For 3 days (June 5 – 7, 2017), the leadership of the telecom, broadcast & IT industries will converge in Toronto for The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit. Join your peers, suppliers, policy makers, regulators, customers and competitors in attending the industry’s most important gathering, to discuss the key issues and trends that will impact this critical sector of the economy.

Other conferences promise but don’t deliver. Only The Canadian Telecom Summit allows you to hear from the leading ICT executives and influencers and provides the opportunity for you to interact with them and your colleagues. Don’t be disappointed by attending imitation events.

For 16 years The Canadian Telecom Summit has been the place for Canada’s ICT leaders to meet, interact and do business. As in past years, this year’s event will feature high-octane interaction, top-level keynote speakers and thought-provoking panel discussions.

Competition, Investment and Innovation: Driving Canada’s Digital Future
How does Canada stake out a world-leading position in an increasingly digital world? What kinds of communications infrastructure is needed to provide Canadians with a platform to excel? What kind of policy framework will encourage investment and foster the development of innovative new applications and technologies to deploy in Canada and offer around the world?

As always, The Canadian Telecom Summit features cutting-edge topics. This year, we are featuring sessions devoted to:

• Cyber Security: Securing your data; protecting your privacy
• Customer Experience Management
• Disruptive Innovation: Driving Canada’s Digital Future
• Regulatory Blockbuster
• Network Innovation & Service Delivery
• Advanced Mobility & Internet of Everything: Innovation & disruption in services, devices and apps
• and more

The Canadian Telecom Summit has something for everyone, leaving no stone unturned in bringing you the most substantive and comprehensive line-up of speakers and topics. Hear from senior executives from across the industry.

Save more than $200 by registering by February 28. Book your place today!

Special Networking Event
All participants are invited to join us for our annual cocktail reception Monday evening, June 5.

Continuing Professional Development
Lawyers: The time spent attending substantive sessions at The Canadian Telecom Summit can be claimed as “Substantive Hours” toward the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.

Is over-the-air transmission sustainable as a broadcasting medium? For TVO, the answer is no. TVO, “the technological extension of Ontario’s public education system,” has decided to pull the plug on transmitters in Ottawa, Belleville, Chatham, Cloyne, Kitchener, London, Thunder Bay and Windsor, eliminating 7 jobs and saving $1 million annually. According to TVO, most of its viewers use broadcast distribution (such as cable, IPTV or satellite) or online services such as TVOkids.

As the 600 MHz incentive auction draws to a close in the US, we can see a tangible value, measured in the billions of dollars, for the continued repurposing of television broadcast spectrum for mobile connectivity.

There are so many factors that come into play, mandatory carriage, opportunities for simultaneous substitution, access to households without BDU subscriptions, but we might also consider issues of technological neutrality in the regulatory treatment of delivery systems for linear broadcasting. On one hand, Canada continues to regulate broadcasting that does not use public spectrum (such as direct to cable specialty channels), but uses different forms of licenses and applies different terms. On-demand services are another issue, receiving different treatment based on whether the service is delivered over the internet or not.

Two years ago, in an address to the London (Ontario) Chamber of Commerce, CRTC Chair JP Blais used a metaphor of the Commission as “bridge builders.” He said the CRTC “built a bridge to carry analog television programming”.

As television started to change, as consumers began to embrace on-demand viewing, mobile platforms and online video services, it became apparent that the old bridge was ill suited to carry modern digital traffic. More than just renovations were required to ensure traffic continued to flow smoothly into your home and onto your mobile devices. We needed a new bridge.

He observed that some prefer “the old bridge. They like to consume content on traditional platforms and in the same ways and quantities that they have for years.”

At the time, despite the possibility that digital transmission could lead to “renewed interest for OTA broadcasting,” he also observed “Long term, however, the format must change. The future of television lies more toward viewer-centric, on-demand models than the scheduled broadcasts such as those provided by OTA.”

As I wrote on Twitter, “From telecom policy perspective, shouldn’t we encourage more broadcasters to abandon OTA transmitters & free up 600MHz spectrum for mobile?”

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[Update: February 3, 2017] TVO has released a statement to its viewers, explaining “TVO’s decision to decommission over-the-air transmitters.”

In the 1980s, TVO relied on more than 200 over-the-air transmitters to deliver our broadcast signal. Since then, technology has evolved and the number of OTA transmitters has been reduced by all broadcasters, and delivering to multiple platforms has become the standard. Today, the expectations and preferences of viewers are changing as people turn to digital and online, on-demand services and we are doing our best to juggle all of these demands.

Since early November, each day I have been tweeting an innovation with its origins in the telecom sector that has had a meaningful impact on our lives. That series wraps up this morning. You can find all 50 of the innovations on my early November blog post. Telecom innovations have produced a surprising array of innovations, from talking movies to the Big Bang Theory, wire photos to music synthesis, HDTV to radio astronomy.

How do we create the right environment for continued investment in research and innovation as Canada drives toward a digital future?

The theme for The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit will be “Competition, Investment and Innovation: Driving Canada’s Digital Future”

Now in its 16^th year, The Canadian Telecom Summit is Canada’s premiere conference that brings together the thought leaders and key influencers of the Canadian and global ICT industry. Our attendees represent a broad cross-section of interests including cable, Internet, video and telephony providers, equipment vendors, customers, applications providers, solutions developers, professional services organizations, government leaders and the financial community.

Early bird rates are in effect until the end of February. Register over the next 4 weeks to save more than $200 per person.

Back in 2010 when Bell first announced its plans to support mental health initiatives, I wrote a post “Talking about un-mentionables.” I mentioned back then that “I grew up on the grounds of a children’s psychiatric research institute in London, Ontario, the son of a child psychiatrist.”

As a result, Bell’s commitment to support mental health is especially meaningful to me. I support Bell Let’s Talk Day without reservation and I encourage you to do so as well.

Through the years, cynics have asked why Bell’s brand figures so prominently in the materials. Why isn’t it just called “Let’s Talk” instead of “Bell Let’s Talk”?

One of the key elements of the initiative has been to reduce and ultimately remove the stigma commonly associated with mental health issues. “Help end the stigma around mental illness” is the first link on the Bell Let’s Talk web-page. Yesterday, Bell Let’s Talk and Queen’s University announced a $1 million gift, renewing the Bell Canada Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Research Chair.

Bell is one of the most widely held stocks, among Canada’s largest private sector employers and one the country’s biggest investors in infrastructure. Its media properties carry Canada’s most popular shows. What better way can there be to remove the stigma of talking about mental health than to attach the endorsement of one of Canada’s most valuable brands?

One in five Canadians will suffer from mental illness at some point in their lifetime; the stigma associated with it is cited as the number one reason that two thirds of them won’t seek help.

The Bell Let’s Talk website has ways you can help:

• Language matters: The words you use can make all the difference. Words can help but they can also hurt.
• Educate yourself: Stigma has been around for a long time and knowing the facts and myths about mental illness can be a great way to help end stigma.
• Be kind: Simple kindness can make a world of difference. Whether it be a smile, being a good listener or an invitation for coffee and a chat, these simple acts of kindness can help open up the conversation and let someone know you are there for them.
• Listen and ask: Mental illness is a very common form of human pain and suffering. Being a good listener and asking how you can help, sometimes just even being there for people you care about, can be the first step in recovery.
• Talk about it: Break the silence. Mental illness touches us all in some way directly or through a friend, family member or colleague. Stories of people who have experienced mental health issues and who are doing well can really challenge stereotypes. Most people with mental health issues can and do recover, just by talking about it.

And today, take an extra step to raise awareness of mental health. Tweet a message with #BellLetsTalk .

Add the power of your personal brand, endorsing this important cause.

Registrations are now open for The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit, taking place June 5-7 in Toronto.

Join your colleagues in listening to and participating in executive presentations from those who have the greatest influence on the direction of Canadian telecommunications, broadcasting and information technology. Hear from global leaders and local trend-setters. Meet with your suppliers, customers and partners. Challenge your competition.

For three full days, The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit will again deliver thought-provoking insights from the prime movers of the industry. The Canadian Telecom Summit gives you the chance to hear from and talk with them in both a structured atmosphere of frank discussion and high-octane idea exchange and schmooze in a more relaxed social setting of genial conversation over espresso or cocktails.

The Canadian Telecom Summit reviews where we have been as an industry, provides an understanding of the dynamics that propel it and forecasts future trends and expected developments. Attendance is a must for telecom, broadcast and IT industry professionals – corporate users, carriers, content providers and manufacturers – financial analysts, consultants and investors.

Attracting the senior-most professionals from around the globe, The Canadian Telecom Summit is the forum for the broad cross-section of stakeholders to meet, exchange views, share ideas, challenge assumptions and plan for the future. Last year, delegates heard from Ajit Pai, newly appointed to lead the FCC and Conservative Party leadership candidate (and former Industry Minister) Maxime Bernier, among many other leaders.

Be sure to take advantage of early bird pricing. Register by February 28.