The government should be celebrating “the thrill of victory.”

Last summer, I wrote how it was time for government policy makers to declare “Mission Accomplished”. Price reductions in the mobile market were “well beyond any of the expectations that were set by Ottawa”.

While such a mission accomplished statement was likely too much to ask for, the Government’s virtual silence surrounding the significant declines in wireless service prices is counterproductive and somewhat perplexing.

Statistics Canada’s Cellular Price Index has declined by 22% in the last year and by almost 50% since 2018. While impressive, it is even more remarkable given that inflation has driven overall prices up by more than 20% since 2018.

So, when opposition parties repeatedly claim that the government has done nothing to lower prices and has failed to keep its 25% price reduction, one might think the Government would have an easy time refuting such claims. One might have even expected Minister Champagne to point out that prices for wireless services are lower than they have ever been, all under this Government’s tenure. That old “Promise made; promise kept” thing.

But, that isn’t what is happening. Having made the telecom industry its political punching bag, the Government has shown itself incapable of pulling its punches. If anything, the Government appears to regard as a weakness any kind of acknowledgment that the industry succeeded in making services more affordable for Canadians.

The failure to properly acknowledge the decline in Canadian mobile prices is a form of misinformation, perpetuating a distorted view of the industry. This leads to uninformed public discourse, and misguided policy and regulation.

In doing so, the Government has ceded the narrative to the opposition parties, who are continuing to push outdated facts and perceptions. As a result, the government comes across as being on the defensive, giving Canadians the impression that they have nothing to show for their years in office.

Let’s look at the accusation that the government has failed to meet its 25% price reduction objective.

As you may recall, in 2020 the government set an expectation that the national carriers would reduce the price of 2GB, 4Gb, and 6GB, so-called mid-range, plans by 25% within two years. As the chart below illustrates, this objective was achieved prior to the two-year deadline. Two years ago, the government boasted that the reductions “were achieved across the country three months before the target date.”

But, the good news does not stop there. As a result of vigorous competition in the mobile services marketplace, those March 2022 target price points come with substantially more data.

The government’s objective was for Canadians to get a 4G plan for $37.50 with 2GB of data. Yet, a quick survey of carrier websites shows that today there are plans from various carriers for $37.50 (or lower) offering 30GB to 50GB, including some that include 5G speeds. That represents up to a 96% reduction in the price per GB compared to the March 2022 target. This does not include some expired Boxing Day promotions that offered even more data.

The $45 price point has a similar result:

Let’s be really clear. The promise of a 25% reduction in mobile prices promise was not only met, but carriers have exceeded the government’s expectations – by far.

But, you’d probably only know that by reading it here.

We will soon be entering a federal election cycle. The current government will have to defend its record on a host of issues, including telecom policy.

By perpetuating outdated and unfounded perceptions that Canadians pay “too much” for wireless services, the Government is painting its policy initiatives (and election promises) as failures, even though the facts say otherwise. When the previous government was in office, it cost over $80 for a plan with 2GB of mobile data. Today Canadians can get as much as 75GB for $45. This should be a good news story – the thrill of victory.

By failing to highlight these obvious truths, the government is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And, it is suffering the resultant agony.

What is the best approach for governments to be dealing with disinformation?

Before the holidays, I asked if more sophisticated content consumers would help Canada avoid the need to implement online harms restrictions? Can investment in improved digital literacy be effective?

An article in Financial Times by Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins argues that “education, not regulation, is the answer.”

As the digital realm’s challenges mount, calls for state-led intervention grow louder. Governments across the world, alarmed by the implications of unbridled platforms, are contemplating regulatory measures to curb the spread of disinformation. But while the intent might be noble, the journey towards state-mediated truth is rife with complexities.
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The potential for governmental over-reach is clear. While democratic nations might employ regulations with a genuine intent to combat falsehoods, the same tools could be weaponised by authoritarian regimes to suppress dissent, curtail freedoms and consolidate power. Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela could even use western states’ attempts at countering disinformation as a pretext to justify their own draconian censorship and control of the internet. In such contexts, the line between combating misinformation and controlling narratives becomes precariously thin. The risk? A digital space where genuine discourse is stifled under the guise of regulatory oversight.

He warns that government interventions could “inadvertently exacerbate the very problem they aim to solve.”

“If people perceive these interventions as mere tools to control narratives rather than genuine efforts to combat disinformation, public trust could erode further.”

How do we combat misinformation without impeding digital freedoms? Education is the key.

In short, combat misinformation with good information and training how to distinguish between good and bad. Dealing with disinformation requires investment in education.

Addressing the root causes of disinformation requires a grassroots approach. Education stands at the forefront of this strategy. The idea is simple yet transformative: integrate open-source investigation and critical thinking into the curriculum. Equip the youth with the skills to navigate the labyrinthine digital realm, to question, analyse and verify before accepting or sharing information.
…
The potential of such a grassroots movement doesn’t stop at school gates. Envision a world where universities become hubs of open-source investigation, with national and international networks of students sharing methodologies, tools and insights. As these students move into their professional lives, they carry forward not just skills but a mindset — one that values evidence over hearsay and critical thinking over blind acceptance.

Higgins suggests media organisations could form partnerships with university-level, creating “pop-up newsrooms and investigative collectives.”

Such an approach is by no means easy. It will require a collaboration between policymakers, news media, technology leaders, educators, and academic institutions. Implicit is a greater degree of difficulty than we have typically seen emerging from Canada’s digital policy framework. But there is a certain degree of urgency associated with getting started.

In late December, Statistics Canada reported that nearly half of all Canadians found it more difficult to distinguish between true and false information than it was three years earlier.

Let me leave you with a final quote from Higgins: “In a world where any information, regardless of its veracity, is readily accessible, the traditional educational paradigm could be upended. Historical revisionism, fuelled by falsehoods, could reshape collective memories. How does one teach critical thinking in an environment where facts are fluid?”

What is on the agenda for the year ahead?

As we gear back up after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, it is somewhat customary to look ahead to the coming year.

Here is what tops my list:

• Driving universal adoption
• Online harms
• Regulatory overreach
• Mandated wholesale access
• Impacts of investment on coverage and resilience
• Digital literacy

I published my 2023 reflections in mid-December and indicated that the issue of driving increased adoption would need to be a carry-over to the year ahead. In my agenda for 2023, I wrote “there is a big difference between having universal access to broadband, and attaining universal adoption of that service.”

A number of reports indicate that affordability is not the primary barrier inhibiting broadband adoption. We saw that most recently in Ofcom’s Online Nation report. The UK report matches Canadian data showing just a quarter of those without a home connection cite the cost of service as the main reason. Across the country (including the far north), service providers have targeted programs to address affordability for disadvantaged households.

Still, we continue to have issues with people appreciating the utility of a broadband connection. I sometimes wonder if the social research is sufficiently adept at assessing whether “I don’t have a need for broadband” is a euphemism for “I have other priorities for my limited income”. If a parent is having to make difficult choices about buying name-brand versus no-name macaroni and cheese to feed the family dinner, then maybe a connected computer just isn’t a priority. As various levels of government continue to fund improved broadband access, I believe that more needs to be done to understand the factors that are inhibiting adoption, and then develop actions to relax each of those inhibitions.

Many of my 2024 agenda items have overlap with others. For example, to what extent have concerns about online safety and cyber security hindered adoption of broadband among those who are not yet connected?

Online harms will be on the agenda for the coming year. Misinformation, disinformation, and hate are significant online challenges. However, in a democratic society, what is the appropriate approach to address harmful forms of expression? As I wrote last year, the government is exploring new legislation but I am not convinced that this is the appropriate approach.

Will regulatory overreach be overruled by the courts or by changes in government policy? The CRTC is planning substantial organizational growth (30%) to deal with the Online News Act and the Online Streaming Act. Before the holidays, there was an interesting article from the US Chamber of Commerce, “How the FCC’s Regulatory Overreach Impedes Internet for All”.

We have seen how some of the CRTC’s determinations on mandated wholesale access can lead to reduced competition by stifling investment. How does that impact coverage for broadband, advanced wireless services, and investment in increased network resilience?

Improved digital literacy and education seems to be a common theme across many of the items on this year’s agenda. Can improved digital education help reduce vulnerability to certain forms of cyber attacks?

It is shaping up to be a busy year. Hopefully, I’ll be more successful checking these items off my list than some of my personal New Year’s resolutions.

What else do you have on your telecom policy plan for 2024?

Which of my blog posts were the Top 5 in 2023, the ones that attracted the most attention?

Looking at the analytics, these 5 articles had the most individual page views:

1. “Incubating innovation” [November 22, 2022]
2. “3800 MHz auction preview” [May 25, 2023]
3. “The economics of broadband revisited” [March 28, 2023]
4. “Dealing with online harms” [January 24, 2023]
5. “#CHPC reviews government funding of antisemitism” [February 16, 2023]

Honourable mentions go to:

• “Canada’s future depends on connectivity” [August 15, 2020]
• “Stinky fish” [May 11, 2023]

Fascinating to see that one of my posts from 2020 continues to attract so much interest from so many readers.

Which posts resonated the most with you? I posted my year-end wrap-up just last week, so it hasn’t had a chance to crack the Top 5… yet!

Thank you for following me here on this blog and on Twitter, and thank you for engaging online and by phone over the past year.

Click here to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, with its digest of the previous week’s blog posts.

I hope the coming holiday period provides an opportunity to connect with your family and friends. Let me reiterate my very best wishes for health, happiness and peace in the year ahead.

With a certain degree of poetic license, I am continuing to use lyrics from Joni Mitchell’s Circle Game as the title of my year-end wrap-up. Add 50 to the title to get a more realistic picture of where I am at.

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him take your time it won’t be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down

No. I am not ready to slow those circles down. There still seems to be so much to get done.

This past year has been somewhat challenging, so in many ways I will be happy to turn the page in the calendar. Aside: Will my grandkids understand that metaphor? Our family is particularly grateful for the miracles enabled and delivered to us over the past year thanks to pharmaceutical and medical research. At the same time, we are deeply pained by horrors of the terrorist attack of October 7, and the global rise of overt antisemitism.

I have family in the Middle East. It is disturbing to see the number of people who seem uninformed, or misinformed about what triggered the war. And, that provides an appropriate segue to one of the main themes of this year-end post.

Improved access to quality information is the presumptive raison d’être for Canada’s Online News Act, Bill C-18. While I understand the motivation behind the legislation, as I have written, its implementation was badly fumbled.

Unfortunately, I am concerned that this is another case of government focus on the supply side without consideration of factors impacting demand. With all the best funding in the world to create better news, are we doing enough work to ensure there is a market to consume that news? Just as I have frequently complained about our work on broadband, we seem to be better at stimulating supply, and rely upon a Field of Dreams hope for the demand side. What if you build it and they don’t come? There are a number of ways to improve funding for news, but how does that help deliver quality information to a generation who don’t watch linear TV, and don’t pick up a newspaper, or rely upon news websites?

What do we do if we provide funding to create high quality local and national newsrooms, but a generation of consumers rely on 30-second high-energy video clips where adherence to facts isn’t valued as highly as the entertainment quality by the search algorithms?

Will digital literacy training in elementary and secondary schools include teaching how to differentiate between information, misinformation, and disinformation? How can we create more sophisticated consumers of high quality content?

Dealing with supply side issues is relatively easy. In most cases, if you throw enough money at the problem, it gets solved, whether it is building broadband, funding newsrooms, creating quality Canadian media content. Dealing with the demand side is much more challenging. What do we do when Canada’s universal broadband objectives are met, but more than a million people remain off-line? The issue of driving increased adoption will need to be a carry-over from my 2023 agenda into next year.

Being well informed is an important prerequisite for responsible leaders. Helping you stay informed is one of the reasons I added 98 blog posts to “Telecom Trends” over the course of 2023, continuing to write around 2 posts per week. There are more than 3260 posts in the archives (fully searchable). In 2023, I migrated my weekly newsletter to a new platform. You can subscribe here.

As I have said in the past, it is my objective for this blog to be a source of quality information on Canadian telecom policy, with occasional gastronomical diversions. In each case, I am trying to share elements of my expertise accumulated over decades.

I look forward to engaging with you in the New Year, readying for yet another spring and summer.

I wish you and your families a happy, healthy, safe and peaceful holiday season.