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The CRTC says it would be a mistake to allow foreign control of Canada's broadcasting and telecommunications industries.
CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein told a House of Commons committee that allowing foreign control of either broadcasting or telecommunications risks turning Canada into a "branch-plant communications industry."
The federal government signalled in the throne speech last month that it wants to open up telecommunications, which includes such operations as cable and satellite TV, or wireless telephone services, to foreign competition.
But it made no such suggestions for broadcasters, which provide Canadian content on television.
Von Finckenstein said with convergence and new media, it will not be possible to separate the two.
Not only do some Canadian companies operate both as telecoms and broadcasters, but new media allows programs to be viewed on the Internet or hand-held devices, and to be inter-active. Von Finckenstein says the distinctions may have made sense in the past, but no longer apply.
The CRTC chairman said he does agree with the government's intention to increase competition in the industry, but would limit it to just below outright control.
Source: Broadcaster, 04/13/2010
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