Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're very pleased to be here. We won't be speaking for ten minutes; it will perhaps be three to four minutes. I'm here to speak for the CRTC. Our new chairman, Konrad von Finckenstein, has asked me to communicate his regrets to the members of the c

Industry committee  Mr. McTeague, I think that the taking of a photograph of a market like that might appear to be a very simple answer to the problem of who has market power and who is dominant, but in a dynamic environment like the one we're living with, there are a range of other issues you want

Industry committee  Well, I don't share all of the premises of your question, Mr. McTeague. I recognize that the incumbent telephone companies will be formidable competitors. I must note that the rapidity with which they have lost market share in those areas where major cable companies are offerin

Industry committee  Are we talking about local service rates?

Industry committee  Fiona is going to correct me, but Bell Canada has proposed to us a change in the structure of their local rates, the effect of which would be to reduce the cost of initially bringing in Bell Canada service and to increase slightly the regular monthly rate to compensate for that r

Industry committee  Not to my knowledge.

Industry committee  There's an application before us that wishes to remove the service charge associated with either connecting or reconnecting with Bell Canada, and I guess also with Bell Aliant, and to add to the money that they would have earned that way a small increment in the local rate of som

Industry committee  Yes; you take the quantum of money forsworn by the service charge and add it to the monthly rate.

Industry committee  Are you referring to market prices and activities?

Industry committee  Briefly, there was a change in the access-independent VoIP services regulations. I must say that this a fairly minor change in daily terms. The CRTC must respect the various elements of the guideline we received. For example, we implemented a procedure over an 18-month period, w

Industry committee  We do not believe that the minister's order clashes with this aspect of the legislation. The minister's order takes a different approach from the approach taken by the commission as evidenced in its decision. However, another section of the legislation gives the governor in counc

Industry committee  Yes.

Industry committee  No final decision has been made.

Industry committee  No. Obviously, we will examine its legality, but I would be extremely surprised if we were in a better position to make this decision than the elected government. I must stress, Mr. Crête, the importance of accountability with regard to an elected government.

Industry committee  The Telecommunications Act was written in sufficiently generous terms to leave sufficient room for interpretation. Historically, the CRTC has benefited from sufficient latitude from successive governments of various political stripes to interpret the legislation as it sees fit.