Who to lobby on spectrum: Policy Map

With demand for wireless spectrum on the rise, policy around the finite natural resource in Canada has emerged as a major government file over the last decade. Two spectrum auctions have already taken place this year, so far raising $2.86 billion in government revenues, and a third auction is scheduled for August to sell off residual spectrum licenses not previously bought. Talks are also underway between government and industry stakeholders for a future 3500 MHz auction that could take rural spectrum used for fixed wireless service and repurpose it for mobile service in urban areas. There were 28 unique active registrations on spectrum in the federal lobbyists' registry as of Thursday. Companies lobbying on spectrum policy include large incumbent telecom companies such as Telus Corp., BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc.; smaller service providers including Xplornet Communications Inc. and Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp.; and associations such as the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Media Production Association and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, among other companies and groups. Companies that buy spectrum have to pay the fees upfront to the government, but the federal government is only allowed to add those revenues to its budget over the life of the spectrum, taking the full amount and dividing it by the number of years of the spectrum licence, so revenue raised through spectrum auctions doesn't get recorded in the federal budget all at once. “With fees, plus this recording of auction revenue, the government is now recording more than $1 billion on every budget from spectrum, so that's a huge, huge industry,” a wireless industry lobbyist said on background. Jeremy Depow, founder and executive director of Canada's Digital Policy Forum, said that one area where the government could look at amending its policies is what it does with the revenues from spectrum auctions. “When they hold these auctions, they make billions of dollars,” Depow said in a phone interview with The Lobby Monitor. “I think it would be worthwhile looking at allocating those funds to increase Internet penetration,” Depow said. He said Canada's goal of 5 Mbps high-speed Internet for 98 per cent of Canadians, as outlined in the Digital 150 plan, is a pretty low objective. “That's not really shooting for the stars,” he said. There are several lobby groups consulting with the government on how it should sell spectrum and what it should do with all the revenue it makes. Below, The Lobby Monitor sets out a list of key policymaking privates and generals in government, as well as cabinet offices, who are working on the spectrum policy file. Office of Industry Minister James Moore Industry Minister James Moore is the minister responsible for Canada's digital policy and all matters relating to spectrum and auctions. Moore has been very engaged on the competition issue, which some consultants say is coming down from the Prime Minister's Office. Within Moore's office, worth noting are James Maunder, chief of staff; James Nicholson, director of policy; and policy adviser Alexandra MacEachern, who is responsible for Canada's digital policy and whose role has been expanded in recent months. MacEachern is very knowledgeable about spectrum policy, one lobbyist told The Lobby Monitor. Industry Canada While other countries have separate departments or agencies for handling spectrum policy, Industry Canada is the clearing house handling all of Canada's spectrum policy. Within the department are several branches working on various aspects of spectrum policy, from auctions to new technologies. Deputy Minister's Office Industry deputy minister John Knubley is really too high up to go to on spectrum policy. Those at the assistant deputy minister level and the director and director general level are more likely to have working knowledge of the files. Corinne Charette is senior assistant deputy minister to Knubley, having recently replaced Kelly Gillis in that role. Charette is the highest up in the chain of command lobbyists and industry executives would be likely to talk to about spectrum policy. Éric Dagenais is another assistant deputy minister working on spectrum at Industry Canada. Spectrum Licensing Policy Branch Senior assistant deputy minister Fiona Gilfillan is in charge of the department looking after spectrum auction policy. This is the branch that gets the spectrum out the door by setting the policies for the auctions to sell off licences. Gilfillan has been with Industry Canada for three years and was at the CRTC prior to that. Working with Gilfillan at the spectrum-licensing branch is senior director Heather Hall, who works on spectrum licensing and auction operations. Adam Hatfield is the director of spectrum regulatory best practices. Spectrum Management Operations Branch Peter Hill is the director general of this branch. Hill is in charge of the department that manages auctions. His department also has oversight over personal communication services and this branch monitors the use of spectrum to avoid interferences. Alain Côté is the director working with Hill. Information and Communications Technology Branch One wireless industry lobbyist said on background that nobody has any idea what this branch is responsible for. Krista Campbell is the director general. Dale Forbes is the director working on business intelligence and analysis, while Kaili Lévesque is responsible for policy and strategic planning. Engineering, Planning and Standards Branch This branch is one of the more important ones. The higher-ups here decide which bands of spectrum are released, when and for what purpose. This is the longer-term planning branch for spectrum policy. Daniel Duguay is the director general at this branch and Shirley Anne Scharf is senior director. The spectrum engineering and planning directorate is a quite large branch under the engineering, planning and standards branch with a number of directors working on the file, as is the telecommunications engineering and certification directorate. Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Transport Canada The Department of Public Safety also comes into the policy conversation when the government talks about spectrum set aside for emergency services. Transport Canada is brought into the loop when spectrum policy has to do with transportation and radio use. House and Senate Committees In House committees, broadband spectrum infrastructure was brought up at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities during a recent study on updating infrastructure in Canada. Spectrum has also come up recently at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, when the group heard witnesses speak on the possible effects of electromagnetic magnetic frequencies. In Senate committees, keep an eye on the transport and communications committee, as it has recently studied a user fee proposal for fixed-satellite services and broadcasting-satellite services. With writing by Yael Berger atyberger@lobbymonitor.caand editing by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirerport.ca This is an edited version of story was originally published June 11 in The Lobby Monitor, a division of Hill Times Publishing. For more exclusive coverage of federal lobbying, visit www.lobbymonitor.ca.

Who to lobby on spectrum: Policy Map

News | June 12, 2015

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Who to lobby on spectrum: Policy Map

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