Dalfen expected to provide bold leadership at helm of CRTC

The appointment of communications lawyer Charles Dalfen as chair of the CRTC is being heralded by observers in the telecom world. They note his expertise in telecommunications and in broadcasting and expect he will impose new discipline on the commission as it faces serious new issues. Dalfen assumed his post this month. "I think it’s a good appointment," Bell Canada chief strategy officer Bernard Courtois tells Network Letter. "I think it’s well regarded across many sectors and it’s probably because it fits all of what you’d expect would be the right things for a position like that. He has great depth of knowledge of the industry." Lawrence Surtees is the senior research analyst for telecommunications at International Data Corp. Canada. He is the author of Wire Wars, a book detailing the emergence of competition in the telecom sector, a move Dalfen was greatly involved with. He is very enthusiastic about the selection. "Charles definitely has as much or more than anyone that could have been found qualified for this job," he states. "He has that expertise in spades. I just think it’s an amazing appointment and I hope that he’s able to do something with it." Dalfen served as vice-chair of telecommunications for the commission from 1976 until 1980. During his time on the CRTC, rulings were issued on interexchange private lines and the Challenge Communications interconnection case. After leaving the commission, he set up the Johnston, Buchan and Dalfen law firm. One of his earliest clients was Call-Net Telecommunications Ltd., which had been established by Toronto entrepreneur Mike Kedar. Kedar expects his erstwhile ally to shake things up at the regulator. "I read a bit in the paper that there was a very long negotiation between him and the Prime Minister’s Office before he accepted the post," he remarks. "Knowing him, he laid certain ground rules of having freedom to implement the right regime and have enough power at the CRTC to do its job, which wasn’t always the case. So I think that he probably got more latitude than his predecessors had in running the commission. But I don’t have any facts for this, I’m only speculating here." Surtees concurs with that assessment. "Will he look for changes in the commission? I think he probably will in terms of the makeup of the commissioners and who they are and seek to have a say in future, in the next rounds of appointments." The telecom analyst also expects the new chair to rein in some of the excesses that have become prevalent at hearings in recent years. "If there’s one change that he might promote, it would be in major public proceedings," Surtees predicts. "I have a feeling just knowing him that he would look to have parties elevate their debate outside the hearing room on to more prudent grounds. I know in past years there’s been times where things were said and done where parties bring their competitive ethos into the regulatory arena." All three experts believe global issues will play a greater role at the CRTC in the months and years to come. They salute Dalfen’s expertise in the area, having worked in 1969 as a member of a Canadian delegation to the United Nations that attempted to establish a treaty on direct satellite broadcasting. "His experience extends to beyond Canada’s borders, which is also something very useful in that kind of position with the way our industry is really quite globalized," Courtois says. Kedar notes that Canada’s foreign ownership restrictions may end up clashing with provisions of the World Trade Organization agreement to which this country is a signatory. He has his own remedy for the problem. "Here comes the uniqueness of the Canadian system where you have a quasi-independent body to regulate it, the CRTC, but many other issues are regulated by the government, by Industry Canada," he offers. "The issue about foreign ownership, it’s not a CRTC issue; the issue about licensing of spectrum is not a CRTC , although it should be. So there are many, many things prevent us from complying with the WTO spirit because our system needs to be reworked. I think all issues of telecom should be the CRTC’s and Industry release its dominance on spectrum." While Dalfen did serve as vice-chair for telecom, he also has had dealings with the broadcast sector. At one time he did some work for the CBS television network in the United States. "I think he brings a deeper experience from both sides of the commission house, broadcast and culture on one side and telecom on the other," Surtees opines. "Charles can easily work in both and knows the nuances and the rules and the laws and the procedures and the issues. And so as chairman he can not only hit the ground early on, he’ll be just equally as comfortable with his vice-chair in both fields." Courtois thinks that background will be necessary as the CRTC strives to foster competition. Companies are no longer remaining in exclusive territories. "It’s extending into the broadcast distribution and the broadcast world. But I think there are big, big issues that face our industry that require major policy thinking and direction. And that emanates from the fact that our industry is now all interrelated because of the Internet or new technologies." Kedar wants to see competition extended in the telecom sector. A pioneer in the opening up of LD services, he recognizes the limitations in the current regime and wants Dalfen to do something about them. "I hope that he will continue in his conviction that the only way to support the competition is to have a sustainable regime. It’s not just good for the sake of competition to allow companies to compete but you have to set regulation which will be sustainable and that has been always his policy and I hope he will guide the CRTC to achieve that goal." Kedar worries that many of the competitors currently operating could find themselves in bankruptcy court without vigilant direction from the commission. He points to the re-emerging dominance of the former monopolists in areas like high-speed Internet service.The Call-Net founder likes the well-rounded approach Dalfen brings to the CRTC. "He really understands not just the politics of telecommunications but the economics of telecommunications. And that makes a big difference." Surtees considers the incoming chair one of the best in decades. He can cite only one other who comes close to Dalfen but notes a marked difference in the two men. "One would be hard pressed to name a chairman who would have been as comfortable in all those fields as , short of John Meisel. But again they’re different players. John was an amazing guy, a wonderful chair, but a political scientist, whereas Charles knows the legal nuances of the field, and that’s where the devil resides – in the details of the laws."

Dalfen expected to provide bold leadership at helm of CRTC

News | 01/14/2002 5:00 am EST

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