Greg O’Brien at CARTT wrote a tough commentary last week [no paywall required here] on the inevitable impending failure in meeting the August 31, 2011 deadline for ending analog TV over-the-air broadcasting. Last year, the CRTC relaxed the rules, only requiring that broadcasters in markets bigger than 300,000 people as well as the provincial and territorial capitals have to be digital by August 31st 2011.

The broadcasters are almost certainly going to miss that timetable as well.

The spectrum that will be freed up by the digital TV transition has characteristics that are especially valuable for mobile services, including broadband services. The 700 MHz band, which is mentioned in Industry Canada’s workplan for the current fiscal year, was sold in the US in 2008 for about $20B (the US cleared analog TV broadcasting a year ago).

According to Greg’s commentary, Industry Canada is saying that Heritage Minister Moore is prime for this file – responsibility for the Broadcast Act generally falls to that Ministry. But the re-purposing of the spectrum and the auction will be under Industry Canada. The CRTC adds a third set of hands in the national capital region to stir the pot.

If the spectrum availability isn’t uniform because of delays in broadcasters vacating the band, what will be the impact on the rollout of national services? Will this impact the level of interest from mobile service providers? Will Industry Canada wait for new foreign ownership rules to be in place before auctioning off what has been called “beachfront” spectrum because of its especially attractive characteristics?

Greg O’Brien is moderating the annual Regulatory Blockbuster at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, on the morning of June 8. These issues, and more, will be certain to be part of the fireworks. The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit opens in just 9 weeks.

Prices are going up in May. Have you registered yet?

A Canadian Press story is on the wires talking about an upcoming consultation for Canada’s digital economy. I thought it was telling that the story concluded talking about rural connectivity. A story in the weekend Globe and Mail also talks about the digital divide, looking at connectivity.

As people turn their minds toward Canada’s version of the FCC’s 100M² vision for the United States [100 million homes connected to 100Mbps internet], I was wondering if too many people are too narrowly focussed on plumbing, rather than stepping back to look at the bigger picture. The CP story talks about the federal consultation being broadly focussed – with participation from federal departments.

Clement will be joined by Heritage Minister James Moore for a look at improving digital content, and by Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, who will examine how well Canadians are trained at using and creating new technologies.

This kind of broad perspective is needed. I often find that too many people are confusing specific access technology solutions with requirements. I have written before about how frequently people define their needs in terms of a familiar solution, but that often results in constraints on imagination in developing more creative proposals.

If you go to a hardware store looking for nails, you are never going to consider more advanced, more elegant, perhaps stronger ways to put two pieces of wood together. Nails are only one particular technology that may not always be the best solution.

If we define our broadband needs in terms of a specific technology, we will fail to consider all of the more creative solutions that could possibly be a better fit. So, when people say that we need one particular technology to solve the broadband challenges, we need to find better systems engineers who can more appropriately define the problem in terms of the real requirements.

As Canada approaches its 150th year in 2017, I would like to see a grander vision than just plumbing – especially a focus on a specific broadband access technology. The United States didn’t put people on the moon by saying that it needed to design a Saturn V rocket. That is why we need a broader digital vision – the kind we can hope will emerge from the upcoming consultation. If we think that Canada’s role in the digital economy will be set by just installing plumbing, then we will have nothing more than a high speed outhouse, competing against more broadly based digital strategies.

The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit opens in two months and it will feature panels looking at International Perspectives on ICT Strategies and progress on the development of Canada’s National Digital Strategy.

Have you registered yet?

The second phase of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ crowd source website, Canada’s Digital Compass is now looking for input on Education: How could Canada foster the world’s strongest creative, engineering and business talent?

According to the website, the solutions they are looking for this week  include training and skills development programs and initiatives to create the expertise needed to lead in a new economy and great next generation leaders. A couple of us have submitted ideas for changes to our universities, looking at models in the US that have built world leading programs.

Next week is a call for input on Media Production: What new business models and approaches to content and distribution put Canada at the forefront? That will be followed by a call for comments on Connectivity: What initiatives in infrastructure, networks and access could position Canada to lead a digital economy? And the final call deals with Policy Development: How could Canada foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship?

Log-in. Join the discussion.

On Tuesday, June 8, The Canadian Telecom Summit will feature a panel looking at International Perspectives on ICT Strategies, moderated by Jerry Brown of PwC, one of the panelists for the Digital Compass crowdsourcing project. Another panel that afternoon will discuss progress on the development of Canada’s National Digital strategy.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is sponsoring the Business Centre at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, providing meeting space and business services for delegates at the event, which has become the place where Canada’s ICT industry meets each year.

Have you registered yet?

I will not be posting for the next couple days. I’m going to be taking some time off with family for Passover. Chag sameach.

In the meantime, why don’t you review the agenda for The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, which is pretty close to being complete. The event, gathering the leading influencers of Canada’s communications and information technology sector, takes place in just 10 weeks: June 7-9. Look at the program on-line or download the 6-page pdf brochure.

Have you registered yet?

In comments to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage looking at Canada and the New Media, Michael Geist recycled a sound bite about satellite broadband that he must have thought was clever when he first used it as part of his criticism of our report on the state of broadband in Canada (Lagging or Leading).

When asked to comment in response to the issue of the digital divide, Professor Geist seemed to imply that rural Canadians are better off with no broadband than wireless or satellite based service.

I don’t think that satellite works either. I think that anyone who thinks that satellite is an effective alternative should be required to use it. And then we’d see just how effective it is as an alternative.

It came across as cute and helped him get a laugh from some members of the committee. But his testimony was an insult to millions of Canadians who live beyond the footprint of cable, DSL and fibre networks.

More than a million Canadians have two choices – either glacial dial up, or true high-speed satellite-based broadband. Satellite-based broadband is already delivering always-on megabit service and investments are in place for high throughput next generation satellites to be launched next year.

There is no other technology that can provide a broadband experience to virtually every home in Canada – and do it today.

In relation to Professor Geist’s comment, there are millions of Canadians who are required to use satellite, use dial-up or wait decades for a wireline alternative. The hundreds of thousands of Canadians who already rely on satellite service have determined that satellite is an effective alternative.