As I prepare to move out to The Toronto Congress Centre for The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, I thought I might share a few thoughts on some areas that could be the source of discussion in the plenary halls, the cafe, over cocktails and in corners and alcoves next week.
The CRTC’s hearings into mandated access to wholesale hispeed access services have been taking place this past week and the webcast has had some entertaining moments, not the least of which was the rebuttal testimony of “bite me.” I can’t wait to see how the expletive shows up in the transcripts. The tone certainly sets the stage for some interesting dynamics at next Tuesday morning’s Regulatory Blockbuster at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit.
The Financial Post announced that the 2010 edition of its Junk Science Rubber Duck award will begin in a couple weeks. I wonder if some of the broadband studies mentioned in the hearings will merit a mention in the contest.
Along those lines, let me commend to you a comment that appears on my Monday posting. The comment observes that in the Ookla Net Index Study, Latvia, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria are all shown with top 10 rankings in broadband speeds. My reader observes:
If Moldova is not the poorest country in Europe, it comes pretty close. And Romania and Bulgaria are at the bottom of the EU.
So we can tentatively conclude two things from the study. First, the poorer you are, the better your broadband connections are likely to be. Perhaps Canada can embark on a crash program of income reduction, as part of its digital strategy.
Second, high speed broadband seems to do nothing for economic growth, at least in the short run.
We’ll be taking a more serious look at information and communication technology indicators at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit. I don’t expect to have time to write, but I’ll try to keep you informed. Follow me on Twitter @Mark_Goldberg and we’ll be using #cts10. Watch for extensive coverage in the media. Reporters from all the major trade and general press will be on hand and there is a special telecom supplement scheduled for Tuesday’s Globe and Mail.
Good luck with the Summit. I see that the Government has obliged you with some advance publicity for Monday’s sesh. It’s really too bad I have to miss this year’s Summit. Between Michael ‘Bite Me’ Hessessy and Konrad ‘I’m Tired of not getting answers to my questions’ Von Finckenstein to Ken ‘We Get no respect’ Englehart, it’s bound to be a barn burner of a conference.
That’s right. Ukraine and Moldova have pretty good services and providers. At this time only inside cities (like Chisinau), but the infrastructure is growing very fast and up to date.