New report suggests all telecoms be required to provide more data to CRTC

The regulated, the forborne and even the deregulated could be subject to stringent new reporting requirements that will help the federal government determine if Canada’s telecom market is viable and technologically advanced. A background report prepared for the CRTC as part of a mandated review of the state of Canadian telecommunications suggests that any company that falls under the general purview of the Telecommunications Act be required to complete a three-part form, with the first part due by the summer. The commission is expected to cast a wide net in deciding which industries will be required to fill out the disclosure forms and/or participate in other means of data collection. Among those that may be included: telcos, CLECs, resellers, WSPs, ISPs, cablecos, and satellite carriers. In addition to the new reporting forms, the March 21 report, prepared by Lemay-Yates Associates Inc , says consumer and business surveys should be used to gauge attitudes on such things as pricing and innovation. It suggests that Statistics Canada be required to conduct more timely and comprehensive industry surveys, and for the CRTC to initiate benchmarking studies, which compare Canada’s telecom industry to other countries. The report found Canada’s reporting requirements lax when compared to other countries, particularly the United States and England. The U.S. produces copious amounts of data on its communications industries at both federal and state levels. The Federal Communications Commission also has legislative power to collect info from carriers. In other countries, data filed from these sectors is used to produce regular overview reports on the status of various markets, including dial-up Internet, mobile, public payphones, retail prices, and broadband access, among other things. "In examining a number of jurisdictions, it becomes clear that countries with well developed telecommunications markets go to great efforts to monitor and collect information concerning their telecommunications industry, as well as to monitor what happens outside their national markets and how this may impact their domestic market," the report states. "Monitoring thus plays a role both in validating and tracking the effects of regulatory decisions, but also in being able to assess the relative competitiveness of the industry." The Lemay-Yates report stems from a June 2000 Order-in-Council requiring the CRTC to report by Sept. 28 of this year on the status of telecom competition in Canada, and on the deployment and accessibility of broadband networks and services in urban and rural areas. The commission must also issue an annual report for the next five years on these issues to the federal government. The background report will form the basis of a two-day hearing beginning April 18 in Hull QC, initially announced in Telecom PN 2000-175. The consultation will be chaired by commission staff and interested parties will have an opportunity there to comment on ideas raised in the Lemay-Yates report. "The consultant’s final background report will be used to develop survey forms, which will identify the additional information required from tele-communications service providers. It is expected that these survey forms will be sent to telecommunications service providers by 18 May 2001," the commission writes in its public notice. Ian Scott, VP government affairs at Call-Net Enterprises Inc welcomes the report’s recommendations, saying there isn’t enough comparative data available in Canada to provide industry players or government officials with relevant and timely information on the state of the industry. Call-Net, the parent company of Sprint Canada, has long complained that incumbent telcos maintain a dominant position in the market, at the expense of new competitors such as itself. As for the new reporting requirements, Scott believes the Lemay-Yates list is a good start. "I would like to see more financial data in there, so that we’re not just looking at market share," he says. "Financial performance is an important part of it. While there’s some financial indicators , I’m not sure there’s enough to provide a good view of the financial health of the industry." The report does not attempt to evaluate what resources would be required on an ongoing basis at either the CRTC or within industry to meet the new reporting requirements.

New report suggests all telecoms be required to provide more data to CRTC

News | 03/26/2001 5:00 am EST

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