Ontario Telephone Service Commission

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The Ontario Telephone Service Commission (OTSC) was a quasi-judicial regulatory agency which regulated independent telephone companies (that is, those other than Bell Canada) in Ontario, Canada. It reported to the provincial legislature through the minister of transportation and communications.

It served as the regulator for the independent companies until April 26, 1994, when a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in the case Téléphone Guevremont Inc. v. Quebec (Régie des télécommunications), [1994] 1 S.C.R. 878 transferred Canada's provincially-regulated telephone companies to federal jurisdiction, meaning that they would be regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

"A History of the Independent Telephone Industry in Ontario" was published in 1975 under the authorship of Thomas Grindlay, Executive Secretary to the then Ontario Telephone Service Commission. The book (316 pages) is a fascinating compendium of historical records including a complete list of all independent telephone companies and when they were established and areas served. There are some diagrams and photos in the book. Copies were available on ABEBooks.com when last searched.