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An Ottawa-based think-tank is urging the federal Liberal government to abandon the telecommunications policies championed by its predecessor in a new report that argues a continued focus on fostering new competitors could ultimately cripple investment in broadband.

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute warns the Trudeau government it would be a “mistake” to maintain the Conservatives’ push for a fourth national wireless carrier and its requirement for big players to sell wholesale access to their high-speed Internet networks, including fibre-to-the-home access, arguing these policies led to underinvestment in Europe.

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“Europe’s experience in the past decades offers a salutary lesson of the risks of heavy-handed government regulation of digital networks,” according to the report released Wednesday by the think-tank that advocates for free markets. “It is a lesson that comes at a critical juncture for Canadian broadband policy.”