PM urged to chart own telecom path
Navdeep Bains, the minister of innovation, science and economic development, has also hinted he will continue on that path by consistently supporting net neutrality, although he has also stated he supports private-sector leadership.
Industry watchers believe the real tell on the Liberals’ telecom stance will be whether the government approves Bell’s proposed $3.9-billion acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. Shareholders and Manitoba courts had approved the deal, which both companies say will result in more infrastructure investment, but consumer groups are worried it will result in price hikes in a province that enjoys relatively cheap broadband and wireless service.
Meantime, the MacdonaldLaurier Institute advocates the Liberals “chart a new path” based on the think-tank’s conclusion that access-based competition didn’t result in network improvements in Europe.
As proof, it cites European Commission statistics that fibreto-the-home and fibre-to-thebuilding represent only nine per cent of broadband subscriptions in Europe. While the proportion is about the same in the U.S., the EC notes it is “very much lagging behind” South Korea and Japan, where regulations are more lax and about 70 per cent subscribe to the fast fibre services.
While opening up Europe’s networks did lead to a flood of new entrants — and lower prices for consumers — the new players stopped short of building their own infrastructure, the institute argues in its report. “Nobody washes a rental car,” so companies have less incentive to maintain and upgrade their networks when they have to share them, it states. This ultimately hurts consumers and an economy that relies on world-class Internet infrastructure.
European network operators have reported consistently declining revenues over the past decade, which further puts investment at risk, the report added.
The Macdonald-Laurier Institute describes itself as a nonpartisan, independent think-tank. The majority of its funding comes from corporations and foundations that support free markets.