Verizon’s policy blog had an entry last week that I think is as relevant in Canada as it is for Verizon’s US readers. Kathy Grillo writes:

We all share the same ultimate objective: to ensure that broadband helps all Americans reach their full potential, while addressing important social challenges, providing the foundation for job creation and economic growth and, of course, giving consumers the opportunity to choose their own Internet experience.

The challenge is not in reaching a consensus on the objective; it is a question of how we get there.

Sound familiar?

Verizon sets out five elements to stimulate broadband deployment and increase consumer choice:

1. encourage demand by increasing computer ownership, computer skills, digital literacy, and online education;
2. incent new uses of the Internet that serve societal needs, such as energy savings, improved education, public safety and better and less expensive healthcare;
3. encourage continued innovation and investment to increase the options in networks, services, devices and applications;
4. recognize and encourage wireless broadband platforms as important in reaching unserved and rural areas through more efficient tower-siting processes and the identification of additional spectrum;
5. government intervention must be technology-neutral and must put choice in the hands of consumers, rather than subsidizing providers directly, targeted precisely to the needed effort.

The end-user direct subsidy approach is one that I have written about over the past few years, including our opening remarks at The 2008 Canadian Telecom Summit, nearly two years ago.

How will Canada approach extensions to the evolution of our digital strategy? Will tomorrow’s Throne speech provide guidance? If there are no new initiatives to be funded, as suggested by John Ivison of the National Post, how will the government provide appropriate incentives for the private sector to carry the torch?

On Friday, I wrote a little piece about a novelty 3G data stick developed by Huawei to capitalize on World Cup fever later this year. Let’s face it, now that Canadian businesses have gotten used to reduced productivity due to Olympic events being a distraction for the past two weeks, we have about 100 days until FIFA fills our screens and big screen TVs appear in the food courts of the office towers starting June 11.

From the Vancouver Olympics, we know that communications technologies have changed the way major events are being experienced by people around the world. We are watching and replaying the events we want to see wherever we happen to be, driving far more data across wireline and wireless networks.

So that brings us to the next big global sporting event, which will be the World Cup in June.

It happens that The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit is also taking place in June – our event runs from June 7-9, finished in time to let everyone get back to work at watching the action on-line and on our mobile devices. Huawei will again be returning with a senior executive delivering a keynote address. Wen Tong, based in Ottawa, is Global CTO for Huawei Wireless and he is speaking on Monday, June 7.

Huawei Technologies has quickly become the world’s second largest telecom-equipment provider and Canada represents an important beach head for its North American market presence. Huawei was recently named the fifth most innovative company in the world for 2010, behind only Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google. It is an interesting list – I am interested in your comments.

Apparently, Huawei has come up with a soccer ball shaped 3G data stick in anticipation of demand driven by the World Cup later this year.

Would there have been demand for a hockey puck shaped dongle painted in Vancouver Olympic colours?

Wen Tong, Global CTO for Huawei Wireless will be a keynote speaker at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit in June.

 Early bird pricing ends Sunday.

Have you registered yet?

The theme of The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit is New Economic Realities, New Approaches: The Communications Industry in Transition.

Tech Mahindra, one of the world’s largest telecom outsourcing firms, is one of the companies that has succeeded in bringing new approaches to global communications leaders . Their strategic outsourcing solutions have been widely used by BT and other carriers as well as equipment suppliers like Cisco, who have 1000 engineering positions in its first outsourced R&D centre outside North America.

Sanjay Kalra, the CEO of Tech Mahindra, will be among the global industry leaders who will be speaking at The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit.

New economic realities are driving the need to examine new approaches. How can Canadian service providers and suppliers respond to lower margins and faster product development cycles?

Just 2 business days left for Early Bird pricing for The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit. Registration fees increase March 1.

In recent days, I have focussed on some of the policy issues that will be discussed at the event, but there is so much more. In addition to keynote addresses from industry leaders, various panel sessions will look at such issues as:

• Intelligence on the Go (Developments in smart phones & mobile services),
• Access & Beyond (Next Generation Networks),
• Next Generation Business Models (Financial implications for content and carriage),
• Broadband Bundles (The Quadruple/Quintuple Play),
• The Battle for the Broadband Connected Home
• Billing and Operations Systems (Leveraging for Increasing Loyalty & Revenues),
• Mobile Commerce, and
• Advanced Wireless Services.

These are in addition to special sessions that will examine ICT strategies around the world and what it will take to build a Digital Canada.

Early bird rates expire this week. Have you registered yet?