Canada CRTC deregulates phone markets
A government ruling today will allow Canada’s biggest phone companies to be free from regulations in the some marketplaces. This opens the door to more competition and lower home telephone bills (finally).
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the government agency currently regulating the markets, made the announcement today that home phone rates will be deregulated first in Halifax, Fort McMurray, Alta., and some Maritime cities such as Fredericton and Charlottetown.
The ruling is probably the first of a series, opening the way to deregulation in major Canadian cities over the next few months. The CRTC has placed certain restrictions preventing Telus and Bell Aliant from raising prices in the newly deregulated areas - a great initiative by the government to protect the consumers.
Though a price war is not guaranteed, consumers in the deregulated markets will benefit from increased competition between local telephone service providers. Though the CRTC has stepped away a bit from the scene, it still faces the challenge of promoting fair competition, and preventing collaborative pricing. Canada is still a long way from having fierce competition in its telecommunications industry versus other industrialized states, but this is definitely a first step.
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