Do we still need to regulate telephone services?

In the field of telecommunications, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) protected monopolies against entry when it should not have, and it now grants privileges to their competitors while there are no more economic reasons to do so. Even if it could be argued that telephone services were a natural monopoly before the development of the new telecommunications technology, this is not the case any more, and it seems that the CRTC no longer has any reason to intervene in this sector. A good economic case can be made for a real and complete deregulation of telecommunications in Canada.

Links of interest

Appendix 1: Competition, regulation and the CRTC

Appendix 2: American deregulation of VoIP

References: Economic theory of competition, regulation and Public Choice + Competition in Canadian Telecom and the CRTC

Media release: CRTC regulation of telecommunications obsolete according to the Montreal Economic Institute