GATINEAU – The chairmanship of the CRTC is often said to be a thankless job, so, many of the leading regulatory folks in Canadian telecom set about to change that this week, getting together to thank outgoing CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein for his yeoman’s work these past five years.
When he came on board as chair in 2007, von Finckenstein promised an open, accountable and transparent Commission. With dozens of public proceedings and many new ways to include the public in the debate launched under his watch, we got that in spades under von Finckenstein, who oversaw his final public hearing in Gatineau this week with CRTC 2011-206, the network interconnection regime hearing.
It certainly wasn’t as sexy or rancorous a hearing as value-for-signal or vertical integration, for example, nor as contentions as usage-based billing, but the folks who faced von Finckenstein the most appeared at the end to say thanks and fare-thee-well.
“Collectively, we understand that this is your last public hearing presiding over the Commission after five years of dedicated service, not only to this industry, but to the CRTC and to the people of Canada,” said Telus’ Ted Woodhead, “and we wanted, collectively, again, in a rare display of consensus and unanimity that you've been struggling to get us to arrive at, to express some thoughts on the record, as is the tradition of the Commission in the past on your tenure and provide some recollections in that respect.”
“I, too, agree with Telus that we should thank you for your leadership over the last five years,” added Bell Canada’s Jonathan Daniels. “I thought it would be most appropriate to demonstrate that with a diagram. But fortunately for all, I could not think of one that would capture the gratitude the industry owes you.”
“For the first time this week, I've heard something from the ILECs that we fully agree with and something we can certainly support. And from all of us at Shaw, you certainly have our best wishes,” said Shaw’s Jean Brazeau.
“Shockingly, I think what this shows that the ILECs and cablecos can be trusted to make some agreements without the Commission's intervention. It's rare, but it is happening on this occasion. And on behalf of Rogers, we would like to thank you for your contributions over the past five years,” added Rogers Communications’ David Watt.
“(Y)ou have introduced this new-fangled process which is transparent, expeditious, with active Commissioner involvement, one that has the unfortunate effect for regulatory lawyers of getting right to the heart of the issue and eliminating regulatory sport,” explained Bell Aliant’s Denis Henry. “(O)n behalf of everybody at Bell Aliant, I do want to acknowledge your contribution and thank you, and wish you well.”
And then to a good laugh, Public Mobile’s Bob Boron added: “On behalf of Public Mobile, I think this tribute perfectly illustrates the point of the new entrants. The ILECs and cablecos got together and drafted this tribute all by themselves and did not consult us whatsoever. So I think as your last order of business, you should mandate them to include us in any further tributes or accolades in this regard.”
“I recall back five years ago, June of 2007, sitting and listening to you. I think it was your first speech at the Telecom Summit. And you said that the hallmarks, in your view, of a regulatory body and a regulatory regime was that there would be transparency, certainty and clarity from the Commission,” added Woodhead. “I think that you have delivered on that in spades, sir. You embarked upon, with your colleagues, an ambitious regulatory agenda. And I think you — with this ultimate proceeding, you have pretty much accomplished that.”
The chair, a bit taken aback, was gratified by the on-the-record appreciation. “Thank you very much. You've really moved me, I must say. It has been five wonderful years. Never a dull moment,” said von Finckenstein. “I must say, this is one of the most exciting industries to work in, and I really did enjoy working with you. I'm delighted that this last hearing has shown that you've gotten used to each other, you've gotten used to my ways and we've proceeded ahead of schedule and we actually managed to work out a consensus of some of the major issues, which is wonderful.
“And I certainly must say I wish you all the best. You are the future of Canada. Your industry is clearly key, and I'm glad to have been able to contribute.”
– Greg O’Brien
