CRTC’s wireless code ‘a bit of fresh air,’ industry minister says

OTTAWA—The CRTC's new wireless code, which will effectively reduce wireless contracts from three to two years, is a “bit of fresh air” from a commission chairman who is taking consumer interests into account, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said. Following a speech Thursday at a symposium about internal Canadian trade barriers, hosted by the Public Policy Forum, Paradis told reporters that he likes the direction CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais is taking, describing it as a “balanced” approach with consumer interests in mind. “No, Mr. Blais was appointed on merit,” the minister said in response to a question about whether the chair, a former senior public servant at the Heritage Department and the Treasury Board, was appointed to advance consumer issues. “He's got a solid background on the corporate side. He's got a solid background in the government. What I was saying earlier, to see that he goes with strong decisions, he's balanced, but given the leadership he took with the wireless code, this is a bit of fresh air, because he also considers the consumer interest, as we did as government back to 2008,” Paradis said. “I'm not saying everything should be done on an extreme spectrum. We have to be balanced, and one of the key points of this balance is to take into account consumer issues.” The CRTC released a new wireless code regulation on June 3, which will permit consumers to cancel long-term wireless contracts after two years without any cancellation fees. “I think he's focused more on consumer issues than we could see in the past. I think this is a little bit of fresh air. The telecommunications sector is a very, very competitive market. We get that, and there is a lot of issues that have to be taken into account. The fact that we have a regulator balancing things like that, I think it's a bit of fresh air for Canadians,” Paradis said Thursday. Industry sources told The Wire Report on background they believe the CRTC's wireless code decision was coordinated with a government announcement the following day, in which Paradis said he would not permit incumbent telecom providers to purchase spectrum licences set aside for new wireless entrants until 2014. As part of that statement, the minister blocked Telus Corp.'s $380-million deal for new entrant Dave Wireless Inc. and its mobile spectrum. The minister declined to comment on the telecom and broadcast regulator's upcoming decision on BCE Inc.'s proposed purchase of specialty channel and radio station owner Astral Media Inc. for $3.38 billion, saying the CRTC is an independent body. The commission is expected to release its decision on the merger in early summer after reviewing a revised BCE proposal to acquire Astral. The CRTC denied the first application last fall, saying it was not in the public interest, and BCE came back with a new application that includes the divestitures of 12 specialty channels. Blais said in a speech Wednesday at the Banff World Media Festival in Alberta that the commission is “applying a more rigorous public interest test for ownership transactions” and that the regulator's decision on BCE-Astral last fall “sent a clear signal that the public interest is paramount.” Paradis, and an Industry Canada official accompanying him at the media scrum Thursday, confirmed that the department's new spectrum transfer policy will be released by the end of June, as opposed to an earlier statement that gave a date of mid-June. The minister said there won't be any surprises in the official release of the spectrum transfer rules, and that the release will express the policy statement he made last week, that Industry Canada will block spectrum licence transfers that result in an “undue concentration” of frequencies held by one owner in a market. “The message will be clear, and I want the message to be clear that, if there is an undue concentration of spectrum, therefore reducing the competition, we won't accept that,” Paradis said. He reiterated Industry Canada's commitment to its policy for the 2008 wireless auction, which set aside spectrum licences to help new market entrants to compete with national incumbents BCE, Rogers Communications Inc., and Telus Corp. “This was not the intent of the policy to have the incumbents getting these set aside blocks. We want to have competition. We believe that we can have a fourth player in every region of the country,” the minister said. “We wanted to send a clear signal to the market, and I think this was done. Now there won't be any surprise, but there will be more detail in terms of policy,” he said of the department's upcoming policy release on spectrum transfers. In response to a question about a political statement on the Conservative party website last week, which said the governing party's wireless policies are “putting Canadian consumers first,” Paradis said the Tories are the party that took “huge steps” to ensure competition in the wireless market. “What we hear from our supporters is, 'Keep going guys. We need more competition,'” he said, adding that Canadian wireless prices have dropped at least 11 per cent since 2008. “This is something that resonates for the people, and I think it's appropriate to say we are taking steps, we are taking care of consumers.” Paradis said more competition reduces consumer pricing, encourages investment, and benefits the Canadian economy. “This is what I mean by a balanced approach,” he said. He would not comment on why Industry Canada has not yet approved an outstanding application for Wind Mobile's transfer of ownership to Amsterdam-based VimpelCom Ltd. under the Investment Canada Act, as The Wire Report reported this month. “I cannot comment on this. I'm not allowed by law. This is strict criteria from ICA ,” he said. —With reporting by Simon Doyle at sdoyle@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca.

CRTC’s wireless code ‘a bit of fresh air,’ industry minister says

News | 06/13/2013 4:53 pm EDT

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