Canada - Telecommunications Regulatory Reform 2006

Synopsis

In broad terms, the March 2006 Final Report of the Canadian Telecommunications Policy Review Panel calls for a relaxing of the regulations contained within the 1993 Telecommunications Act and for several institutional changes. More specifically, the Report recommends that the new framework should rely on market forces ‘to the maximum extent feasible’ as the means to achieve policy objectives. Thus, the Report calls on government to accelerate the deregulation of markets. However, the Panel does not merely recommend carte blanch deregulation. Indeed, it also emphasises areas where government intervention should be retained or strengthened so as to guarantee ongoing competition and essential protection for consumers. For instance, though the Panel considered access to non-essential facilities should be unregulated, it recommended retaining mandated wholesale access to essential facilities. Similarly, to guard against monopoly pricing by the incumbents, retail price regulation would be retained although price-cap regulation would replace rate of return regulation. Moreover, in a number of areas concerning consumer protection, regulations would be strengthened. In terms of specific proposals, the more notable among its 127 recommendations, as well as the view of CLECs that this call for deregulation is premature, are discussed below.