Each year, the CRTC conducts an extensive data collection exercise, working together with Industry Canada, Statistics Canada, BBM Canada and BBM Nielsen Media Research, BBM Analytics for Media Technology Monitor, comScore, and Mediastats.
Despite this collaborative effort, it is quite possible that the Communications Monitoring Report undercounts business internet accesses in Canada.
The issue is partly due to definitions used in the data collection process.
The CRTC’s Form 253 is the primary source of information for internet subscriptions.
That form asks for information about internet subscriptions, not internet connections, broken out by residential, business and wholesale.
Look at a business with 5 locations each having internet access. How does Form 253 count this customer? Is it one subscription or is it 5 connections? Note that “subscription” is defined by the CRTC as:
Internet access subscriptions are measured by the number of unique IP addresses which may be used simultaneously by different parties.
Is the term “subscription” an adequate way to determine internet connections?
Note that Form 253 may also not consider internet connectivity enabled over integrated communications services access. The form asks about internet subscriptions.
Consider a business that buys a hosted telephone solution. In this case, the internet connection comes for “free” with integrated data pipe that connects the business to the service provider. For Form 253, is the internet connection for that business scored at all?
A further enhancement to the data collection process might be to identify fibre connectivity for businesses and residences. Already, the forms [252 and 253] seek to distinguish ‘fibre’ from DSL and other technologies, but this may not be sufficient resolution to enable meaningful international comparisons.
For example, if there is a fibre connection to an apartment building and then DSL or cable modem connections from the utility closet to the customer, should fibre to the premise accesses be captured separately?