Yesterday, I provided the closing remarks at the CWTA WiMAX event. It was an interesting day with service providers, technology developers and suppliers, government officials and industry analysts speaking about how Canada should set its sights on wireless broadband connectivity.
Other than the WiMAX event, yesterday was a slow day in the Canadian telecom sector, wasn’t it? The attendance was pretty good at the CWTA event, but I suspect that some of you were sorting out your telecom stock portfolios, or trying to assess what the implications are for the spectrum auction or trying to figure out who is liable for what.
I spoke of WiMAX as another tool to assist in bringing broadband to the remaining unserved territory, but agreed with David Robinson of Rogers that no single technology fits all needs. As John Maduri of Barrett Xplore noted, satellite continues to have a role to play in Canada. I pointed out the remaining unserved areas in Saskatchewan: despite its crown ownership and focus, by the end of 2008, 12% of the population will still be outside its DSL and wireless broadband footprint. That is a measure of the broadband challenge in Canada.
While critiquing the superficial reporting of the OECD’s latest broadband statistics, I also mentioned some of the highlights of its recommendations for government policy.
I’ll write more about the OECD report early next week.