Convergence, synergy and the CRTC

The relevance and effectiveness of the CRTC is once again on the political radar screen, as senior levels of government ponder whether a broad review of its mandate is warranted (NL Feb. 26/01). The newly appointed chair of the commission, David Colville, maintains that Canada’s communications regulator has been effective in promoting competition, without sacrificing its obligations to protect the public interest. Colville addressed this topic in Ottawa during an International Institute of Communications conference dealing with the future of the public interest in communications. An excerpt from his April 11 remarks appears below: One of the biggest challenges for the Public Sector is grappling with how you define the public interest, and once you do, what action do you take to ensure that the public interest is supported. Many of these issues have been brought up in recent hearings. For example, despite the sudden increase in mergers among broadcasters, Internet interests, publishers and telecommunications companies, I am still left wondering how these businesses are going to add value in the public interest as well as in their own interests. It is not yet evident to me that anyone has really figured out what these synergies really are from an operational point of view, and whether the convergence story ends up just being a nice theory that carried through the end of the 20th Century and early 21st Century. In a few years down the road, will we come to the conclusion that, "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but it doesn’t really work?" Lately, we’ve been hearing much talk and debate about the relevance of the CRTC in this Internet era. But my guess is that many of the basic tenets of CRTC policy – such as consumer protection, support for Canadian content and content providers, and competition — are likely to remain legitimate concerns of the public for the foreseeable future.As William Watson from the National Post said, and I quote: "The list of failures of neo-conservatism could be elaborated at discouraging length. The CRTC still hands out licences for television services. Spectrum scarcity may be gone, but the regulatory malady lingers on." The former head of Teleglobe Canada told a luncheon audience last year that the way business used to be done in his industry, you made your submissions to the commission, you did all the lobbying you could and then – he was speaking in French but the following phrase appears here as he delivered it – "On est riche! Act of God."God, of course, had nothing to do with it. Quite the opposite. In the TV industry, rent-seeking is still the way of the world. Acts of commissioners, ministers and other regulators still abound. As we go forward, it is worth reminding all Canadians that we, as a nation, have built up a great deal of experience and knowledge through the CRTC — not only about the Canadian communications environment but also about the global communications arena. Experience and knowledge that is envied and sought after not only by other Canadian industries, but also by other countries. I can’t tell you how many times representatives from other countries have asked me how we have managed to keep our culture while tearing down trade barriers. With the onset of globalization, they’re just starting to deal with issues that we as Canadians have been struggling with for years. I believe going forward we should all remind ourselves that we are a small nation. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, we have built a very strong communications industry because we have learned how to use all of our experiences and resources — government and industry alike — to work together to build a strong communications model… At the end of the day, the real issue, the real measure of our success, will be how can we use these emerging technologies to better understand ourselves and better understand each other.

Convergence, synergy and the CRTC

News | 05/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us