Canada To Remove Foreign Ownership Restrictions On Certain Telecommunications Providers

On March 14, 2012, Canada's Minister of Industry announced proposed changes to the existing foreign ownership restrictions on Canadian telecommunications service providers and announced certain measures relating to the upcoming auctions for 700 MHz spectrum and 2500 MHz spectrum.

The Telecommunications Act will be amended to lift the foreign ownership restrictions for telecommunications service providers that hold less than a 10-percent share of the total Canadian telecommunications market based on revenue. These providers will continue to be exempt from such restrictions when their market share grows (other than through acquisition or merger) above 10% of the Canadian market. Existing Canadian ownership restrictions provide that non-Canadians may not own, directly and indirectly, more than 46.7% of the voting securities of a telecommunications carrier and may not otherwise exercise "control in fact " of such carrier through contract or otherwise.