Thank you for your question.
I want you to know that your riding is very much like my own. The Beauce region is partly rural and partly urban. That is why we decided to deregulate, based on the 3-3 test, only where competitive infrastructure is in place. As you know, remote or rural areas will continue to benefit from the CRTC's economic regulation.
You talked about remonopolization. We believe that all the players operating in a market where there is a traditional telephone network, a wireless network or cable telephone service, are subject to healthy competition. I do not believe there will be remonopolization because, as you know, Jim Shaw, of Shaw Communications Inc., issued a press release saying that he is prepared to compete with the former monopolies and that his business wanted to do that and was prepared to do that.
The President of Cogeco also made comments that were reported in La Presse when we announced our policy direction. It was reported that Cogeco has an advantageous cost structure and that it is capable of competing if there is a price war.
It's important to realize that these large cable companies have invested millions of dollars in their network and infrastructure. Having done that, they are prepared to meet the competition. I don't believe those major players will simply drop out of the market overnight. On the contrary, competition will benefit consumers.
In that regard, prior to price deregulation in the long distance market in 1998, the average cost of a long distance call was 30¢ per minute. After the CRTC deregulated that market, the average cost of a long distance call fell to 10¢ a minute. That allowed Canadians to reap the benefits and make long distance calls at very competitive prices.
My hope is that what happened in the long distance market will happen as well in the local telephone service market as a result of our deregulation. There will be competition where deregulation occurs; and where there is no competition, or where our test is not validated, it will be the status quo. Prices will continue to be regulated, and Canadians will benefit from competitive service offers.