(OTTAWA) The Public Interest Advocacy Centre is calling today’s CRTC decision on Northwestel’s regulatory framework “a new deal for the North”.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission rejected efforts by the incumbent provider of local telephone service in Canada’s three territories to raise rates and put off the entrance of local competition.
“It’s clear that the CRTC’s message was that it was time that Northwestel kept pace with change in the industry throughout Canada, and that old justifications for the way things are done are not good enough,” says Michael Janigan PIAC executive director and general counsel.
The consumers group also notes with approval the CRTC’s intensive holistic review of Northwestel’s operations that is planned to take place over the next two years.
PIAC participated in the CRTC proceedings on behalf of residential consumers and attended the oral hearings in Yellowknife in October of this year.
The decision, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-771, is at this link on the CRTC website.