Industry committee  They can compete in the sense that they have the infrastructure in place, if you're talking about the smaller cable companies. I understand, again, to go back to Mr. Brison's point, that some of those small companies may not choose to enter the market in the short term. That may

Industry committee  I certainly think there are some areas that are sufficiently small and remote that currently are not covered by cable networks. Yes, it probably will be quite a while until we see competition in those markets, because that's the nature of where they live. That's why we retain the

Industry committee  Sorry, on which consultation process do you mean?

Industry committee  I'm still not sure I understand your question, sir.

Industry committee  Sure. Thank you for the clarification. I don't think cherry-picking is really the right phrase. The panel, and Mr. Intven last week as well, suggested certain measures that could be implemented before legislation was changed, such as the one before us now, which I think is the c

Industry committee  Again, as I said before, I just don't think that's credible. The cable and wireless players are well-financed, well-known competitors with long-standing customer relationships. That the phone companies would be able to drive them out the marketplace I just don't think is a likely

Industry committee  I think the general approach of moving those economic issues away from the commission and towards the bureau or a new panel that would bring in the expertise of the bureau, and leaving the more cultural questions with the commission, is a sensible thing to do. The bureau is the a

Industry committee  Well, I don't think that's an issue. I apologize. Maybe I misunderstood Mr. Brison's question before, so maybe I can attempt to answer it here. I don't think the point should be to try to protect smaller companies. Competitors compete; some win and some lose. Some gain market sh

Industry committee  I find it a bit difficult to fathom that whether there is a 30- or 60- or 90-day win-back provision in place would be the sole criterion upon which these potential competitors would or would not choose to enter the marketplace.

Industry committee  Sure, and in some small areas, yes, it may take a long time for competition to arrive, the same way that there is less competition in lots of other services in those areas. So we're not going to see every small town with three competitors in the next few months or so. But I thin

Industry committee  Sorry, which barrier is being increased?

Industry committee  No, I don't think we have increased any barriers at all. They are free to enter at any point.

Industry committee  I think the service quality is just another aspect of competition. Competitors will compete on price and on service quality, and if the quality is poor, they will lose market share. The competitors in the market have every incentive to provide a high level of quality to consumers

Industry committee  Who was that question directed to?

Industry committee  Thank you. I don't know which small companies you mean in this example. The main competition to the incumbent telephone companies is coming these days from the cable companies--Rogers, Shaw, EastLink, Vidéotron--and these are certainly not small companies. I think the idea that