Ottawa leans toward neutrality on Internet
TELECOM
The federal minister responsible for the telecom industry is calling for an open and secure Internet, suggesting the Liberal government will continue the policies set in motion by the previous government.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said he supported private sector leadership in Internet governance and said Canada depends on an open Internet to create an innovative economy, according to a statement released a week after an Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development meeting on the digital economy in Mexico.
His words provide a clue for industry watchers won- dering whether the government will pursue a similar agenda as the Conservatives when it comes to the telecommunications sector.
In the meantime, industry lobbyists have been busy vying for the minister’s ear. Major companies have filed 20 communications reports with the minister since October, making telecom the fourth most popular subject discussed after industry, science and technology and economic development.
Bains’ statement suggests not much has changed, said Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.
While Bains’ comment regarding private-sector leadership strays from Canada’s traditional multi-stakeholder approach that includes government and civic organizations, Geist said the government has sent clear indicators it remains supportive of the previous policy. He pointed to its repeated support for net neutrality in the case of Quebec trying to block nongovernment approved gambling sites and its rejection of a Bell Canada petition vying to stop wholesale access to fibre networks.
A major tell will be whether it approves Bell’s acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., he said, as it will reveal its position on competition among network providers. “In some ways action is going to speak louder than words,” he said. “I’m not sure we’re going to get a major pronouncement on telecom in the short term.”
Earlier this month, however, the ministry launched public consultation for its “innovation agenda” that includes a segment on digital infrastructure and ways to ensure rural residents have access to high-speed Internet.
David Christopher of OpenMedia, an advocacy group for open Internet, has yet to see any real indication of how the government will invest in increased access — “We’re trying to read the tea leaves in statements like this,” he said — but hopes its agenda will be more ambitious.
“Plenty of people in rural and northern areas, and even suburban areas, simply don’t have access to a reliable Internet connection,” Christopher said.
It’s crucial that the government work with players across the private sector, not just the large incumbent providers, so people aren’t left behind, he said. Also telling will be decisions related to differential pricing, a net neutrality- related issue going to public hearing this fall, and privacy, he said.
IN SOME WAYS ACTION IS GOING TO SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.