A tweet from an OECD analyst seemed to sum it up:
Just heard that Canada will have 100 mbit/s available to 80% of households by 2014 using DOCSIS 3.0. Impressive.
It is about time the news made it over the ocean. More than a year ago, we released our report on Canada’s broadband infrastructure that spoke about the “near universal adoption of DOCSIS 3.0 technology by cable companies.”
It seems to take a while for the OECD to report on Canadian advances in connectivity.
A couple weeks ago, I asked:
Anyone look at #OECD #broadband data (behind the charts) and wonder who is providing old inputs for Canada? Why? http://bit.ly/fPIqNm
The OECD’s household broadband data used Canada’s 2007 figures to compare our broadband penetration rates to 2009 figures from other countries. So, it isn’t really the case that Canada was slipping in the rankings (as some critics charged), it was that other countries caught up to our out-of-date standings.
At risk of being called a “lobbyist“, I have to ask, why aren’t journalists taking the time to ask why the OECD isn’t using current information?
Better data is available. Who is holding back?
For the OECD data released yesterday, why are there still so many distortions in the Canadian information?
Glaring errors and ommissions abound.
For example, despite Bell Aliant reporting of its continuing FibreOP fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) investments, the OECD still thinks that Canada has no FTTH to report.
Interestingly, the OECD gets its data from the governments of its member countries, except in the case of Canada and the United States, for which the OECD creates its own estimates “based on data reported by publicly listed companies.” What does that mean for data from SaskTel, Eastlink and subscribers to hundreds of private internet service providers?
Canada’s wireless broadband [xls, 44 KB] reporting is marked as incomplete by the OECD. So, despite Canada having access to among the world’s best mobile broadband networks, we get a zero for mobile broadband.
When we have federal cabinet ministers citing these statistics in policy announcements, it seems that we should have a much better effort to feed the OECD with better quality data.
100mbit sounds lovely. Kindof like what Swedes or Koreans have enjoyed for the better half of a decade or so.
Right now I’d be happy if Rogers could consistently deliver 1 MBit/sec to my house anytime after 7pm on a weekday (a connection advertised as 15mbits/s). Or maybe that’s just a special service level they’ve strategically reserved for those of us accessing through wholesale provider.
Another major issue is upload bandwidth. Current standard upload speed caps on all cable service in Canada effectively relegate all ordinary Canadians to be mere consumers not content creators in the digital economy. Bell’s Fibe is more encouraging in this regard with upload speeds up to 7Mbits. Let’s hope we see more of that with Docsis and/or with that fabled unicorn, fibre-to-the-actual-home in Canada.