The review will examine whether government can deregulate parts of the media and telecom industries, and how to relax the byzantine CRTC process, sources say.

"There used to be neat, tidy compartments between computers and broadcasting and telecommunications. That's no longer the case," said a senior government official. "It's time to take a look at this."

The probe could end up suggesting a total revamp of the CRTC, by combining responsibility for copyright regulation, competition concerns and investment review under one new organization. But the exact scope, and whether it will be conducted by an external panel or internally by bureaucrats, has not been decided, sources said.

It could also slim down the number of commissioners. There are currently 13, compared with five at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

"It could be quite ambitious," said the official. "There are a lot of people who think the toolkit could be changed." The goal is to make sure regulators do not stand in the way of Canadian companies competing in the global economy.

The review, the first since 1991, is one reason behind the appointment of David Colville as temporary chairman of the CRTC. He replaces Francoise Bertrand for six months, giving the government time to get the review moving and, depending on its breadth, completed.

"If they're going to go after high-calibre people [for permanent chairman] they have to be able to tell them what the job is," said a source. Cutting red tape and some deregulation could be done without reopening such legislation as the Broadcasting Act, something the government tries to avoid, because then every interested group wants to make changes.

A more ambitious review would examine changes to the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act. "That would be interesting to watch," said Ian Angus, president of Angus Telemanagement Group. "It took them so long to finish the last act."

A revamped telecommunications act came into effect in 1992, but it took 15 years of work, he said. Eamon Hoey of Hoey & Associates Inc., a Toronto-based telecom consultant, said the CRTC's push to opening up competition was instrumental in forcing Industry Canada to overhaul the Telecommunications Act.

But that could come back to haunt the CRTC if Industry Canada is responsible for its review. "They would destroy it. It would be a power-seeking crusade for them," he said. The timing of the review could affect the outcome of telecommunications concerns now before the commission. For example, cable companies are pressing for the right to own analogue specialty channels, something prohibited by the CRTC in the past because of limited space on the TV dial and the fear cable firms would give preference to channels in which they had an interest.