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Vox Populi - The People Speak (to the
telecom policy review panel)
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November 2005-
IGB Grant 514-849-3508 & Brian Sharwood 416-413-9381
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KEY HIGHLIGHTS: |
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- Canada’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, the Honourable
David Emerson, established a panel to review Canada’s policies
regarding the regulation of the telecommunications industry in April
this year.
- The panel is to report to the Government in December – just in
time, we hear from Prime Minister Martin, for an election call. We
hope that the panel’s counsel will not be lost in pre- (and post)
election distractions. It would be a shame if the nation were to lose
this opportunity to influence the direction of the country’s
telecoms development. Filing the panel’s report on a dusty shelf
would not be a fitting end for this endeavour.
- The panel is doing important work. The panel is examining the industry,
looking at trends and portents, looking at objectives and social goals,
looking at competing visions of what Canada’s communications
policies should be. This is a vital exercise.
- The panel will provide policy makers with useful perspectives and
important direction. Our counsel to parliamentarians, and would-be
parliamentarians
(come the dropping of the writ) is to pay attention. A clear vision
of the role of communications should be an important issue for Canadians – we
have moved now beyond provision, merely, of telephone service, we are
now looking at the mechanics of broader broadband deployment and questions
about who and how we should pay for such a key service. These questions
are of import to the industry, yes, but they are also key questions
for Canadians as we look at our country’s place in a post-internet,
post-broadband economy. That the internet represents a useful resource
is no longer a question. Broadband access to the internet will be a
key ingredient in the economic, social and intellectual life of Canadians
in the coming century.
- Our advise to panelists? Amongst the many weighty tomes of advice
and suggestions you have received over the past six months there are
many
nuggets, many good takeaways. Here’s our round-up:
- Is a change
in regulation, and regulatory focus needed? Yes, absolutely. Clearly
there is a virtual consensus (though with some important exceptions)
that some shifts are required. A shift from looking-backward, when
considering options, to looking-forward would be a good first step.
- A
lighter regulatory hand is required. Trust to market mechanisms,
not economic micromanagement.
- We need to find a way to bring broadband services to all Canadians – but
we also need to make sure that all providers, using the full possibilities
offered by new technologies, have the opportunity to bring services
to Canadians. Should incentives be needed, lets do so through focused
initiatives, not indirectly through regulatory fiat.
- ICT – Information and Communications Technologies – offer
important opportunities to Canada and Canadians. We are not exploiting
these technologies as much as other nations. We are not adopting ICT
advantages into our businesses or schools – we need a vision
in Ottawa of what can be, we need stimulus, we need a national
technological rearmament. Lets get this on to the political agenda.
The panel can
help.
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