minister of Industry withdraw his order varying the local forbearance decision of 2006.
In December, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier issued a policy directive ordering the CRTC to change its April 6, 2006 decision and rely on market forces to let competition flourish. The CRTC set out a number of tests that had to be met prior to deregulation in its decision, but the Minister proposed a simpler one: if there are three facilities-based competitors in a community, including wireless, the local phone market is deregulated.
Such a move would likely ensure that local phone competition in small markets would then take ages to happen, if ever.
"Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied the deregulation of telecommunications and recommends that the Minister of Industry withdraw the order varying Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-15 and table in Parliament a comprehensive package of policy, statutory and regulatory reforms to modernize the telecommunications services industry," said the Committee in a release on Friday.
However, the Conservatives on the panel dissented, of course, and the Minister is under no obligation to heed the Committee’s recommendation. He has until a year after the first decision to decide what to do, as all of the major telcos appealed the original decision, giving Cabinet an April 6th deadline to make some sort of announcement on the matter.
Keep an eye on Cartt.ca for any such announcement, likely to come prior to Good Friday.
