With the oral hearings approaching for the CRTC’s re-examination of wholesale high-speed internet access, alternate internet service providers have still been unable to offer matching speeds to their clients in the absence of an interim tariff until today. The CRTC issued Telecom Order 2011-377 which sets an interim rate based on a number of compromises.

The Commission recognizes the importance of providing competitors with access to higher-speed and increased POI aggregation services as soon as possible.

After all, it is two years since the CRTC began its consultation process (Telecom Notice of Consultation 2009-261).

In the interests of expedience, allowing non-facilities based competitors to begin to offer advanced internet access arrangements, the CRTC instituted interim rates that provide a 35% discount off residential rates and 15% off business rates.

There is no usage-sensitive component to the interim wholesale rates, but the CRTC was quite explicit on this point:

No inferences of any kind should be drawn from the fact that this interim tariff, given its short and transitory nature, contains no separate usage component.

In addition, the CRTC may adjust the rates retroactively, depending on the outcome of the final proceeding.

The new wholesale arrangements will be described in tariff pages to be issued by June 23 (next week). The implementation date is 30 days from today – in the middle of the oral hearings for TNC 2011-77.

Thanks to CPAC, 8 sessions from The 2011 Canadian Telecom Summit are available for viewing. Here is a summary of the CPAC coverage:

• Rogers Communications chief Rob Bruce conference opening keynote (May 31, 8:45 am)
• Industry Minister Christian Paradis keynote (May 31, 2:00 pm)
• The Wireless Broadband Panel (May 31, 2:15 pm)
• CWTA chief Bernard Lord keynote (May 31, 4:30 pm)
• Videotron chief Robert Depatie keynote (June 1, 9:30 am)
• A conversation with CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein (June 1, 10:00 am)
• The Regulatory Blockbuster (June 1, 11:00 am)
• The Privacy / Security Panel (June 1, 2:15 pm)

The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit will celebrate 20 years of Canadian telecommunications competition. It will take place from June 4-6, 2012.

A reliance on market forces will continue to figure prominently in Canada’s digital policy, if the government follows the direction given to it by Conservative Party of Canada members. Michael Geist observed that the Conservatives passed a broadband policy statement at their recent Ottawa convention:

The Conservative Party recognizes the vital importance of internet connectivity to full Canadian participation in global economic, social, and cultural communities. The government should create an environment that encourages private sector investment to increase broadband infrastructure, especially in rural and remote areas of Canada.

It is worth looking at resolutions that the party did not approve. Resolution C-063 contained a number of provisions that failed to get to the plenary floor:

We believe in the need for a strong Internet link to Canada together in the 21st Century, as railroads did in the 19th Century and aviation did in the 20th. Canada must claim a leading position in an increasingly networked world.

The Conservative Party will:

1. Support internet broadband initiatives, to bring universal access to all Canadians, especially in rural and Northern communities
2. Support an open and accessible internet with appropriate safeguards and enforcement mechanisms against illegal activities
3. Support network neutrality, giving each user a fair share of bandwidth to use in communicating with any other user with any protocol.
4. We support an innovative and competitive market place while promoting private sector infrastructure investment.
5. We support initiatives promoting telepresence and telecommuting to overcome geographical barriers.

There was also a resolution supporting the alternate ISP and telecom service providers that didn’t make it past the first gate. Resolution C-065 tried to frame continued regulated access to infrastructure by alternate providers in terms of emergency responsiveness and affordability:

The CPC affirms the importance of telecommunications to Canadians, supports the growth of telecom services, and supports a competitive environment that makes those services affordable and innovative. Regulation must continue to enforce high levels of emergency response, ensure reasonable pricing for basic phone services, and enforce competitive access to all telecommunications infrastructure that is not economically replaceable.

The convention floor chose to continue to have market forces shape Canada’s telecommunications industry development, with the government fostering an climate that encourages investment by the private sector. It is just as interesting to see what policies were not acceptable.

Nothing is quite like being at The Canadian Telecom Summit, having the opportunity to interact with the people who have the greatest impact on the development of our information and communications networks, services and technologies.

But, thanks to CPAC, at least now you can see some of the sessions that were part of this year’s event.

• My interview / discussion of issues with CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein
• Videotron chief Robert Depatie keynote
• Rogers Communications chief Rob Bruce keynote
• CWTA chief Bernard Lord keynote
• Privacy / Security Panel
• Wireless Broadband Panel

CPAC expects to have the Regulatory Blockbuster and the keynote address by Industry Minister Paradis available in the next few days. [Update: Industry Minister Christian Paradis keynote is now available. And now, the Regulatory Blockbuster is also available?]

The 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit will celebrate 20 years of Canadian telecommunications competition. It will take place from June 4-6, 2012.

The following are excerpts from the Opening Remarks delivered by Michael Sone and Mark Goldberg at The 2011 Canadian Telecom Summit last week.

Each year, we observe that all of us continue to use various forms of communications more than ever and each year we continue to increase our raw consumption of bits, of radio spectrum. This continues to be the trend and it continues to raise substantive policy issues as service providers try to stay ahead of the demand. How do we create the right environment to incent investment? How do we ensure that spectrum is made available in a manner that creates the appropriate balance between the various stakeholders’ interests.

Carriers are reporting more Canadians subscribing to combined voice and data plans for their smartphones; and over the past year, we have seen new facilities-based service providers offering services using their multi-billion dollar investments in spectrum and network equipment, despite the challenging economic environment.

We have also seen Netflix and others offer competitive alternatives to consumers outside of the traditional media framework, challenging policy and funding formulae.

The election disrupted the release of a national digital strategy. Too many people have focused too much attention on quick fixes, without sufficient examination of the painful structural changes that are needed to drive our digital economic future. As speakers may discuss over the next few days, as Canada develops our National Strategy for the Digital Economy, we will need to examine options to look beyond the urban/rural divide – especially as we recognize that broadband access has become virtually universal, thanks to wireless and satellite. Last week’s release by Statistics Canada of the Canadian Internet Use Survey has important data to inform those responsible for Canada’s digital strategy.

It is time to look beyond supply and understand that we need to address factors that impact demand, including programs that target affordability, and digital literacy.

We need to ensure that every household has a computer – starting with households that have school aged children. Although half of Canada’s lowest income households are still without internet access, it was noteworthy that 14 out of 15 households with children under 18 have an internet connection.

But let’s face it, as a country, we need to set a national objective: Every school aged child in Canada should have access to a connected home computer. We need to drive adoption of ICTs in business and in all dealings with government, especially in improving the quality and efficiency of health care delivery.

It has been too easy to look at the supply side of telecommunications and point fingers at carriers and ISPs. It is time to turn the government’s attention toward demand.