Huffington Post: Interview with CRTC Chair shows shift in priorities from Big Telecom's to Canadians' interests

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From Huffington Post:

The time has come, von Finckenstein says, to face facts: the old separation of telecom and broadcasting is obsolete. He advocates a single act to cover both sectors and a single regulator for broadcasting, telecom and even wireless spectrum — an area currently managed by Industry Canada.

"Whether you talk, whether you send video, whether you send a fax, an email ... it's just bits that are being sent over the same wire," he said in an interview. "That has completely changed our traditional definition of broadcasting and telecom. It's now essentially the same thing.

"It's time to review this legislation, it's 20 years old. We want a system that carries bits, carries them efficiently and gives Canadians as much access as possible."

At age 66, the plain-speaking, career bureaucrat with the suffer-no-fools reputation is a leading voice within the government for embracing the global digital revolution.

The Conservatives promised a digital economy strategy two years ago, but have yet to produce a plan. There seems to be no sense of urgency. They have mused about changing foreign ownership rules for telecom firms since 2009, but have yet to move. An auction of space on the wireless spectrum is scheduled for this year, but the rules have yet to be revealed.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis told the Hill Times newspaper that a copyright bill was a "key pillar" of the digital strategy. Those changes have been discussed by Ottawa for 15 years.

Von Finckenstein envisions something broader. He points out that other countries, including Australia, France and the United Kingdom, have appointed ministers to oversee all things digital. Such a position does not exist in Canada and very little government discourse revolves around the issue.

He says the cabinet hasn't acted on his ideas.

"We haven't seen any movement on this front at all, but that's partly because of the political landscape of minority governments and partly because it's a very difficult issue and not easily tackled." Read more »

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