Shows
Law BytesEpisode 138: John Lawford on the Legal, Regulatory and Policy Responses to the Rogers OutageRogers has provided some answers to the many questions about its massive outage last month that affected millions of Canadians. Yet there is still considerable uncertainty about what the government and CRTC are prepared to do to address ongoing concerns in the telecom sector. John Lawford is the Executive Director and General Counsel of PIAC, the Public Industry Advocacy Centre, which has been a leading consumer voice for decades in Canada. PIAC was the first to file a request with the CRTC seeking an inquiry into the outage. John and I were both participants at the Industry committee hearing into...2022-08-0833 minLaw BytesEpisode 97: John Lawford on Why the CRTC Should Take Action on Inadequate Low-Cost Wireless PlansThe CRTC’s wireless decision earlier this year dubbed the “MVN-no” decision given its very limited opening to mobile virtual network operators in Canada sparked widespread frustration with the Commission. That decision included one less discussed element, however, namely the expectation that the major wireless carriers would introduce low-cost plans to ensure connectivity for low-income Canadians. Those plans were recently introduced, but John Lawford, the Executive Director and General Counsel of PIAC, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, wasn’t impressed. He wrote to the CRTC asking the Commission to take action over plans that aren’t even offered under the main c...2021-10-1926 min
Unpublished CafeCanadian Telecomms and Broadcasting RegulationsPUBLISHED: 04/14/2020
Brave and bold or same old same old. Two ends of the spectrum when it comes to Canada’s Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel’s final report. The result of 18 months of industry experts outlining what is needed in this country as the industry grapples with new, limber competitors in their traditional world.
The report provides us with 97 recommendations for the industry. Some may never see the light of day, while others could bring some challenges. On the political side of the Broadcasting and a Telecommunications Legislative Review panel report, the Conservatives felt it d...2020-03-1448 min