Categories: Need to know

Ottawa will force CRTC to change stance on UBB

Clement reiterates demand that regulator side with consumers

by macleans.ca on Thursday, February 24, 2011 1:23pm - 22 Comments

Industry Minister Tony Clement reiterated on Wednesday that Ottawa will compel the CRTC to overturn any decision that imposes usage-based billing on small Internet service providers. “You can’t have competition and choice if you allow a major carrier to force its business model onto an independent service provider,” Clement said at a student forum at the University of Alberta. Clement also spoke about the cellphone market, expressing confidence that the government will win its appeal of a court decision that will lock Wind Mobile out of the Canadian mobile market because of foreign ownership laws.

Ottawa Citizen

Tags: UBB

Olivier

It's fun being able to cheer for the government for once.
Ken

Good! I would prefer we didn't have the CRTC.I dont need to be told to watch Canadian Content.
New Canadian

Dude, we need CRTC. Don't wanna loose our small pool of talent to hollywood.

Ken

Dude, they go there anyway.
The Awesome

Dude, the CRTC needs us. We dont need their controlling asses

guest

The CRTC is a waste of tax money, and times like now with the UBB debate we can see how much time and money is being wasted….Perhaps we should overhaul the CRTC to make sure that membership on the board includes 'real' canadian people and not just former corporate executives who always seem to side with large corporations.

Darlene Black

You mean like Bell and Rogers representitives??? LOL

stan makita

I am not pleased with the Macleans editorial that was obviously written by Rogers/Bell and forced into publication…..it reaks of propaganda filled lies, and if that is the only way Rogers/Bell will try and succeed at pushing UBB down our throats, it is evidence of an attempt to monopolize the telecommunication/multi-media market in Canada. Just as the US government declared monopolies illegal when they broke Standard up in the early 20th century, i am sad to say that the Canadian people will want a similiar outcome for Rogers/Bell…..shame on them for thinking they can wipe out any competition!
stan makita

in my comment above i meant to write that the US gov broke 'Standard Oil' up when a monopoly was realized.
whereisian

Fix the damn laws so the regulator isn't so broken. Quit half-assing this.

McC_

exactly, everyone complains about the Commission, when they're just tasked with implementing the laws and regs written by the government. If the government doesn't like the way the market is working, rewrite the regs and laws… that's how the rule of law should work.

Ray

Wow, a unbiased Macleans article on UBB?

Ken

Very cool!
Raf

Yup. Reminds me of ” he is new-er ” comercial. Any grade Schooler would see that it was plucked out of bell’$ non factual pitch for the “living under the rock society. So Macleans did bells view, now the goverment view. Will a consumer view be next? Lets hope, :-)

McC_

Maclean's is owned by Rogers, not Bell, get your conspiracy theory right.

leroy

Clement's use of the word "independent" is a bit ironic … you can't have a " major carrier to force its business model onto an independent service provider" , but its appropriate for government to force its choice on an "independent public organization that regulates and supervises the Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications systems" (from CRTC's website)

Why keep overturning the rulings of an independent body? Either change the regs that CRTC is supposed to enforce, change its mandate, or get rid of it.

McC_

but that would require that the government actually be interested in, you know, governing.

guest

we need a more pro consumer CRTC. Cell phone, Internet, and cable or satellite TV rates are the highest in the whole world right here in Canada.

Keith in Brampton

It's true our rates are the highest. And yes, I too would love to see them lower. What's hard to determine, though, is how much of that is due to our regs and CRTC's decisions, and how much has to do with the cost of delivering service to a relatively small population spread out over the geographically second-largest country in the world? I strongly suspect the latter plays a pretty big role. Economies of scale, etc…
McC_

sorry, then you think we need new laws and regs for telecom. the CRTC interprets and adjudicates the rules that are currently on the books, if you don't like the CRTC's rulings, get to the heart of the matter and demand change to the rules.

http://www.stopthemeter.ca Jason

Thanks Macleans for this small un-opinionated mention of UBB. After that last completely biased Roger$ editorial you posted, this just reveals who's really driving your articles.
Doggier

HERE HERE, Joe, you are right on the money. I believe that Keith in Brampton makes some good points but if a foreign corp can come into Canada and offer better value for the dollar then I'm all in. If Keith's thesis is correct, and geography/population ratio is the key issue, then what would attract a presumed foreign corp like Wind? I say let the market decide what's profitable and do some deregulation on he telecom front. The CDN corps have had a long slop at the trough and managed to reap a nice profit, all the while distinguishing themselves among the worst client service providers in the country. I for one would like to see real competition.