Canada called to keep telecom protections
A coalition of consumer and business groups Thursday urged the Canadian government to preserve protections in the Telecom Act.
A letter from 33 organizations was sent to officials in Ottawa declaring that telecom service was vital to low-income and disabled citizens and those who live in remote rural areas.
John Lawford of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre said in a statement that Canadian telecoms were tempted to drop service to areas that were expensive to maintain but offered few subscribers.
"Canadians want to defend and strengthen the public interest in telecommunications, not weaken it," he said.
Canada's telecom policy is currently under review by the government.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International