Day 2 of The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit included a new approach to the CRTC’s involvement in the event. This year, two leaders from the Commission participated. I had a chance to interview Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein in a 45 minute ‘fireside chat’ format in front of the audience, in a format that we have not tried before. [CPAC was on hand to record the session, and I will let you know when we expect it to be aired.]

The regulatory blockbuster once again generated the buzz we have come to expect from 6 of Canada’s most passionate advocates for telecom policy, in a session moderated by Greg O’Brien of Cartt.ca. That session was also recorded by CPAC, as was the panel looking at Building Digital Canada moderated by Industry Canada’s Helen McDonald, which included the CRTC’s vice-chair for telecom, Len Katz.

Lots of article covering the day’s activities are in the media, ranging from the Globe’s interviews with keynoters Pierre Blouin and Robert Depatie and coverage of the CRTC Chair, unplugged, and the Post coverage of our ‘keynote discussion’. The major wires and trade press also have coverage of the various sessions.

Today is the conference close, with most of the day focussed on hearing from the wireline and wireless service providers.

Pretty strong coverage in the media from the first day at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit.

Iain Marlow from the Globe may win the most prolific writing award. He has stories here, here and here. The last link includes links to a number of streaming media pieces from his interview with Rogers.

Emily Mathieu from the Star wrote a story here.

Jamie Sturgeon at the National Post has a story here and here.

Christine Persaud from Marketnews has an article here and here.

And David Friend from Canadian Press filed this story, including some great closing quotes.

I will be interviewing CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein at 10am. It is one of 3 sessions scheduled to be recorded by CPAC for replay later this week.

If you aren’t at the event, you can follow me on Twitter @Mark_Goldberg or follow keyword #cts10. There is a special telecom supplement scheduled for today’s Globe and Mail.

It is showtime for The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit. We are now at the TCC. If you aren’t at the event, you can follow me on Twitter @Mark_Goldberg or follow keyword #cts10.

Watch for extensive coverage in the media – we have a record number of press pre-registered. There is a special telecom supplement scheduled for Tuesday’s Globe and Mail.

As I prepare to move out to The Toronto Congress Centre for The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, I thought I might share a few thoughts on some areas that could be the source of discussion in the plenary halls, the cafe, over cocktails and in corners and alcoves next week.

The CRTC’s hearings into mandated access to wholesale hispeed access services have been taking place this past week and the webcast has had some entertaining moments, not the least of which was the rebuttal testimony of “bite me.” I can’t wait to see how the expletive shows up in the transcripts. The tone certainly sets the stage for some interesting dynamics at next Tuesday morning’s Regulatory Blockbuster at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit.

The Financial Post announced that the 2010 edition of its Junk Science Rubber Duck award will begin in a couple weeks. I wonder if some of the broadband studies mentioned in the hearings will merit a mention in the contest.

Along those lines, let me commend to you a comment that appears on my Monday posting. The comment observes that in the Ookla Net Index Study, Latvia, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria are all shown with top 10 rankings in broadband speeds. My reader observes:

If Moldova is not the poorest country in Europe, it comes pretty close. And Romania and Bulgaria are at the bottom of the EU.

So we can tentatively conclude two things from the study. First, the poorer you are, the better your broadband connections are likely to be. Perhaps Canada can embark on a crash program of income reduction, as part of its digital strategy.

Second, high speed broadband seems to do nothing for economic growth, at least in the short run.

We’ll be taking a more serious look at information and communication technology indicators at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit. I don’t expect to have time to write, but I’ll try to keep you informed. Follow me on Twitter @Mark_Goldberg and we’ll be using #cts10. Watch for extensive coverage in the media. Reporters from all the major trade and general press will be on hand and there is a special telecom supplement scheduled for Tuesday’s Globe and Mail.

The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, running from June 7-9, is our 9th annual gathering of the leadership of the communications industry, gathering in Toronto for 3 days of what we like to call “high-octane” inter-exchange of ideas.

The conference opens on Monday morning with an address by Industry Minister Tony Clement.

Tomorrow, we start to move into the Toronto Congress Centre and begin the transformation of their halls into the focal point for the communications and information technology industries. Once a year, it helps to get out from behind the computer screens and meet people in non-virtual reality.

I hope to see you there.

Have you registered yet?