The federal government has announced its participation in the Global Coalition on Telecommunications (GCOT). The coalition, which also includes the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Japan, aims to improve the security, resilience, and innovation of telecommunications networks worldwide.
François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, stated that Canada’s involvement will focus on fostering diverse supply chains, secure and interoperable standards, and innovation in the telecommunications sector.
Through a Joint Statement of Intent, GCOT partners have committed to various objectives, including increased cooperation on telecommunications policy, enabling dialogue between policy-makers, industry, and academia, and promoting innovation and growth opportunities for the industry.
“Canadians rely on telecommunications services every day. The Global Coalition on Telecommunications provides an opportunity to advance important work with our allies toward more secure and reliable telecom networks. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with our allies on these crucial issues to provide Canadians with secure and reliable telecommunications services,” said Champagne in a statement on Thursday.
The coalition will explore opportunities for closer collaboration in areas such as information sharing, research and development, alignment of funding priorities, and international outreach. It all sounds fine and dandy on paper, but let’s see what actually comes out of this.
Canada’s participation in GCOT is an extension of its existing efforts under the Telecommunications Reliability Agenda and builds upon the Prague Proposals on Telecommunications Supplier Diversity and the UK’s Open RAN Principles, which Canada endorsed in 2022.
