Last week, Rogers announced the launch of its Chatr brand, aimed at the lower price end of the market.

Yesterday, there were two announcements from TELUS that point to the other end of the spectrum:

• Dual Cell mobile data to offer speeds of up to 42Mbps; and
• a Content Delivery Network partnership agreement with Edgecast.

These announcements seem to point to TELUS increasing the state of competition at the high end of the telecommunications market, with advanced services for mobile and internet hosting.

As I mentioned to Network World, when asked to comment on the Dual Cell announcement:

increasing [market] share doesn’t always mean dropping your prices; investment may allow you to increase your average revenue per user

A healthy competitive marketplace can be characterized by vibrant competition among various service providers, including investment in innovative new products and technologies. It is more than just price.

Yesterday, the CRTC published its 2010 Communications Monitoring Report [pdf 7MB], the latest compendium of the state of the industry, as it stood at the end of the year 2009.

In an interview, I observed to Network World Canada that the report shows that 75% of Canadians now enjoy residential internet service; two thirds of Canadians subscribe to broadband. But the CRTC’s report also shows that 95% of Canadians have access to at least one terrestrial broadband service supplier; 96% have access to a mobile broadband service and virtually everyone can access broadband when satellite-based service is included.

Yet one in three Canadians has not signed up for broadband.

Why?

What’s holding them back? That to me is a far more important question for the government and policy makers than trying to figure out how to reach the three or four per cent that don’t have a wireline broadband choice.

Why aren’t we focusing on those folks?

I continued by wondering if there are too many households that don’t have computers. I suggested that perhaps there should be a program to encourage computer ownership, especially where there are school-aged children in the household.

That’s a digital divide that isn’t a rural and remote problem..

For almost a full month, I have been operating without a wireline internet connection, and the sky hasn’t fallen.

My son had 3 graduate student friends staying with us and you can bet that they were exercising the satellite broadband that has been powering our main internet connection.

The other connection that we have used has been mobile internet, using a USB stick.

It is somewhat strange that the CRTC has asked for comments from people as to whether wireless internet is a substitute for wireline – or for that matter, why is the CRTC asking if mobile telephony is a substitute, when its own communications industry monitoring report found that 8% of households were wireless only as of a year and a half ago.

What, then, is the purpose of the CRTC asking for consumers to answer these questions:

3. Do you think that cellphone service can be a substitute for traditional home phone landline service? Explain why or why not.

4. Do you think that wireless services (e.g. Wi-Fi, 3G networks or satellite) can be substitutes for landline services to connect to the Internet? Explain why or why not.

The CRTC’s public consultation to examine the next generation of basic service has gone even more public. Last week, I wrote about the proceeding in “Basic access at what cost.” The CRTC has now created a special website, complete with an introductory video, to try to solicit more input from the general public.

Over 10 years ago, the CRTC set an objective for telecommunications companies to provide Canadians in all regions with access to high-quality, reliable, and affordable basic telephone services. Today, over 99% of Canadians have basic telephone service that includes the following:

individual line local Touch‑Tone telephone service;

access to low-speed Internet at local rates;

access to the long distance network and to operator/directory assistance services;

enhanced calling features, including access to emergency services, voice message relay service, and privacy protection features; and

access to a copy of the current local telephone directory.

1. What services should be included as part of your basic telephone services today?

2. In the context of this objective, what role, if any, should the CRTC play in ensuring that all Canadians have access to broadband Internet service?

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The wireless industry has been growing steadily for many years and today all Canadians have access to wireless services. Three Canadians out of four have a cellphone and an increasing number of Canadian households are wireless-only. Also, more and more people are connecting to the Internet using wireless services (e.g. Wi-Fi, 3G networks or satellite).

3. Do you think that cellphone service can be a substitute for traditional home phone landline service? Explain why or why not.

4. Do you think that wireless services (e.g. Wi-Fi, 3G networks or satellite) can be substitutes for landline services to connect to the Internet? Explain why or why not.

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Broadband Internet access is increasingly being used for a variety of activities, for example education, health care, business, and entertainment, to name just a few.

5. For what activities do you use or expect to use your Internet service?

The attempt to have a better outreach to the public is admirable, but a couple of the questions appear to be asking the public to challenge the CRTC’s long standing policy of technical neutrality. Specifically, the third and fourth questions may indicate that the CRTC is no closer to approving Bell Canada’s deferral account proposal; having just asked the public to comment on whether wireless services can be substitutes for wireline, it would now appear to be inappropriate for the CRTC to rule on Bell’s deferral account proposal until after this consultation is concluded. As a result, the launch of broadband service for many communities has just suffered yet another set-back.

Will the website succeed in soliciting greater public participation? The irony, of course, is that the CRTC is using an internet website to get input from people on whether broadband internet access should become part of the basic service objective, among other questions. The challenge will be to understand that responses will naturally be skewed, reflecting the bias of people who already have access to broadband service.

Over the past couple weeks, there has been a continual flow of filings for the CRTC’s Telecom Notice of Consultation 2010-43: Proceeding to review access to basic telecommunication services and other matters.

So an article in the Washington Post entitled “Reforms urged in federal funding for phone lines” seemed timely.

Americans are turning away from home phone lines and toward mobile, but a federal program continues to pour $8 billion a year into phone service for rural homes and businesses. Last year in Chelan, Wash., for instance, the fund paid an average of $17,763 each for 17 residents to get phone lines.

The US challenge is different from Canada in some respects. We don’t have to deal with political gaming and arbitrage caused in part by state and federal regulation of telecom service. But there are some issues raised in the Post article that should make us pause and reflect as well.

How do we avoid picking winners and losers among service providers and technologies? How do we avoid absurd levels of subsidies in the name of universal accessibility?