One Less Competitor

Our beloved CRTC is in the news yet again, this time for blocking one of the new wireless competitors, Globalive, from entering the Canadian market, because of the foreign ownership rules for telecommunications companies. Considering that Industry Canada accepted Globalive's bid during the spectrum auction, the ownership question must have been settled before that.

Naturally, the incumbents complained and the CRTC agreed with them, which looks like a classic example of government department's not following the same playbook. Industry Canada wants more competition while the CRTC is following the letter of the law.

The incumbents have had a strangle hold on the Canadian telecommunications market for far too long. The only way to shake things up is to change the rules. If means that means allowing more foreign ownership so be it. I'm sure that later there will consequences for loosening the rules, but we need the competition so badly in this country.

I wonder if Globalalive can get a refund for the spectrum they bought but now cannot use? No doubt their lawyers are already salivating at the fees they will earn from this debacle.

CRTC Really Riles People

The latest effort to counter the CRTC's brain damaged decisions is competitivebroadband.com which managed to get 20,000(!) emails sent on their first day of operation. The goal of dissolvethecrtc.ca is 10,000 signatures on a petition to be delivered to the Industry Minister. The number of signatures has been increasing steadily.

Those numbers are significant enough that some politicians will actually take notice, but getting them to act is another matter. In any event, Canadians have become too complacent about their Internet access, so it good to see these kinds on grass roots efforts gathering momentum.

Telecommunications In Canada

Here is a transcript of Micheal Geist's statement and follow up questions at the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications. It is a long read but it gives a great summary of the sorry state of telecommunications in Canada. The follow up question period is the best part where Geist doesn't pull any punches on the subject. The problem is, will anybody act on the committee's report? Unfortunately, knowing how these things work, the most likely answer is, No.