The chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today recommended to a parliamentary committee that majority stakes in Canada’s telecommunication and broadcasting companies should only be held by Canadians.
“The control of the communications sector should stay in Canadian hands,” Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), told a parliamentary committee.
“No foreign entity should own more than 49 per cent,” he said.
Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, recognized that rules should be simplified. He suggested that a single set of regulations cover both broadcast and telecoms sectors as a number of companies function across both.
Today, foreign control is limited to a maximum of 46.7 percent but the Canadian government is looking to increase that limit in a bid to increase competition.
Executives from a number of carriers, including Rogers, TELUS, and MTS Allstream are expected to present their own arguments to the committee later this week.