Mr. Chairman, committee members, good morning.
My name is Dennis Béland and I am the vice-president of regulatory affairs and telecom at Quebecor Media Inc. Today, I am representing Vidéotron, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc. Vidéotron would like to thank the committee members for inviting me to appear before them today and providing me with an opportunity to discuss Net neutrality.
Before getting to the heart of the matter, I would like to begin by telling you that Vidéotron is the main high speed Internet service provider in Quebec, with over 1.7 million customers. Furthermore, it is an increasingly large presence in Quebec's wireless market, due to a strategic decision made at the end of 20th century to integrate this business segment into its future.
Less than a decade later, recently therefore, Vidéotron's has more than one million wireless telephony service subscribers. None of these successes would have been possible without massive investment on our part. Vidéotron has in fact invested over $1.1 billion in its wireline network over the past five years. As to the wireless network, since 2008, it has invested over $2.3 billion in acquiring wireless spectrum licences as well as building and constantly upgrading its wireless network. Vidéotron made these investments while maintaining an exceptional reputation as to the quality of its services. In a recent survey conducted by Léger, Vidéotron was recognized, for the 12th consecutive year, as the most popular telecom business in Quebec.
Let me now turn to the subject of this morning's meeting, Net neutrality. As you all know, there are as many possible definitions of Net neutrality as there are passionate commentators on the topic. If you have been following the debate on neutrality for long enough, you will know that there are two recurrent themes: the importance of treating traffic in a non-discriminatory way and the fact that network operators must not dictate what citizens can access on the Internet. Those two themes are in reality two concepts that are already covered in Canadian law. Indeed, both are covered in the Telecommunications Act, more specifically in subsection 27(2) and section 36 of the act.
In other words, the CRTC already has the discretionary powers to apply Net neutrality. The challenge for the CRTC is deciding how to exercise those powers in the broader context of its policy objectives. In Canada, those policy objectives are set out in section 7 of the act and include a range of social and economic goals. The key objectives include expanding high-quality and affordable services and networks in all areas of the country, national and international competitiveness, research development, and innovation.
As everyone knows, Internet technology is evolving extremely quickly. If anything, the pace of change is only increasing. For example, wireless services are on the cusp of being revolutionized by 5G, a new technology that will transform not only the wireless industry itself, but countless other economic sectors, including retail, agriculture and the automobile sectors. New possible ways to deliver public services are also emerging, from smart cities to telemedicine.
Vidéotron wants to be part of that revolution. However, such participation will require not only massive investment in infrastructure, but also and especially a flexible and pragmatic regulatory framework that does not close the door on innovation before we can even determine what is feasible.
We urge the committee to reflect on the discretionary power that the CRTC already has with respect to Net neutrality and to listen cautiously and warily to those who want you to limit the CRTC's powers in this respect. You must ask yourselves whether any of these proposals will stimulate innovation and risk-taking among network builders.
That is the best way to serve the public interest.
Thank you for your attention.