[Chapter-delegates] ISP concentration: a viable topic?

[Houle Louis]

My son is working in BC right now, and there is no roaming charges 
involved ( within his contract)...so far!

Louis Houle
Président
La Société Internet du Québec (ISOC Québec)
Louis.Houle at isocquebec.org

Le 2013-07-30 16:13, CW Mail a écrit :
> > Canada has some of the highest mobile costs in the world ...
>
> I think that is primarily an issue for the Canadian regulatory 
> authorities (who should have sorted that out long ago.)
> (At least you do not have roaming charges between Montreal and 
> Vancouver - or do you?)
>
> CW
>
>
> On 30 Jul 2013, at 21:29, Evan Leibovitch <evan at telly.org 
> <mailto:evan at telly.org>> wrote:
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I come here asking for advice.
>>
>> As you may know, the Canada Chapter is one of the newest, and we are 
>> still surveying our membership and finding who is interested in what 
>> issues.
>>
>> Recently, some local events have happened that caught my attention:
>>
>> Canada has some of the highest mobile costs in the world, and the 
>> field is essentially controlled by a three-company oligopoly of 
>> Canadian-owned forms (Bell, Rogers, Telus) which have identical 
>> plans. When one changes its plans, up or down, the other two follow 
>> suit. The only competition between them appears to be in the 
>> selection of phones they each support.
>>
>> A few years ago some upstart newcomers came on the scene, trying to 
>> inject some competition. Based on aggressive (and some would say 
>> predatory) focused attacks by the Big Three, they have foundered, 
>> losing money, and been for sale.
>>
>> The recent news is that US giant Verisign (45% owned by Vodaphone) is 
>> making noises about buying the upstarts and bidding on spectrum.
>>
>> At one level this is a very high-visibility issue. The Big Three have 
>> been relentless in the media telling us that Armageddon will happen 
>> should Verizon be let into Canada, Nobody seems to be speaking up in 
>> favour of greater competition.
>>
>> (Now, I have no great faith that Verizon has the interests of 
>> Canadians in mind in its expansion, and it has vcertainly engaged in 
>> its share of bully tactics in its home market in the US. But I 
>> personally believe that competiton certainly can hurt and has the 
>> potential for positive change. (Certainly Verizon is in no mood to 
>> collude with the Big Three given the campaigning they've done against 
>> it, at least in the short term).
>>
>> This is ultimately a regulatory issue, for a change in ownership such 
>> as this would require approval of the appropriate communications 
>> regulator, in Canada's case the CRTC. It will also affect future 
>> allocations of mobile radio frequencies.
>>
>> What I would like to know is:
>>
>>   * Is this (the subject of telco/ISP competition/collusion)
>>     something ISOC or chapters have addressed at a policy basis before?
>>   * Have any other chapters engaged in "consumer" type issues like
>>     this? Or is it considered out of bounds, even if it's anout
>>     telcos and ISPs?
>>   * What are the benefits risks in a public campaign favouring of
>>     more competition?
>>   * Is Verizon sufficiently evil in its current activity to prevent
>>     supporting it in Canada?
>>
>> Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
>>
>> -- 
>> Evan Leibovitch
>> Toronto Canada
>>
>>     Em: evan at telly dot org
>>     Sk: evanleibovitch
>>     Tw: el56
>>
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>
>
>
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