The CRTC is in the midst of a one week recess in its New Media hearings, respecting the school break in the province of Quebec.

In many ways, this break also serves to separate the content creators, who were the main actors in the first weeks of the hearing, from the carriers who will be appearing next week.

This polarization helps to focus the discussion from those who seek funding to enhance Canada’s new media presence and the ISPs and wireless service providers who are being asked by some to contribute to a new media development fund because they carry new media content.

If the CRTC does decide that delivery of new media content is a form of broadcasting and decides to create a fund, the reality is that shareholders of ISPs and wireless carriers will not pay for it. You and I will see our rates increase. There can be little doubt that this will increase internet and wireless rates with a discrete line on the bill saying CRTC New Media Fee.

ACTRA says that a majority of Canadian support rates going up. Actually, here is how they said it:

We also believe the Canadian public favours such a levy. In a Harris-Decima Poll we commissioned last year, we found that 69% of Canadians believe that ISPs should be required to help fund the production of Canadian digital media content. 73% agree that WSPs should be required to contribute.

I’ll bet if you asked Canadians if they support someone else paying for to improve snow clearing, they would agree in those kind of numbers as well. ACTRA didn’t show how many Canadians agree that they want their own internet and wireless bills to go up. In the average connected household (say, one internet connection and 2-4 cell phones) we could be looking at at increases of $5 per month or more.

Where are the interventions from consumer advocates who claim rates are already too high? I don’t want to pay more. Anyone out there want higher rates for internet and mobile phone service? Canada’s arts community thinks 7 in 10 Canadians do.

Maybe it was the comedians among their members.

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new media, ACTRA

On Monday, I wrote of Cybersurf signing a letter of intent to sell its business, and ranting about delays by the CRTC in resolving regulatory complaint issues.

Well, yesterday the CRTC ruled in favour of Cybersurf’s application that I described in mid-January. At the time, I suggested

Patience Cybersurf. If you try sometime, well you just might find, you get what you need.

Sure enough, the CRTC found in favour of Cybersurf and it told Bell and TELUS to get on with filing their tariffs in 10 days. Based on Cybersurf’s announcement earlier this week, the Decision may be too late to help them, but the Decision, an affirmation of the CRTC’s original decision, should provide a stimulus for DSL resellers to accelerate their business plans through enhanced offerings.

Will smaller ISPs step up and increase their presence in the consumer market?

The program for The Canadian Telecom Summit is continuing to develop and as of the end of the early bird registration period this weekend, we are encouraged by the positive response of the industry despite these challenging economic times.

Once again, there are lots of issues that should lead to boisterous discussion, including the issue of traffic management by Canada’s leading ISPs. That discussion, only a few weeks before the CRTC holds its own public hearings into the issue, will feature Chris Libertelli of Skype, Mike Lee from Rogers and Dave Caputo of Sandvine.

The wireless industry is producing the brightest lights shining optimism onto an otherwise bleak Canadian economy.

We have just confirmed that Mike Lazaridis, President and co-CEO of Research in Motion, will deliver one of the keynote addresses to the delegates attending the conference.

This year’s Canadian Telecom Summit will introduce a number of the new faces, including leadership from Public Mobile (Alek Krstajic) and Globalive (Tony Lacavera and Ken Campbell) and we will also hear from Bernard Lord, the new head of Canada’s wireless industry association.

The full conference brochure can be downloaded here [ pdf, 284 KB].

Global communications industry leaders are coming to Toronto from June 15-17 to join Canada’s most important annual gathering. Have you registered yet?

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Canadian Telecom Summit

The latest edition of Measuring the Information Society, produced by the International Telecommunications Union, features a new ITU ICT Development Index.

The Index looks at the level of accessibility and use of Information and Communications Technologies in more than 150 countries and compares 2002 and 2007 results.

The Report is hefty: a 108 page book [ pdf, 1.53 MB] with lots of interesting information.

Among results that may surprise some observers, Canada is in the top 20 countries for mobile service affordability, and Canada ranks 2nd (to the US) in terms of broadband affordability.

I suspect we will have follow-up analysis and commentary over the coming days.

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ITU

About 6 weeks ago, I wrote about Cybersurf winning an application in front of the CRTC, only to be stymied in getting the ILECs to follow through.

That win follows a lengthy period of billing disputes that Cybersurf has been engaged in with Bell. Time appears to have run out and Cybersurf has signed a letter of intent to sell its core business, including its user base and assets related to its high speed, long distance and VoIP services in Canada. Cybersurf’s president and CEO, Paul Mercia, didn’t mince words in the official press release:

This is primarily due to the stress the company has had to endure as a result of the prolonged and on-going billing dispute with Bell Canada… There’s no telling at this rate how much longer it will go on, and the Company has mounting legal costs and demands on its resources. Because of Bell’s overbilling and claim for overstated receivables, Cybersurf had accrued millions of dollars in payables and liabilities and was not able to secure financing when it was available; and now even with the Company’s positive financial outlook the current economic climate and adverse market conditions have made it impossible for Cybersurf to raise financing on equitable terms.

This kind of language reads as though it is setting up a case for future action. Cybersurf also took aim at the CRTC, saying that Commission processes are taking too long.

The company is not going away quietly. I doubt that this is the last we will hear from them.