Briefs: Canada to urge looser telecom rules
A Canadian government panel is expected to recommend easing regulations in the telecom market when it releases a major report next week.
The Toronto Globe and Mail said Friday that the Telecom Policy Review Panel has concluded that telecom companies face too much red tape whenever they want to introduce a new product or change their prices.
"The micro-management issue is a huge one for the phone companies," said Yankee Group analyst Jeff Leiper, who added that regulations aimed at preventing monopolistic price gouging were probably no longer needed.
Analysts in general predicted that telecom reform would spur competition and soften up prices at the retail level.
"Consumers will be pleased," a source familiar with the report told the Globe.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International