Canada's communications industries will have a chance to air their views on a variety of hot topics as the Senate Subcommittee on Communications prepares for a year-long review of the regulatory, cultural and consumer issues raised by competition and convergence (NL, April 25/00). Chairing the Transport and Communication' s sub-committee is Liberal Senator Marie-P. Poulin, who is now in her fifth year in the red chamber.

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Randall Benson is the new senior VP and CFO of Call-Net Enterprises Inc. He worked for Parmalat Canada and Beatrice Foods before joining the Sprint parent last October.

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CRTC orders MTS to cover costs of dissenting groups
The CRTC has upheld a decision that forces MTS Communications Inc to pay two not-for-profit groups any costs they incurred while battling the prairie telco two years ago. The Consumers Association of Canada (Manitoba) (CAC) and the Manitoba Society of Seniors (MSOS) were granted $68,652.79 by the commission following Telecom Decision 99-4 . That decision denied the prairie telco the right to pre-collect future income tax expense from its basic residential local subscribers. On May 1, the commission once again sided against the telco in rejecting its appeal to have the costing decision overturned – Taxation Order 2000-3.
MTS was to have reimbursed the CAC and MSOS for expenses they incurred while preparing for the hearing. The telco appealed on four grounds: the fees for consultants and expert witnesses should not reflect any activity before the proceeding began; the time claimed by the consultants is excessive; a bill for $3794 for counsel Byron Williams to prepare for a hearing should be disallowed as the session was a public consultation not a hearing; and a claim for computer research should be denied as it was beyond the scope of the proceeding's mandate.
The CRTC sided with both the CAC and MSOS, saying it found nothing untoward about the number of hours claimed by the consultants and found no evidence of duplication. The research on retroactive and retrospective rate-making was also deemed necessary. The advocacy groups were awarded $67,118 in fees and $1,534.79 in disbursements.

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Radical new thinking is necessary for the telcos of the future, according to participants at a recent conference in Ottawa. The Canadian Telecommunications Policy Forum was held April 19 and 20 and permitted industry experts to prognosticate on where telecom is going. The consensus was that digital subscriber line (DSL) technology is the wave of the future and that IP will soon become commonplace.

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Digital subscriber lines are in the process of moving from a niche service to a volume service, delegates attending a recent conference on the technology were told. Gary Bolton, VP marketing for Catena Networks, was one of several panelists participating in the DSLcon conference and exhibition in Toronto.

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Cable modems may be leading the race for high-speed subscribers, but DSL continues to maintain a technological edge, according to industry executives speaking at a recent DSL conference. What's missing, they say, is targeted and aggressive marketing, as well as a way to recoup connectivity costs.

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Canadian CLECs are urging the CRTC to reject a plan by Bell Canada that would result in the emergence of a new high-speed competitor in Canada. At issue is a tariff application which, if approved, would allow Bell to lease copper loops and connecting links to companies not bound by foreign ownership limits. Bell has asked the commission to approve the tariff by May 29.

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