The Ontario Telephone Service Commission (OTSC) was a quasi-judicial regulatory agency which regulated independent telephone companies (that is, those other than Bell Canada) in Ontario, Canada. It reported to the provincial legislature through the minister of transportation and communications.
It served as the regulator for the independent companies until April 26, 1994, when a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in the case Téléphone Guevremont Inc. v. Quebec (Régie des télécommunications), [1994] 1 S.C.R. 878 transferred Canada's provincially regulated telephone companies to federal jurisdiction, meaning that they would be regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
Present-day telecommunications in Canada include telephone, radio, television, and internet usage. In the past, telecommunications included telegraphy available through Canadian Pacific and Canadian National.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasting and telecommunications. It was created in 1976 when it took over responsibility for regulating telecommunication carriers. Prior to 1976, it was known as the Canadian Radio and Television Commission, which was established in 1968 by the Parliament of Canada to replace the Board of Broadcast Governors. Its headquarters is located in the Central Building of Les Terrasses de la Chaudière in Gatineau, Quebec.
Telecommunications in Dominica comprises telephone, radio, television and internet services. The primary regulatory authority is the National Telecommunication Regulatory Commission which regulates all related industries in order to comply with The Telecommunications Act 8 of 2000.
Telecommunications in the Philippines are well-developed due to the presence of modern infrastructure facilities. The industry was deregulated in 1995 when President Fidel Ramos signed Republic Act 7925. This law opened the sector to more private players and improved the provision of telecom services are better and fairer rates. The industry was deregulated in 1995, leading to the creation of many telecommunication service providers for mobile, fixed-line, Internet and other services.
Modern telecommunications in Thailand began in 1875 with the deployment of the first telegraph service. Historically, the development of telecommunication networks in Thailand were in the hands of the public sector. Government organisations were established to provide telegraph, telephone, radio, and television services, and other government agencies, especially the military, still control a large estate of radio and television spectra. Private telecommunication operators initially acquired concession agreements with state enterprises. For mobile phone services, all the concessions have been amended by successive government to last 25 years have gradually ended in 2015. For other services, the concession terms and conditions vary, ranging from one to fifteen years. Nearly all of the concessions are build-operate-transfer (BTO) contracts. The private investor has to build all the required facilities and transfer them to the state before they can operate or offer services to public.
A common carrier in common law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport. A common carrier offers its services to the general public under license or authority provided by a regulatory body, which has usually been granted "ministerial authority" by the legislation that created it. The regulatory body may create, interpret, and enforce its regulations upon the common carrier with independence and finality as long as it acts within the bounds of the enabling legislation.
A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many telephone companies were at one time government agencies or privately owned but state-regulated monopolies. The government agencies are often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs.
Local exchange carrier (LEC) is a regulatory term in telecommunications for the local telephone company.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first significant overhaul of telecommunications law in more than sixty years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. The Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, represented a major change in American telecommunication law, since it was the first time that the Internet was included in broadcasting and spectrum allotment.
The Telecommunications policy in the US is a framework of law directed by government and the Regulatory Commissions, most notably the Federal Communications Commission. Two landmark acts prevail today, the Communications Act of 1934 and the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The latter was intended to revise the first act and specifically to foster competition in the telecommunications industry.
Bell Canada is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Saskatchewan and in the northern territories. It is also a major competitive local exchange carrier for enterprise customers in the western provinces.
An incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) is a local telephone company which held the regional monopoly on landline service before the market was opened to competitive local exchange carriers, or the corporate successor of such a firm. In much of the United States, these were originally Bell System companies, although various regional independents in the US held incumbent monopolies in their respective regions.
The Federal Network Agency is the German regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets. It is a federal government agency of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
The Régie des télécommunications du Québec was a quasi-judicial regulatory agency which regulated independent telephone companies in Quebec.
The District of Columbia Public Service Commission is an independent quasi-judicial body and regulatory agency responsible for regulating landline telephone, electricity, and gas utility companies operating within the District of Columbia. It was established by the US Congress in 1913. The Commission offices are located at 1325 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20005.
An independent telephone company was a telephone company providing local service in the United States or Canada that was not part of the Bell System organized by American Telephone and Telegraph. Independent telephone companies usually operated in many rural or sparsely populated areas.
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is a self-funding Crown agency which acts as the financial regulator for the province of Ontario, Canada. Established in 2016, FSRA officially succeeded its predecessor agencies – the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario – on June 8, 2019. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario operates at arms-length from the Government of Ontario, and reports to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario through the Minister of Finance.
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) is a statutory organ of the state government of Georgia; elected among five commission districts, the board consists of a Chairman, a Vice-chairman, and three Commissioners. PSC regulates telecommunications, transportation, electric and natural gas services in the U.S. state of Georgia.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is the public utilities commission of the State of Indiana, led by five commissioners appointed by the Governor.
Network convergence refers to the provision of telephone, video and data communication services within a single network. In other words, one company provides services for all forms of communication. Network convergence is primarily driven by development of technology and demand. Users are able to access a wider range of services, choose among more service providers. On the other hand, convergence allows service providers to adopt new business models, offer innovative services, and enter new markets.
Grindlay, Thomas. A History of the Independent Telephone Industry in Ontario. 1975.