The service improvements that the two telcos say would result from their proposed merger are “vague, unspecified, not legally binding and what any company will do in the normal course of business,” Telus’s vice-president of telecom policy told commissioners on the second day of hearings on the $26-billion deal. The CRTC’s best move is “complete rejection,” Stephen Schmidt said. (The Logic)

Talking point: On Day 1 of a week of hearings Monday, Rogers’s delegation said competition from Telus, especially in the western provinces, would keep Rogers from hiking prices after a merger. Telus responded Tuesday by saying the combined companies would have market power that existing regulatory structures couldn’t properly address; that the deal would mean a “hollowing-out” of the business community in western Canada, where Shaw is headquartered; and that it would concentrate even more power in the hands of one of the wealthiest families in Canada.