A new report from Berkeley Research Group has found that Canadian consumers are among the world’s most intensive and sophisticated users of Internet services. In addition, the reportĀ [pdf, 700KB] says that Canadaās mobile networks and usage of such networks are among the most sophisticated in the developed world.
The authors of the report are Leonard Waverman, Dean, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary and Kalyan Dasgupta, Principal, Berkeley Research Group. They found that Canadian businesses have been slower to adopt information and communication technologies than their counterparts in other countries.
… despite Canadians being among the most intensive users of the Internet anywhere, Internet-based retail lags in Canada compared to countries such as the U.K., even though broadband penetration in Canada is higher and average user speeds are also higher. Thus the primary āproblemā in Canada would appear to be a wider business failure to sufficiently invest in or make use of technology that transforms business processes rather than a failure by the providers of telecommunications and broadband networks to provide affordable and high-quality services.
The report says that the inordinate focus on networks and networks alone is damaging “a much more important debate about the wider digital economy in Canada.”
The report considers the weak performance of Canada in electronic retailing, pointing out that getting Canadian electronic commerce to the level of U.K. electronic commerce doesn’t require faster broadband networks (given that broadband networks in the U.K. are slower than ours). So why did a 2008 study find that half of Canadian online users never make online purchases, compared with just one fifth in the U.K. and one eight in the US?
The report quotes Blair Levin, the recently departed head of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan for the United States:
As the leaders of the team that prepared the National Broadband Plan that was presented to Congress in March, we have seen that the public debate on broadband focuses too much on how our networks compare with those in other countries. Instead, the discussion should focus on how to use those networks here in America and rethink how we deliver key services.
We need to spend more time understandingĀ issues impacting theĀ demand side of the equation. How do we help consumers and businesses make better use of the infrastructure we have?