Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, honourable members, my name is John Lawford, and I'm executive director and general counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, and I'm appearing today on behalf of both PIAC and the Consumers' Association of Canada. With me is Geoffrey Whi

Industry committee  Our first point is that the rate formula in the bill, while a step in the right direction towards greater fairness in roaming rates, will pass on the high prices that incumbents can charge their own customers by virtue of their market power. There are a number of ways that telec

Industry committee  I'll start. The number one barrier to new entrants is the spectrum acquisition, not having a good result in the spectrum auction, say, for example in the most recent 700 megahertz. The second one is roaming. The third is tower-sharing. There are some other market elements, but t

Industry committee  Yes, that's correct. We do support the measure, but it's because of a lot of barriers and timing issues with getting new entrants the kind of toehold they need, so it's a necessary measure. I add that on the downstream question you gave to Steve, we also see competition coming fr

Industry committee  We completely share Mr. Anderson's point of view. In the areas with four players, the quality of service is approximately the same, if not superior, as Steve has mentioned. Problems with roaming fees are not necessarily tied to the quality of service received, unless calls are b

Industry committee  Sure. Thank you for the question. It's long been our position that more competition actually spurs investment because of a need to keep up with, as Geoff mentioned, innovative product offerings, and that the new entrants trying to break into the market now, or the regionals try

Industry committee  I think the chair of the CRTC has been very sanguine about this and has just said that they will take the bill into consideration, as they should, but that they are going to continue with their hearing. Listen, it's a difficult situation, I think, to be told that you have what

Industry committee  Yes, and since I'm here today speaking for Bruce as well, I really do. His point is one I meant to make during our remarks, which is that the roaming amendment will make it possible for regionals and new entrants to offer nationwide plans. That's where you get pricing pressure. B

Industry committee  Yes, I think that Mr. Moore faces quite the vehement opposition to some of the efforts he's made. It takes a lot of effort to change the course of things.

Industry committee  It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. The very practical effect of the bill, or this section of the bill, if passed, is that immediately there will be an adjustment of rates for roaming, which is one of the big inputs. To be honest, that will have some effect. Whether it'

Industry committee  If I may—and, Steve, you can certainly answer too—the market is so tied up with various factors. With spectrum having to be planned years ahead, and the complications with that, with tower-sharing not working the way Industry Canada I think intended at first, and with roaming onl

Industry committee  I don't think anyone's talking about, with this measure or any other of the policies of the government, expropriating legitimate investments that the companies have made. I believe Bell Canada wanted out of regulation and to become its own private outfit sometime in the seventies

Industry committee  I don't have the figures before me, but I think the OECD and others have done studies showing that the GDP does advance more quickly in countries that have more competitive wireless and Internet markets. I think the government's focusing on wireless as part of its overall communi

Industry committee  Part of the trouble with the regional coverage is that there's often only one carrier out there with towers, and it's often on a less modern network, let's say, so you're running on not even GSM. Sometimes you just get voice in these areas, yet that's where we need it the most.

Industry committee  I believe that in the fall, the CRTC will be looking at a mechanism in this essential services proceeding that Geoff mentioned. The way the CRTC tends to look at this, as they did with high-cost telephone service, is to set up a contribution fund to which you can then apply, and