UPDATED: Government finalizes new directions for CRTC

Monday the federal government outlined new policy directions for the CRTC, with an emphasis on competition, affordability, consumer interests and innovation. Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne first declared his intention to bring in the new measures last May. The new directions are in effect immediately. The department has been consulting with stakeholders since Champagne’s 2022 announcement. Most of the proposals made it to the final version with some measures being tweaked in the process, mostly at the behest of smaller competitors. Larger firms felt proposals on competition were too broad. “In general smaller telecom service providers supported the proposed direction that wanted the government to make it more prescriptive. Some improvements were made to make it more clear,” a government official stated in a briefing to reporters. “Several of the large telecom service providers opposed much of the direction. The government disagrees with those views and is moving forward with measures to advance competition and consumer interests.” There are seven basic objectives for the commission to follow. It should encourage competition and investment and should promote affordability and lower prices. It should ensure that high-quality services are available throughout the country, including in rural and remote areas. It should enhance the consumer rights and reduce barriers to entry by new telecom service providers (TSPs). The regulator should encourage innovation and stimulate investment in research and development (R&D). “While progress has been made, Canadians still pay too much and see too little competition,” Champagne said in a statement. “These objectives will ensure that affordable access to high-quality, reliable and resilient telecommunications services is available in all regions of Canada, including rural and remote areas and indigenous communities.” The CRTC is directed to make sure its proceedings and decisions are transparent, predictable, coherent and timely. In making financial decisions, the commission should balance the objectives of fostering competition, promoting high-quality networks, improving consumer choice, supporting innovation, and encouraging reasonable prices. The regulator must continue to mandate the provision of aggregated wholesale high-speed access services until it determines that meaningful competition will exist even if the services are no longer mandated. Such internet services should be offered at different speeds, guaranteeing affordable options for customers while at the same time allowing for the modernization of networks. On the wireless front, the CRTC has been directed to maintain wholesale roaming services at reasonable rates. It must assess the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access service and adjust the facilities-based approach. The commission should continue to encourage wireless competition even if competition is lowered through lessening of the number of competitors. The regulator should periodically review the effectiveness of its wireless framework and make any changes necessary. The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) should have its operational capacity expanded, the government said, and it should increase public awareness of its process. Further to that goal, the CRTC should protect customers from misleading sales information and provide protection from service outages such as the disruptions from Hurricane Fiona and the Rogers Communications Inc. service failure last year. Barriers to service for disabled people should also be addressed. The new policy directions will be implemented by new CRTC chair Vicky Eatrides, who has previously expressed her desire to update the process the commission follows. Reaction was swift and generally positive. The Competitive Network Operators of Canada said it was pleased that Champagne did not water down the policy direction. “We had recommended a small number of minor changes we propose to align the text with the government’s state intentions, and are pleased to see that the minister has confirmed that wholesale rates must be ‘just and reasonable’, although we remain concerned that the CRTC will, instead of setting those rates, leave it to negotiation,” executive director Geoff White said in a statement. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority also heralded the changes. “CIRA is particularly pleased that today’s order requires the commission to ensure that timely internet performance testing is conducted and data made available to consumers, which reflects several stakeholder recommendations linking network speed testing to better policy outcomes for internet users,” the group’s CEO Byron Holland stated in a news release. Lobby group OpenMedia said the changes were overdue but worried that the minister will approve the Rogers takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. That would limit competition, the organization said. It also called for faster adoption of MVNO service. “We don’t have unlimited time to get this right,” OpenMedia’s campaigns director Matt Hatfield was quoted as saying in a news release. “Our telecom system has not stood still while waiting for the CRTC to take action; the competition we have is in full collapse.” Updated to include reaction from the industry. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

UPDATED: Government finalizes new directions for CRTC

Broadcast | February 13, 2023

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UPDATED: Government finalizes new directions for CRTC

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