A new report released by the Montreal Economic Institute states that the overall picture of Canada’s wireless services sector is good and the industry is competitive in pricing and technology when compared to other global players. The report goes on to further state that any type of regulation would have a negative effect on the sector.
The paper focused its arguments on the fact that consumers themselves were able to pressure the wireless providers to improve their networks. The report felt that these same consumers are also going to be able to pressure companies to provide them with upgrades to support the latest smartphones, tablets and other devices.
The report seems to be an answer to a debate that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) opened up in April. At the time, CRTC asked if a nationwide regulation was needed to protect customers of wireless providers. The CRTC was looking for feedback because for the last 20 years Canada has not imposed any regulations on the sector. At the time the CRTC thought that there was enough competition in the market to keep everyone honest. However, critics of the no regulation philosophy have picked up steam and claim that the Canada’s telecom sector is not very competitive and that consumers are paying far too high a price for the service.
Yves Rabeau, an associate professor at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal and author of the report thinks differently and states that, “When you look at the whole picture, Canada is very much within the norm for developed countries with regard to prices, available technologies and network speed.” He goes on to say, “Canadians therefore have every reason to want to maintain the approach put in place nearly two decades ago, namely refraining from imposing specific regulation on this important sector of our economy.”
A study by the The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was released in 2012 and ranked Canada 24th in terms of broadband penetration. This was ahead of both Germany and Italy and supported Rabeau’s report.
Source: CTV News
Photo: iPhone in Canada
Ali Baba Expects To Leave Amazon And Ebay In The Dust Based On Transaction Value
RocketOwl Uses Social Gaming To Battle Deforestation
Lunches So Good Kids Can’t Ignore Them
Invigorating Ginger Smoothie
The U.K.’s Youngest Parents Ever
The new hair Jennifer Lawrence