Michael Binder has been named the interim head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

Something about telecom policy folks, Alberta, and energy commissions lately. It was just a few weeks ago that Willie Grieve from TELUS was named the head of the Alberta Utilities Commission and now Michael is going to bring to bear his doctorate in Physics (from U of Alberta) and a career in public service to help out the embattled CNSC.

I can attest to the strong work ethic that he brings to the job. Most of the emails that I have received from him are time stamped late at night – he has always made a point of replying. Michael has earned the respect of the his peers in the global community of telecom policy agencies.

Michael has been a source of support since our first event in 2002 – he encouraged us to make The Canadian Telecom Summit into the country’s premiere industry gathering.

There is no doubt that he will bring tremendous strengths to his interim assignment leading CNSC. Still, all of us who have been privileged to work with Michael Binder through the past 20 years of dynamic changes in Canadian telecom policy will miss him.

We have been pulling together a panel for The 2008 Canadian Telecom Summit that will be looking at Net Neutrality, so I have paid closer attention to emails crossing my screen on that subject.

I took special interest last week when I was pointed to a paper by University of Minnesota academic Andrew Odlyzko. For a paper that comes out of an academic institution, I am disappointed that it is insufficiently rooted in fact-based research. Certain assertions jump from the page that I have trouble accepting at face value. For instance,

Contrary to many claims of opponents of net neutrality, networks are not very expensive to build, and some simple calculations suggest that a net neutral communications infrastructure could be viable economically.

If this assertion is true, then why are there so few facilities based market participants?

Still, the paper provides an interesting canvassing of the issues that may help provide food for thought.

We have now confirmed that Professor Andrew Clement from the Faculty of Information Studies at University of Toronto will be joining our special session at The 2008 Canadian Telecom Summit, looking at Net Neutrality.

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Canadian Telecom Summit, net neutrality

Comments in response to Industry Canada’s consultation on amendments to PIPEDA, Canada’s privacy act, are due today. Included in the consultation is an intent to clarify ‘lawful authority’ in accessing information.

I couldn’t help but smile when I read a story last Thursday about FBI wiretaps south of the border. It seems phone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps because the bureau seems to have trouble paying its bills on time.

Law enforcement agencies can have all the authority in the world, but like everyone else, you gotta pay on time.

Technorati Tags:
FBI, lawful access, PIPEDA

Our family has had a number of interactions with the health care systems in Ontario and Quebec over the past month. The quality of care has generally been great, but if phone companies were run like these hospitals, they would be out of business.

Paper records. New ID cards issued each time you go. Long line-ups at each stage. Wait times to even get scheduled. Digital records that can’t be sent electronically because no secure network exists.

I’m not talking about remote areas of the provinces. This is the experience we put up with in major hospitals in Toronto and Montreal.

In some ways, the situation almost reminds me of phone companies, in those days before competition. Except that we had a regulator that made sure that customer service standards were more tolerable.

Talk about an industry that is long overdue for efficiency improvements. What can the telecom industry do to help deliver better health care service at lower cost?

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health

Will capital markets support the aspirations of new wireless telecom service providers?

Frontline Wireless, a start-up in the US with an innovative plan to build a network for private and local public safety agencies, collapsed because it was unable to raise enough money to bid in this month’s upcoming FCC auction of spectrum. Frontline was started by former FCC chair Reed Hundt and it had an impressive set of early venture backers. According to a New York Times article, it was a matter of sourcing funding.

Acquiring spectrum is one thing. A new entrant still has to build out a network and establish itself in the market. An analyst quoted by the Times article suggests investors are wary of backing start-ups that will have to compete with the established giant wireless carriers.

The Canadian auction rules require that potential bidders submit irrevocable standby letters of credit for substantial amounts of money with their applications on March 3.

The capital markets have changed significantly over the past 6 months on both sides of the border. What will be the impact on Canadian firms seeking financing of their business plans for the AWS spectrum auction?

Technorati Tags:
spectrum, AWS, Frontline