TELECOMMUNICATIONS FORUM

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

8:15

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00

Welcoming Remarks From Insight Information

9:05

Opening Remarks From the Co-Chair

Hank Intven
Partner
McCarthy Tétrault LLP

9:15

The State of Play in the Wireless Industry

Moderator
Hank Intven 
Partner
McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Michael Hennessy 
Senior Vice-President, Regulatory and Government Affairs
TELUS

Bruce Kirby
Vice President Strategy & Business Development
Public Mobile

Anthony Lacavera
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
WIND Mobile

• How has the wireless market evolved over the last year?
• What are the drivers of market changes over the coming year?
• What impacts will the rollout of LTE have on the market?
• Can the new entrants increase market share? Can they increase ARPU? Will they be able to compete with the rollout of LTE, the iPAD and with other technical advances of the incumbents?
• How can the new entrants bring their game to the next level?
• What role will mobile content play in the evolution of the market?
• What type of 700 MHz auction framework would best serve Canadian consumers?

10:30

Networking Coffee Break

10:45

The Next Spectrum Auction: Establishing a Framework for Fair Play

Moderator
Jan Skora
President
Jan Skora Consulting Services Inc.

Dennis Béland
Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs, Telecommunications
Quebecor Media Inc.

Allison Lenehan
Chief Strategy Officer
Xplornet Communications Inc.

Stewart Lyons
Chief Operating Officer
Mobilicity

Ted Woodhead
Vice-President, Telecom Policy and Regulatory
TELUS

• Is there a spectrum imbalance in Canada? If so, who is responsible?
• How will Industry Canada’s auction policy decisions affect the ability of wireless carriers to meet their spectrum needs?
• How will they affect the level of competition and service deployment in metro and rural and remote Canada?
• How do technology trends (global deployment of LTE, new radio technologies) impact the options available to policy makers and operators?
• What are the next steps in Canada’s auction process?

12:00

Networking Luncheon

12:45

KEYNOTE LUNCHEON ADDRESS

Balancing Innovation and Competitiveness with Public Safety: The Road Ahead

William V. Baker
Deputy Minister
Public Safety Canada

1:30

Changing Foreign Ownership Rules: Impact, Risk and Opportunity Moderator

Moderator Grant Buchanan
Partner
McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Bob Boron
Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs
Public Mobile

Leonard St-Aubin
Consultant, Len St-Aubin Consulting
Former Director General
Telecommunications Policy, Industry Canada

Andrea Wood
Chief Legal Officer
WIND Mobile

The debate about Canada’s foreign ownership rules continues to ebb and flow. After a consultation in the summer of 2010 Industry Canada put out 3 possible options for change, namely:

• Increasing to 49% (from 20%) the direct limit for the percentage of voting shares in broadcasting and telecommunications that may be held by non-Canadians
• Exempting start-up telecommunications companies and existing small industry players (i.e. those with less than 10% of total telecommunications market revenues) from existing restrictions
• Removing Canadian ownership restrictions entirely for all telecommunications common carriers

Since then, there has been a federal election and the 700MHz auction is now that much closer. What is the timing of the changes to the rules, if any? Is Canada out of step with the rest of the world with respect to foreign ownership limitations? Will loosening restrictions on foreign ownership of telcos result in better access to capital? Who stands to gain and who stands to lose? Will there be consequences, unintended or not, in removing or reducing foreign ownership restrictions? Will there be a negative impact on the production/distribution of Canadian content? If so, will the benefits be worth the price?

3:00

Networking Refreshment Break

3:15

The New Anti-Spam and Spyware Legislation

Moderator
Mark Hayes
Founding Partner
Hayes | eLaw LLP

Andre Leduc
Manager, National Anti-spam Coordinating Body
Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications Sector
Industry Canada

Craig McTaggart
Director, Broadband Policy
TELUS Communications Company

Neil Schwartzman
Executive Director
Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE)

This fall, Canada will go from being one of the only major countries with no anti-spam legislation to having arguably the most strict controls on unsolicited electronic indications of any jurisdiction anywhere in the world. A panel of experts will wrestle with the issues raised by this legislation, including:

• Will the statute actually reduce the spam being received by Canadians?
• How Canada's Anti-spam Legislation will affect change to marketing programmes and messaging practices world-wide
• Where does a .com live? A quick and dirty guide to the messaging infrastructure
• How a simple change to network infrastructure can make foreign companies Canadian for the purposes of protection under CASL
• The roadblocks Law Enforcement Agencies face in the application of the law external to Canada
• How reliance upon the Private Right of Action and Class-action clauses will help clean up marketing in America and Europe
• How can consent be obtained and how long does it last?
• How will the exemptions from the consent requirement, including the "existing business relationship" exemption, be interpreted?
• How will the restrictions on the downloading computer software affect software and Internet companies?"

4:30

Conference Adjourns for the Day

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

8:30

Continental Breakfast

9:00

Opening Remarks from the Co-Chair

Laurie Dunbar
Partner
Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP

9:15

Usage-based Billing and ISP Regulation

Moderator Laurie Dunbar
Partner
Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP

Philippe Gauvin
Counsel – Regulatory Law and Policy
Bell Canada

Teresa Griffin-Muir
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
MTS Allstream Inc.

John Lawford
General Counsel
Public Interest Advocacy Centre

Bill Sandiford
President
Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc.

Usage-based billing has emerged as one of the most controversial issues on the regulatory agenda in 2011, pitting consumers and internet resellers against the incumbent telephone and cable companies who own the broadband networks that support high-speed Internet services. While this issue started out as strictly a wholesale access issue for ISPs, it has been portrayed in the media as a broader consumer issue.

• Payment for many important utility services is based on usage – why should the Internet be any different?
• The CRTC does not regulate retail Internet rates – is there a legitimate need for it to regulate wholesale rates?
• Has internet access at the wholesale level become an essential service?
• If internet access should be unlimited, who should pay for the infrastructure upgrades required to support new high capacity services such as NetFlix?
• How are other jurisdictions grappling with this issue?

Panelists in this session will discuss the various facets of this issue in depth, including possible outcomes of the current CRTC proceeding.

10:30

Networking Coffee Break

10:45

Vertical Integration: Does Canada now have Too Much Media Concentration?

Moderator
Margot Patterson
Counsel
Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP

Richard Stursberg
Senior Advisor to TELUS
Media and Entertainment Strategy

Paul Temple
Sr. Vice President, Regulatory & Strategic Affairs
Pelmorex Communications Inc.

Over the last couple of years, Canada's largest telecommunications companies have consolidated their control of the major broadcasting companies in the country. The creation of these very large, vertically integrated conglomerates raises significant policy questions. Most of them want to be able to exploit their content exclusively for their own purposes, while the non-vertically integrated companies are categorically opposed to this. In June of 2011, the CRTC held a major hearing on the subject and decisions are expected in the fall.

This session will offer an in-depth look at the current situation including:

• The implications of the decision for competition in the telecom industry; competition in the broadcasting industry; innovation, and service to consumers
• Its impact on content producers, distributors and ultimately consumers
• Vertical integration as a reaction to over-the-top services
• The marriage of distribution and content has not always succeeded. Is it a model whose time has come? Will it stand the test of time?
• Is more/smarter regulation needed, or should the market take over?
• What does Canada have to learn from the U.S. and other countries?

12:00

Networking Luncheon

12:45

HALL OF FAME KEYNOTE LUNCHEON ADDRESS

Challenges in Shaping Policy for a New Era in Communications

The Honourable James Moore (invited)
Minister
Canadian Heritage and Official Languages

1:15

i-CANADA and Building an Intelligent Nation

William G. (Bill) Hutchison P.Eng. F.C.I.P.S.
Chair
i-Canada Alliance

1:45

The Impact of OTT Services on BDUs and Canadian TV Services

Moderator Dr. Gregory Taylor
Post Doctoral Fellow, Broadband Project
Instructor, Communication and Culture graduate program
Ryerson University

Michael Drobac
Director of Government Relations
Netflix Inc.

Alain Gourd
Chair
OTT Industry Working Group

Bev Kirshenblatt
Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs
CBC

Drew McReynolds
Director, Global Research
Media and Communications
RBC Capital Markets

• Is there a foreseeable OTT inflection period that could result in accelerated structural change in Canadian television?
• What are the key success factors for OTT services to become a true substitution for the current television system?
• What strategies can be deployed by the incumbents to moderate the pace of substitution?
• How can the regulatory playing field be levelled for incumbents and unregulated OTT services?

3:15

Networking Refreshment Break

3:30

Reinventing Canada's Copyright Regime in the Digital Age

Moderator Jay Kerr-Wilson
Partner
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Jason Kee
Director, Policy & Legal Affairs
Entertainment Software Association of Canada

Roanie Levy
General Counsel and Director of Policy and External Affairs
Access Copyright

Canada's copyright regime will undergo a serious facelift over the next year as a number of domestic and international developments reshape the legal landscape. The majority government of Stephen Harper is expected to reintroduce the copyright legislation that died on the Order Paper when the election was called. This legislation will amend the Act to better reflect the technological developments of the last 10 years that have challenged traditional notions of copyright. At the same time, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear four appeals that deal with fundamental copyright concepts including the scope of the fair dealing exceptions, and the application of copyright rules to digital transmissions on the Internet. Canada will also be expected to sign on to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and will continue negotiations with Europe on a new free trade agreement, both of which have implications for domestic copyright policy. In Geneva, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) continues to debate two new copyright treaties – one that deals with broadcasters and one that deals with audiovisual performances – both of which would establish new minimum levels of protection internationally.

• Is there a common thread to international and domestic developments, or is Canada being pulled in several directions at once?
• As intellectual property rights are increasingly dealt with in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, how much control can Canada retain over its domestic policy developments?
• How do we explain the Supreme Court's renewed interest in copyright issues? Should we expect revolutionary changes from the Supreme Court, or a more cautious approach?
• After legislative reform and Supreme Court pronouncements, what’s left to deal with? Is this the beginning or the end of the transformation process?
• Where does the public interest fit in domestic and international policy development?
• How do we balance domestic public access to works against strong economic protection for multinational producers?

4:45

CLE Accreditation

This program can be applied towards 7.5 of the 12 hours of annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) required by the Law Society of Upper Canada. Please note that these CPD hours are not accredited for the New Member Requirement

Insight Information and Canada's Telecommunications Hall of Fame have teamed up this year to bring you two great events; the 8th Annual TELECOMMUNICATIONS FORUM – November 2nd and 3rd and the Hall of Fame’s Telecom Laureate Awards Gala Dinner on the evening of November 2nd. Register for the Hall of Fame’s Telecom Laureate Awards Gala Dinner at www.telecomhall.ca.

From wireless, wireline, satellite and cable tel ecommunications and broadcasting companies, including internet service providers and industry associations:

• CEOs, CFOs, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Directors of Technology, Operations, Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Consumer / Business Solutions, Business and Legal Affairs, Government and Regulatory Affairs

From legal and consulting firms, government organizations including the CRTC, Department of Industry and the Competition Bureau:

• Presidents, Partners, Director of Research, Spectrum Management, Policy Advisors and Analysts in Telecommunications Finance and Regulatory Affairs, and Economists

Dear Colleague,

The Canadian telecommunications industry continues to face a changing and an uncertain environment, making it a particularly challenging one for both public and private sector decision-making. Efforts by the CRTC and Industry Canada to settle the regulatory and policy approaches for the changing environment have resulted in a busy regulatory and policy agenda – but not always in greater certainty. On the legislative front, a new anti-spam and anti-malware law and regulations, and pending lawful access legislation will complicate the role and responsibilities of telecom service providers. The pending spectrum auction will add to the complexity of developing strategies for wireless businesses, for incumbents and new entrants alike.

The level of competition has increased significantly over the past year, among the established players and from the new wireless entrants. Taken together with new competition from ‘over-the-top’ (OTT) broadcast distribution services, the new environment is exerting pressure on existing and new players to keep pace with industry innovation and changing consumer expectations. With large-scale vertical integration now being an established fact in the telecom and broadcasting industries, a new competitive dynamic is also at play in the acquisition and distribution of choice programming.

There is a lot at stake over the next few years, and in this constantly shifting environment the right decision today could prove wrong tomorrow. Is it better to make the large investments now to be a leader and to risk being on the 'bleeding edge' in order to try to attract and hold market share, or better to wait and see what mistakes the leader makes in order to be the smart second wave adopter? In this complex environment, what if anything will come of the government's promised National Digital Strategy?

The only 'sure thing' in this current marketplace is that there will be more change for some time to come. This conference, produced by Insight Information offers a unique opportunity for interactive discussion of many of today’s critical issues with industry leaders – it's one you shouldn’t miss.

Sincerely,

Hank Intven
Partner
McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Laurie Dunbar
Partner
Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP

MEDIA PARTNERS

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