OTTAWA – In what can only be viewed as a big win by Canada’s telcos, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier today came very close to deregulating the local telephony market.
The minister is setting aside key portions of the April 2006 CRTC local market forbearance decision and will place cable voice providers and traditional telcos on much closer regulatory footing. The ILECs had appealed the decision to federal cabinet.
The 25% market share loss benchmark has been erased, as have the winback rules which would restrict ILECs from contacting recently lost customers for 90 days after departure,
The new proposed order to vary the decision, which has to pass through Parliament yet, will also weaken the quality of service standards placed upon the ILECs before they can be deregulated in regions where they have already lost 25% of their market base.
More to come as our reporter in Ottawa is at the announcement.
