Canada’s Telecommunications Policy Review Panel Releases Highly Anticipated Final Report

The Telecommunications Policy Review Panel, an independent Panel of experts appointed last year by the Government of Canada, has released its long-awaited report, which contains over 120 recommendations relating to the regulation, growth and development of Canada's telecommunications industry. The Panel's report touches on a number of issues relating to Canada’s telecom industry sector, including issues relating to economic, technical and social regulation, connectivity, information and communications policy, and Canada’s foreign ownership rules.

The Report concludes that Canada’s regulatory policies and legislative framework have served it well, however, this same framework is "one of the most detailed, prescriptive and costly regulatory frameworks" and is "particularly burdensome for Canada’s major telecommunications service providers who now face stronger competition in a number of market segments from well-established facilitiesbased rivals as well as from new