In the midst of an election, one might ask to what end should our government continue to invest time and effort in development of telecom policy?

What is left to deal with?

At one time, there were a number of critical economic issues tied to Canada’s telecom industry: the sector represented the core of Canada’s industrial R&D; investment; the focus on introducing competition in the development of electronic infrastructure – wireline and wireless, narrowband and broadband; international competitiveness; e-commerce; telemedicine; distance learning; etc.

How have the priority of these policy factors been diminished?

With all of the changes at Nortel in recent days (and over the past few years), Canada continues to risk more jobs being lost to overseas competition. More than 3 years ago, then CEO Bill Owens recognized the threat being posed by the market entry of Chinese suppliers, ZTE and Huawei. Did Nortel and Canadian industrial policy respond appropriately?

In respect of access to broadband infrastructure, there continue to be a number of gaps, as I wrote on Monday: based on geography – the rural and urban digital divide; based on education; based on income; based on age. A policy to improve connectedness must address all of these factors. How boldly will our next government address these factors?

I sometimes wonder if too many people focus on artificial international rankings of connectivity, without considering that connectivity is only part of a pathway, not an end itself.

Connectivity is one of the factors that enables economic renewal – it does not create jobs by itself; connectivity enables strategies that contribute to a reduced carbon footprint – it does not improve greenhouse gas emissions by itself; connectivity enables programs for more cost effective delivery of education, health care and other government programs – but these programs require far more effort than deployment of connectivity.

What kind of focus will the next government place on delivery of Canada’s electronic future? How high will telecom policy rank within the priorities for the next Minister of Industry?

Just a quick shout out to Dimitris at the National Technical University of Athens, who has recently started a blog tracking next generation telecom activity in Europe.

Peter Nowak recently wrote an article about new broadband development in Finland on CBC Online.

In rural markets, customers are looking for access to basic broadband connectivity. In urban centres, there is the drive to increase speeds. What is the most effective way to stimulate broadband? How does government avoid distorting the commercial marketplace and resist the temptation to pick winners?

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next generation networks, Finland, Peter Nowak

One of the more enlightening parts of my recent road trip was the interaction with people from a part of the continent that is often forgotten. The drive from Chicago to Los Angeles goes through a whole lot of wide open space inhabited by people with different experiences which contribute to different perspectives.

There are a lot of people outside the major centres. Many Canadians think of ourselves as living in a more rural nation than our neighbours to the south. The reality is that both Canada and the US have about 1 in 5 residents living in rural areas.

Providing communications to these people is not only a technology challenge, but it also requires a different marketing approach. Back in June, the Statistics Canada Daily released some information about the digital divide.

A remarkable 96% of Canadians 16-24 years old reported using the internet in 2007, versus 29% of seniors (aged 65+). 84% of those with some post-secondary education went on-line, significantly more than the 58% of those with less education.

How well do we understand those differences? While we have spent some time looking at possible solutions for the rural / urban digital divide, election time policy makers should also look at the other major factors: age, education and income.

More tomorrow on next generation networks.

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Statistics Canada, digital divide

Convergence Consulting has released a forecast [Summary pdf ] for the Canadian mobile wireless market that predicts penetration rising from the current level of 64% to 96% in 2015.

Over the next 7 years, new entrants are expected to take 24% of the subscribers, which would seem to imply that the current carriers will continue to grow their customer base by about 12%. The report calls for Shaw, Quebecor and Globalive to each land 7%.

The report credits lower prices with accelerating industry subscriber growth rates to about 1.8 million per year (2010-2015) up from 1.45 million in 2007-2009. Twenty percent of Canadian households are expected to be “wireless only” by year-end 2015, nearly triple the 7.6% in that situation this year.

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wireless

I now have student mobile plans in Montreal and Los Angeles. Not theoretical analyst studies – real life accounts with bills being paid with real money.

I am not seeing spectacular bargains in the home of the brave and it certainly isn’t the land of the free!

Our Montreal student enjoys a plan that provides 200 peak minutes with unlimited evenings and weekends. Evenings start at 6pm. We have a message pack as well. All this, including system access fees, 911 fees, and all that jazz for the low, low monthly price of $30.

In LA, our student has 450 daytime minutes and virtually unlimited (5000 minutes) nights and weekends, but nights begin at 9pm. All the minutes are US nationwide. He gets 200 text messages, but the number applies to sending and receiving, not just outbound. He is paying $38 (thanks to a special 15% affinity discount associated with his university).

Where are the great deals south of the border?

The is some kvetching about wireless contracts [read the comments] at Michael Geist’s blog and at Wireless North. There are already lots of choices in the marketplace with and without contracts; with and without extra fees. More choice is on its way with a number of new entrants.

Is regulation of a competitive market really an appropriate solution?

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wireless