Time for Canada to consider “converged” communications legislation, suggests CRTC

For the second time in two years, the CRTC has released a three-year working plan. Citing an accelerated pace of change in the communications sector, chair Konrad von Finckenstein says it is perhaps time to consider a new legislative approach to communications regulation. "Resolving future conflicts and uncertainty, and creating an environment conducive to competition cannot be efficiently done under the current legislative framework," reads the working plan document. "It is time, the commission believes, to consider a new converged legislative framework that stresses flexibility and fairness in a manner that allows Canadian communications companies to innovate and respond to change in the most competitive manner possible." In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission regulates both the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors under a single piece of legislation. The Telecommunications Act came into force in 1996, replacing the Communications Act, and marked the first major overall of telecommunications and broadcasting regulation in 62 years. Here in Canada, calls for unified communications legislation resurfaced in the last couple of years as competition began heating up between the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in traditional monopoly areas such as telephony and broadcast distribution. With a single piece of communications legislation not likely to be unveiled any time soon, if at all, the CRTC notes that it will continue to use ex-post, or after-the-fact, regulation in conjunction with appropriate enforcement. The commission is going to re-evaluate its traditional approaches to regulation with the goal of adopting "a more flexible and forward looking regulatory approach that responds to evolving Canadian consumer needs and industry reality." The re-thinking of communications regulation, according to von Finckenstein, is necessitated by convergence in both services and networks. Once separate, wireless, cable, phone and the Internet are combining to become a unified platform capable of delivering a wide variety of content. This, says the CRTC, furthers a different approach to regulation. "These changes require that the regulator develop forward-looking regulatory frameworks that are strategic, straightforward, flexible and equitable," reads the document. "Innovation is now occurring at the edge of the networks, and there is great potential for Canadians to benefit if regulation can evolve to include more incentives and greater flexibility, rather than imposing new rules or restrictions." While the commission recognizes the need to be more market-oriented with its regulatory practices, it will keep its hands in the cookie jar regarding contentious issues such as access to rights of way and support structures. The CRTC will continue to look at issues that further connectivity into rural and remote regions of the country, and with that in mind it plans to conduct a review of the contribution regime so that it remains fair to all stakeholders and effectively serves Canadians.

Time for Canada to consider “converged” communications legislation, suggests CRTC

News | 05/01/2008 3:02 pm EDT

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