Telecom Competition in Canada and the United States: The Tortoise and the Hare

The United States began the process of introducing competition into local telecommunications before Canada, and there are important differences in the approaches chosen by the two countries. The U.S. approach is based on public utility concepts, whereas the Canadian approach is based on antitrust and economic principles. This chapter shows that, as a result, Canada is likely to have widespread facilities-based competition for local telecommunications services before the United States.