CATA, Internet providers association ally

The Canadian high-tech industry’s lobby group is joining up with the ISP association to further the aims of both Ottawa-based organizations. The deal between the CATA Alliance and the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) was announced earlier this week. "I think it’s a mutual realization that both organizations can work more effectively and more strongly if they’re hand-in-hand rather than in separate offices," Barry Gander, CATA’s senior advocate for public policy, explains to Canadian NEW MEDIA. "We have slightly different constituencies. Obviously, the Internet providers have their own special interests, their own advocacy agenda, but so many of the CATA members are also Internet users, Internet providers, Internet ASP companies… Of course we’ve been moving in that direction for quite some time and it just gradually dawned on us that why don’t we get together to be even stronger together." The president of CAIP is also enthusiastic about the benefits of the new cooperative arrangement. "CATA is an alliance of high-tech industries. And having the Internet service industry as part of their organization just builds on that notion of the alliance of bringing together various sectors within the larger industry," Jay Thomson tells CNM. "And we’re into areas that they are interested in – they haven’t been directly involved in but are interested in – such as the extension of broadband, competition and those sort of areas." Gander endorses that view. He points out that CATA has been promoting a campaign it calls e-Canada. Among other planks in the platform is the idea of extending high-speed broadband connections to regions currently unserved. CATA has also been a major advocate for the provision of health and education services over the Internet. CAIP will integrate its operations with CATA and will shift its headquarters into the CATA offices. But Thomson stresses that this is not a takeover and that the ISP group will maintain its independence. It will continue to have its own board of directors and will conduct autonomous lobbying campaigns when needed. "We will continue to be pursuing the issues that are important to our members," he states.

CATA, Internet providers association ally

News | 12/20/2002 5:00 am EST

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