The marketplace isn't perfect, and I think the government's market presence test probably isn't perfect either. But it does present a reasonable effort, I think, to come up with a bright-line test, rather than a more complex economic assessment of the situation.
As I understand it, what the government's test says is that the communities you'd worry about wouldn't be subject to forbearance until there are three independent players in the market. That's a fair amount. Remember, the way the technologies are rolling out now, once a cable company lights up a VOIP service, it tends to be ubiquitous; it's available throughout all the areas where the cable company has it. With WiMAX, when it comes on stream, that will be even more so.
So I guess I'm a bit worried. We tend to try to manage market outcomes a little too much in the telecom sector, and it's not just in Canada. The Europeans are doing the same, and the Americans were doing the same and have now backed off. I think the reality is that sometimes if prices go up a little bit in a market, that actually acts as an incentive for someone new to come in with a new technology—for instance, a new wireless technology. Barrett Xplore is a good example of that, and there are others who are trying to find ways to get into the market.
So am I concerned that somehow allowing forbearance too early will act as a real deterrent against competition? I guess not too much. I don't think the telephone companies, the incumbent carriers, are likely to act that foolishly to try to specifically target and drive new entrants out of the market, because to do so would be, one, a public relations disaster for them; and two, it could ultimately result in some legal repercussions, either regulatory or from the Competition Bureau. So I guess I'm not that worried.