Tesla Approved for Basic International Telecom Service License in Canada

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved Tesla for a Basic International Telecommunications Services Licence (BITS) on Tuesday, as spotted by the University of Ottawa Law Professor, Michael Geist.

Tesla submitted an application in September 2022 and since then, there were two interventions opposing the issuing of BITS license to the company.

“These opposing interventions expressed concerns about monetary loss to Canada should the requested licence be issued, as well as concerns about the ownership structure of the licence applicant,” wrote Claude Doucet, Secretary General. But these interveners did not substantiate their concerns.

“After consideration of the comments received, the Commission has approved the application and a BITS licence for a period of 10 years is enclosed,” wrote Doucet.

Tesla application for the BITS license was made by McCarthy Tetrault LLP, back on September 15, 2022.

Tesla said it wanted to offer “Machine-to-Machine cellular data service to enable telemetry data and in-vehicle infotainment services access, including internet access” and “mobile terminating SMS to wake up vehicles.”

The automaker made it clear it “does not, and does not intend to, own or operate transmission facilities in Canada.”

One of two interventions that opposed the application was Otto Cheng from Ontario, who wrote, “Elon Musk, after the Twitter take over and his attempts to run that company, nothing fruitful came to be. I do NOT wish to waste time, money and resources to a meme of a company, which will not reflect well to the Canadian economy.”

Others were in favour of Tesla’s application and thusly it was approved by the CRTC.