Industry committee  Where things have changed is where there is a full facilities-based entrant in the consumer market, and other than wireless, which is for the most part where the cable companies offer service—Where they are, there's vigorous competition; and where they aren't, regulation will continue to protect consumers.

Industry committee  From 2000 to 2006, we've grown our revenues from roughly $5.7 billion to $8.6 billion, so this is a growing business. And at this point, wireless alone counts for about 50% of our revenues.

Industry committee  Right. So we're looking at the changing pie, if you will, in terms of the composition of our revenues. We made a bet, if you will, in 2000, in recognition that competition was coming, and that both from a competition and technology substitution.... As I said, 8% of households in Alberta and 10% of households in the Lower Mainland do not have a home phone.

Industry committee  The last market, if you will, that's regulated is the local telephone market. All the other aspects of our business are deregulated. We have been waiting anxiously, in fact, for the arrival of competition so that we can see that part of the regulatory landscape change as well. I think internally at Telus we wouldn't always agree that regulation has worked to our advantage, and I won't get into some of those debates.

Industry committee  I would have two comments. One is that I think there are some safeguards already in the commission decision that people don't really understand, like the one I said with respect to freezing local rates for customers post-deregulation. The second, I would say, is that we believe the minister's order should be implemented as quickly as possible.

Industry committee  Well, I think I agree we should get on with the project of implementing the new legislation. I do think it's time to overhaul the legislation, and perhaps a good place to embody, if you will, the kinds of reviews you're talking about being in the new act itself.

Industry committee  Are you referring to small competitors to Bell, or small telephone companies?

Industry committee  Well, I think you have to distinguish between regions of the country where there's likely to be competition and regions where there isn't. Certainly I can speak better about British Columbia and Alberta. Just to give you a high-level sense, Calgary, Edmonton and the Lower Mainland represent about two-thirds of our population.

Industry committee  I'm not sure I agree with your supposition. I think we do know the markets we're operating in, so I'm having a hard time understanding the premise of your question.

Industry committee  Well, I think I've already indicated to you that I don't agree with the premise, which is that the minister is implementing a subset of the recommendations in the TPR report. In fact, forbearance was specifically not covered by the panel, because it was a matter in front of the CRTC at the time.

Industry committee  I don't agree that it's set aside. In fact, there are quite a number of safeguards. There's actually an appendix to the CRTC's forbearance decision that lists all the safeguards that continue to operate post-deregulation, both for consumers and for competitors who rely on our networks.

Industry committee  In my view, at the end of the day, we all say that what we're doing is in the best interest of consumers, and it's public policy that has to decide who's right, with appropriate safeguards. We believe, certainly in our markets right now, that consumers are not getting the full benefits of competition because of the restrictions under which we operate.

Industry committee  We obviously believe the minister should proceed quickly to implement the final order. I would say a couple of things. We believe the TPR report should be implemented holistically. The first piece was to implement the direction to the CRTC, which has been done. The second piece of the report is to look at changes that can only be made through legislative reform.

Industry committee  I hope I answered your question.

Industry committee  Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I would like to thank you for inviting TELUS to come and meet with you today. As you know, Telus is a leading national telecommunications company, with $8.5 billion in annual revenue and 10.5 million customer connections, including close to 5 million wireless subscribers, 4.6 million wireline network access lines, and 1.1 million Internet subscribers.