On May 30, 2012, CRTC officials (Senior General Counsel, John Keogh and General Counsel, Telecommunications, Christianne Laizner) appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications commenting on CRTC aspects of Bill C-38.
Bill C-38, omnibus legislation that has completed second reading and been referred to Committee would, if passed, amend the Telecommunications Act to eliminate Canadian ownership requirements for small telecommunications companies (carriers with less than 10% market share) and allow the CRTC to recover Do Not Call List (DNCL) administration and enforcement costs from the telemarketing industry through new fees.
These proposed changes were first announced by the Government earlier this year (see our earlier posts here and here).
In their remarks to the Standing Committee, the CRTC officials discussed the mechanism used to calculate telecom companies’ market shares (total annual Canadian telecom revenues tracked by the CRTC), public feedback on the DNCL, DNCL statistics (registrations, complaints, etc.), domestic and cross-border enforcement including the recently formed International Do Not Call Network and penalties collected ($2.2 million to date).
The CRTC also announced that it would be holding public consultations with telemarketers and other interested parties on proposed fees that would come into effect on April 1, 2013.
For the CRTC’s comments see:
CRTC remarks to the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications
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