Telecommunications summit begins with a call for a ‘stable regulatory environment’

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TORONTO – Industry leaders from Canada’s telecommunications sector will gather in downtown Toronto today for the 23rd annual Canadian Telecommunications Summit.

The three-day event will begin with speeches by Minister of Rural Economic Development Gudie Hutchings and CEO of Quebecor Inc. Pierre Karl Peladeau, whose company is expanding its Videotron subsidiary after purchasing Freedom Mobile last year.

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Participants are also scheduled to hear from Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Canadian Telecommunications Association President Robert Ghiz, as well as representatives from other service providers and technology companies.

Meanwhile, a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, commissioned by the telecommunications association, shows the sector contributed $80.8 billion to the Canadian economy last year while supporting almost 782,000 jobs.

The report released Monday shows that the Canadian telecommunications sector spent $11.4 billion in capital investments to expand wireless and broadband networks in 2023, an average of 42.6 per cent more per subscriber than carriers in the U.S., Japan , Australia and Europe issue .

John Simcoe, director of national media and telecommunications at PricewaterhouseCoopers, says the level of investment comes despite falling prices for telephone and internet services, as well as rising costs for telecommunications providers.

But Ghiz, whose association represents carriers and manufacturers in the industry, says it is “essential” that these players benefit from a stable regulatory environment that encourages investment to keep spending high.

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The direction taken by Canada’s telecommunications regulator has been a contentious issue in the industry over the past year.

Last fall, the CRTC issued an interim decision that required telecommunications companies Bell Canada and Telus Corp. obligation to temporarily allow wholesale access to their fiber-optic internet networks in Ontario and Quebec. The move sparked the ire of Bell, who earlier this year cited the decision when he subsequently announced network spending cuts and mass layoffs.

After a February hearing this summer, the CRTC is expected to decide whether to make the decision permanent and expand it nationwide.

In addition to the state of the regulatory environment, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence threats, as well as how satellite technology can fill connectivity gaps in rural and remote regions, will be on the agenda at this year’s telecommunications conference.

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