Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!hsdndev!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!pacbell.com!ucsd!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Telephone Privatization/Deregulation in Canada. Message-ID: Date: 18 Feb 91 03:23:18 GMT Sender: news@casbah.acns.nwu.edu Organization: Human Interface Technology Lab, Univ. of Wash., Seattle Lines: 37 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 127, Message 5 of 10 Unitel, a firm composed of companies led by Canadian cable-TV mogul Ted Rogers and Canadian Pacific Corporation, is making a bid to provide alternative long-distance telephone service in Canada. The issue is highly controversial; this bid is only the last of several that have been turned aside by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) at the behest of populist political movements in Canada. In the wake of the economic disaster precipitated by the Free Trade Act (many Canadian firms busted and tens of thousands of jobs lost), this move, sanctioned by the extremely unpopular federal government, is seen as yet another test of Canadian collectivity. Unlike the U.S., where telephone companies and regulators conspired to hide the costs of deregulation - particularly higher local telephone costs - in devices like access charges, in Canada the proponents of deregulation and privatization have been very forward in predicting a "rebalancing" of rates that will favor long-distance and especially international - hence border-crossing - phone calls over local calls. Rebalancing, in many Canadians' eyes, is the imposition of a rate structure that further enhances cross-border integration of the Canadian economy with that of the U.S., to the detriment of the local economy. The Telecommunications Workers Union in British Columbia has put together a well-done packet of materials on this topic. The TWU opposes Unitel's petition. For more information from the TWU, contact: Mr. Sid Shniad Staff Economist, Telecommunications Workers Union 5261 Lane Street, Burnaby, B.C. V5H 4A6 CANADA (604) 437-4822 I believe that Sid can also be reached at Sid_Shniad@cs.sfu.ca Bob Jacobson