It has been a hectic 18 months for Simon Lockie, chief legal officer of Globalive Communications Corp. The company has been at the centre of the telecommunications storm, as it seeks to build the country’s fourth national wireless carrier, WIND Mobile…

By Emily Chung, CBC News Greg O’Brien, editor of Cartt.ca (far left), moderated a panel on telecom regulation at the Canadian Telecom Summit Wednesday that included (left to right) Edward Antecol of Globalive, Mirko Bibic of Bell, Ken Engelhart of …

This week’s person to know is Anthony Lacavera, the Chairman of WIND Mobile.

What’s next in store for WIND?

WIND will continue to rally for increased wireless competition in Canada and are doing everything we can to give Canadians the kind of wireless service they want and deserve. We recently launched in Vancouver and we will continue to build out the network in each of our Home Zones. Right now our goal is to strengthen our existing network so we’re adding towers everyday.

A telco executive touts the benefits of a wireless modem, but a Wind Mobile representative says the wide availability of wireless doesn’t mean telecom regulation should end.

Christine Persaud

Published: 06/08/2010 02:58:14 PM UTC in Features

The theme of regulation is a central one at the Canadian Telecom Conference in Toronto, ON this week, fueled in large part by the entrance of new wireless carriers and issues of foreign ownership; but also due to convergence in the technology industry.

As several key industry folks noted during a panel discussion earlier this morning called The Regulatory Blockbuster, adjustments in foreign ownership within the telecom sector can’t be accomplished without also considering the broadcasting sector as a whole. After all, convergence is upon us in full force. And aside from telecommunications being considered a part of broadcast, the Internet, TV, and mobile all intersect with one another in ways we never could have anticipated 20 years ago.

All key players agree that allowing foreign investments in the telecom sector is a good thing. Whether they like it or not, as indicated in the Honourable Industry Minister Tony Clement’s keynote yesterday, the Canadian government is working toward doing just that. But the incumbent wireless carriers, Rogers, Bell and Telus, want equal rights for all, while the new carriers feel that without some sort of advantage, they’ll never be able to compete effectively. It’s an argument we’ve been knocked over the head with again and again over the past year with the Globalive/WIND Mobile and Orascom Telecom situation. But one that players feel very passionate about.

*CRTC head says the two can’t be treated separately

*Sees risk to Canadian content rules on broadcasters

*Incumbents back CRTC, say their networks not for hire

*Newcomer stresses need to gain access to foreign capital (Adds comment from telecom and broadcasting operators in paragraphs 7-9, 13, 16-19)

By Alastair Sharp

TORONTO, June 8 (Reuters) – Canada’s telecom and broadcast industries are tightly linked and the government should not consider them separately in any legislative changes, the chairman of the regulatory body covering both sectors said on Tuesday.

“I don’t think you can meaningfully separate broadcasting and telecom in the age of convergence,” Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), said at an telecom industry conference in Toronto.

Industry Minister Tony Clement said on Monday the government would soon launch a consultation paper on opening up Canada’s telecom industry to more foreign involvement while retaining protection for the broadcasting sector.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The Harper government is committed to preserving Canadian content on television and radio while allowing for a greater foreign presence in the telecommunications sector, Industry Minister Tony Clement says.

The minister told a House committee Thursday it is possible to separate the two.

“I’m not saying it’s easy, but it certainly isn’t impossible,” he said.

Industry Minister Tony Clement has firmly defended the government’s decision to declare Globalive Wireless Management Corp. a Canadian controlled company, an order that set off a controversy over the status of the country’s telecom foreign investment law.

The facts before the cabinet were “quite clear,” Clement told the Commons Industry, Science and Technology committee on Thursday. But “reasonable minds could differ.”

Officials from Public Mobile and Globalive wireless say allowing more foreign investment in Canadian telecommunications carriers, it will be easier for new wireless entrants to raise money so they can compete against the incumbents. Read the latest in the House of Commons industry committee hearings on foreign ownership

Two of the country’s newest cellphone companies are urging federal lawmakers to lift foreign ownership rules preventing access to international capital.

Removing the barriers would “sustain competition” within a domestic wireless market increasingly central to the economy, infant carriers Globalive and Public Mobile told a special parliamentary committee on Tuesday.