Garbage in, garbage out. The GIGO factor.
That is how the OECD reporting on Canadian broadband has to be characterized. The same faulty study that we have talked about all summer [such as here, here and here] keeps getting cited as evidence of a supposedly shameful situation for Canadians on the internet. Some have used the flawed reporting to conclude that our industry is in crisis.
Never mind that Google’s global sales president says that Canada has world-class internet and broadband penetration.
The latest woeful citation (in the Globe and Mail Datebook) was one that should have had the writer pause to think about plain reasonableness:
Today’s chart lists the 30 countries and shows Canadians paid about $95 (Canadian) every month for high-speed Web access in September of 2008.
Do you know anyone who is paying $95 every month for high-speed Web access? Seriously. You might have one or two geeky friends who are subscribing to the very highest speed service, but does that quote sound like a fair representation of the Canadian high-speed broadband market?
Suzanne Blackwell at Giganomics Consulting has more details about the flaws in the report.