Canadian Telcos Attempt to Corral New Competition. What else is new!

Canada’s largest telco Bell Canada is requesting that the CRTC [Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission] immediately commence a public hearing into the appropriate regulatory framework to govern the offering of services by the next generation of communications companies offering bundles of services.

SaskTel supports the motion as recently made evident by their document submitted to the CRTC on November, 10th.

Their basic complaint is based around the fact that the telcos operate under CRTC regulation and the new era telephony service providers do not have to deal with this. Bell says…

“The consequences of asymmetrical regulation are clear. The cable companies would be able to offer their bundled services where and when they choose, and tailor them in short order as the market appears to dictate. The telephone companies on the other hand would be delayed in their initial offerings, and delayed whenever they felt that a change was required, by the necessity to seek regulatory approval. This situation would have negative implications for the telephone companies, for customers, and for competition.”

In my honest opinion, I believe these companies are doing whatever they can to slow the proliferation of home-based VoIP until they can regain control of the market. Competition is good, for the consumer and for technology in general.

I also believe that they have had a monopoly for a long time and it’s about time things change.