OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Earlier this year, after having been told by the federal government to rely on market forces and deregulate as much as possible, the Commission asked the telecom industry to help it prioritize.
After receiving submissions from cable companies and telcos and a few others, the Commission said Wednesday that a review of general tariff bundling rules and requirements for market trials was the consensus top priority and it issued a public notice on the matter, intending to make a decision as soon as possible.
"The Commission is of the view that the onus is on parties who want the Commission to maintain the regulatory measures to justify (1) why market forces are insufficient to achieve the policy objectives, and (2) that the regulatory measures otherwise comply with the relevant criteria set out in the Policy Direction," reads the PN.
Other top priority issues on the CRTC’s new action plan which will be reviewed in 2007 are: requirements for market trials; mandatory customer notice obligation on contract renewal; service destandardization/withdrawal requirements; administration of competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) interconnection by incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC).
Lower priority items like the rules on ILECs’ provision of digital maps of exchanges for CLECs won’t be done until 2010.
