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p2pnet news view P2P | Politics:- The federal government and all parties must support measures to increase cell phone and internet competition, say the Liberals and Consumer’s Association of Canada.

Actually, “the federal government and all parties must introduce cell phone and internet competition” might be a better way of putting it. Because at the moment, it’s virtually non-existent.

In 2008, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found of 30 countries, Canada was the 28th most expensive for average-use cell phone packages, says a statement, going on:

“The average monthly cell phone bill in Canada is $43.35 (US), compared to the average of $29.42 for OECD countries.

“For broadband internet service, Canada was ranked 28th in terms of speed versus cost, with the average Canadian paying $87.32 a month for high-speed internet, compared to the average of $59.10 for OECD countries.”

And, “New entrants are still having a hard time getting into the market to provide services to Canadians,” says at Liberal consumer affairs critic Dan McTeague

“The federal government should also re-instate the online cell phone calculator to provide greater transparency for Canadians.”

On that, after spending $1.4 million “creating and testing an online calculator designed to help consumers select their ideal wireless plan, Industry Minister Tony Clement killed the project weeks before it was scheduled to launch,” p2pnet quoted Michael Geist as saying recently, going on, “Government records suggest intense lobbying this spring by Canada’s wireless companies, who feared the service would promote lower cost plans, played a key role in the decision.”

On the Net, “The recent CRTC decisions do not go far enough to create a truly competitive and open internet environment in Canada,” says industry critic Marc Garneau. “All internet networks, including wireless networks, must treat all lawful content, applications and services in a non-discriminatory manner.”

The federal government should “set clear principles and regulations with regards to net neutrality consistent with what’s being proposed in the US, such as

• ISPs can not prevent access of users to lawful content, applications and devices
• ISPs must treat all lawful content, applications and services in a non-discriminatory manner; and
• ISPs must disclose all information with regards to network management.

“These net neutrality principles must apply to all Internet networks, including wireless networks,” say the Liberals, adding:

“The federal government should set clear principles and regulations for wholesale Internet service provision to allow more competition into the system, including: enabling new entrants fair and equitable wholesale access to incumbent Internet infrastructure at cost plus reasonable mark-ups; wholesale access pricing should be set transparently; and wholesale access pricing should be set to provide competitive return for investors of Internet infrastructure, while allowing access for new entrants to provide competition.”

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statement – Liberals push for better competition and service for cell phone and internet use, October 30, 2009
p2pnet – Holy (cash) cow!,  September 11, 2009

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