Sometimes, a dropped call leads my wife and I to twist that phrase into “Using a mobile phone means never getting to say goodbye.”
I remember when carriers promoted “crystal clear, pin-drop connections.” We have gone through a period of sacrificing quality for mobility, and perhaps taking advantage of the flakiness of some areas with bad mobile coverage as an excuse for dropping a call [“no dear, I would never hang up on you!”].
I sometimes miss the battle to differentiate on quality.
Yes, there are certainly areas of Canada that need increased coverage, but generally, our urban and suburban communities have consistently good signals. That is not the case everywhere. With family in various parts of the world, we have found there is sometimes a price to be paid for lower cost service. It is quite common for people to need to rely on residential WiFi to effectively pay for extending their mobile carrier’s coverage inside the home.
Last week, a report from Speedtest showed that in the first half of 2018, Canada’s mobile networks tested at an average download speed of nearly 47Mbps, with upload speeds of 11.85Mbps, nearly 75% faster than their US counterparts.
I frequently have trouble getting calls to connect at all to mobile devices inside suburban homes in some major American cities. Sometimes, using a mobile phone can mean never even getting a chance to say hello.
On June 6, the closing keynote address at The 2018 Canadian Telecom Summit was delivered by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains. Following his speech, I had a chance to pose a couple questions to him, as captured in the video.
These are his prepared remarks, provided to media. You can check against delivery:
Last year at this summit, I shared with you my vision for Canadians and telecommunications, and it was focused on three things: quality, coverage and price.
So what progress have we made over the last 12 months?
Let me tackle quality first because we want our telecom services to be fast enough so every Canadian can participate fully in the digital economy.
Improved quality will allow us to innovate whether it be augmented reality, cloud computing, or precision health.
And weâve done some pretty remarkable things to improve quality. We joined the provincial governments of Ontario and Quebec to launch ENCQORâan important public-private partnership in the 5G market. ENCQOR, a 5G test bed that will advance the development of 5G networking solutions and next-generation technologies and applications.
I think this group knows better than anyone the impact of 5G, what it means for SMEs and innovators, our economy and Canadians.
While on the topic of 5G, I can tell you that today, we are launching two consultations that will support 5G deployment. We are proposing to release an additional 1 GHz of millimeter-wave spectrum and also launching a consultative process that will advance us toward the 3500 MHz auction. As you know,the 3500 MHz spectrum is going to be one of the preferred bands for 5G services. The consultation reflects our commitment to get this spectrum into the marketplace in a timely way that also supports competition. We know that industry wants access to this spectrum.
Our proposals align with international trends in the band and represent an important step toward ensuring 3500 will be available to meet consumer demand for 5G. More broadly, today my department published our spectrum release roadmap for the next five years. Itâs a big part of our commitment to making the right spectrum available at the right time to meet current and future demand.
We plan to hold three spectrum auctions over the next three years to support 5G.
Iâm referring to the 600 MHz auction in 2019âa band that has shown potential for 5G wireless and also well-suited for rural and remote areas.
The 3500 MHz auction in 2020, which will also be key to delivering 5G services.
And finally the millimetre wave auction in 2021, which is prime real estate for 5G networks. In the meantime, we have redesigned the developmental licence program to help innovators get temporary access to spectrum.
And itâs working. People have snapped these licences up at a much higher rate, allowing them to test and validate solutions that advance Canadaâs 5G leadership.
So the second angle we are focused on is coverage. In other words: Is the service available where I want it?
Over the past 18 months, we have rolled out our Connect to Innovate program with great success. More than 800 rural and remote communities across Canada will soon be fully equipped to participate in the digital economy thanks to this program. Congratulations to the service providers in the room for their incredible interest in this program. It really is a great example of what we can do for Canadians when we work together.
Additionally, the CRTC is pursuing its new objective of getting broadband to homes and businesses with a speed of 50 megabits per second.
Complementing these initiatives is a Budget 2018 commitment to support projects relating to low-Earth-orbit satellites and next-generation rural broadband.
Low-Earth-orbit broadband technologies are still developing, but offer great potential. Our 100-million-dollar investment will allow industry to develop such technologies. Ultimately, this could lead to improved broadband coverage and capacity for Canadians.
The final piece of the puzzle â as it is in many industries â is price.
In the case of telecom: are the high-quality services available to Canadians across the country affordable? Thatâs what weâre aiming for.
To bring down costs, we all know the CRTC has banned cell phone unlocking fees. Canadians paid nearly 38 million dollars in unlocking fees in 2016.
Iâm also pleased to say that, as part of the 600 megahertz auction, we are setting aside 43 percent of the spectrum for regional competitors. Thatâs a huge push for more competition, and the lower prices that such competition brings. Weâre very happy about this.
Finally, with respect to price, I am pleased to announce Connecting Families. Itâs a new initiative that will help hundreds of thousands of low-income Canadians get online so they, too, can participate in the digital economy. And weâll even provide them with a computer if they need it through our Computers for Schools program.
And as with any competitive market, more can be done. More must be done.
I wonât rest until we achieve a reality where kids in northern and remote communities have the same connectivity privilege as kids here in Torontoâkids like my two girls. It is imperative that we remember many Canadians are not fully engaged in the digital economy.
Whether it be an issue of quality, coverage or price, I encourage your industry to keep swinging for the fences. Together, we will make this country a global centre for innovationâone that focuses on driving economic growth, creating middle class jobs and improving the lives of all Canadians.
How can cities and other levels of government create more favourable conditions to accelerate investment in digital infrastructure? Subtle changes in policies and processes can go a long way.
These kinds of behaviours seem inconsistent with a shared objective to build the networks that drive an electronically fueled economy. All levels of government should be looking for ways to encourage more investment, reducing the cost of deploying facilities, improving service quality, fuel increased competition and ultimately lead to lower consumer prices.
A couple of recent unrelated articles caught my eye with thoughts that might contribute to a better climate for private sector investment in advanced digital infrastructure.
In a blog post, Verizon’s policy group describes todayâs pole attachment process to deploy new networks as very slow and inefficient when it comes to attaching new small cells and fiber. So Verizon is asking the FCC to adopt a rule for what it calls “One-Touch Make-Ready“, to improve the processes by which telecommunications providers attach new equipment to poles. With 5G networks based on even smaller cells, towers will be located even closer to the end users. As such, it is becoming increasingly more important to improve these processes.
Under the current system, a new attacher must contact a pole owner to get permission to attach, wait for a survey, and then, wait some more as each existing attacher moves or adjusts their attachments â a process called âmake-readyâ (literally, making-the-pole-ready for the new attachment). Right now, this often proceeds sequentially, with multiple reviews and truck rolls for each of the providers already attached to the pole. It can take six months to a year â and piles of paperwork â to get a new attachment approved and placed on a pole.
…
Under the new proposal â called One-Touch Make-Ready â we suggest that new attachers should have the option of using pre-approved, licensed, and insured contractors to coordinate with all of the providers already attached to the pole and to do all the work to add a new attachment at one time.
Are broadband deployments being delayed by bureaucratic processes associated with accessing poles and towers owned by municipal and provincial power companies? Can these public agencies and companies help accelerate enhancements to broadband by improving access to their vertical assets?
Can we extend this to other public assets that can be used for wireless and wireline broadband deployment, such as municipal rights of way, water towers, easements, conduit in new road construction? All of these are mundane civic assets that can help stimulate network development to make the city a little smarter.
The other article I saw was an opinion piece in the Detroit News, advocating for Michigan to pass a bill that would “prevent local governments in the state from using public funds to pay for the cost of providing internet service.”
States have good reason to be concerned about municipal broadband projects. A recent study showed the financial performance of government-run broadband utilities is very poor, with only two of 20 municipal broadband projects for which transparent financial information was available expected to recover their costs within 40 years.
The University of Pennsylvania study cited in the article concludes “that municipal leaders should carefully consider all of the relevant costs and risks before moving forward with a municipal fiber program.”
In some communities, municipal offices, schools and hospitals could be anchor customers that encourage private sector investment in broadband. If a community establishes its own publicly funded network and migrates these institutions away from the competitive marketplace, the business case for private sector service providers can evaporate. Given the dismal financial performance of so many government-run broadband projects, communities should examine other models to encourage competitive private sector operators to make the investments to serve the entire population.
How can cities and other levels of government create more favourable conditions to accelerate development of digital infrastructure? Sometimes it doesn’t take millions of tax dollars; relatively simple changes to policies can significantly improve the climate for private sector investment.
The opening address to The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit was delivered by The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. The following is my transcript of his address.
Thank you very, very much for that kind introduction. And thank you Mark Goldberg and Michael Sone for your leadership and all that you do in terms of really helping promote the telecommunications sector. And it’s great to be here this morning, and it’s just, as I was talking to my team and driving here for this particular Summit, I realized it’s just slightly outside the boundaries of Mississauga-Malton, the constituency I represent. So, for me, I am going to say welcome to Mississauga-Malton for those of you who are out-of-town. And thank you for inviting me to kick off this yearâs summit.
As you know, your sector has been at the forefront of our digital revolution.
In fact, Canadians were pioneers, starting with the Communications Research Centre. It established the first international connection to the precursor of the Internet. Who would have predicted then that high-speed Internet would become the backbone of a global and digital economy?
Increasingly, the prosperity of Canadians depends on their access to high-quality, high-speed Internet. Affordable wireless and broadband services are no longer luxuries. They aren’t luxuries we should take for granted; they are basic and essential tools for all Canadians,regardless of where they live.
They need this service to do business, learn new skills, and more importantly, build communities.
So Iâm here today to talk about the strengths of this really critical sector and how we can work together to ensure that Canada remains a global leader in telecom technologies.
And I also want to talk about areas where this sector can improve and what those of you in this room can do to help.
So, first of all, let me start off by thanking you.
Because of your investments, Canada has some of the worldâs most advanced and efficient telecom networks. Very high-speed Internet is available to more than three-quarters of Canadians. Thatâs up from 2011, when only a quarter of Canadians had this service. As well, virtually all Canadians are covered by the latest wireless technologies. And Canadaâs wireless networks are fast. They rank second among G7 countries for average connection speeds. And Canadian telecom network investments (and this again is a point of pride) exceeded $56B between 2011 and 2015. So these high speed networks enable Canadians to do more online, whether itâs buying and selling, collaborating on work projects, or staying in touch with their kids and grandkids in other parts of the world.
These networks turn consumers into producers, observers into participants and users into innovators. So our government understands that Canadians want three things from their telecom services.
Quality. Is the service fast enough to do what I want it to do?
Coverage. Is the service available where I want it to be?
and lastly, Price. Is this service affordable?
These three areas are clearly where providers need to compete and thatâs why our Government is doing our part to promote competition and investment. The goal is very clear. We want to improve quality, coverage and price for all Canadians.
So, to improve quality, we have doubled the amount of spectrum available for next-generation wireless networks. That means Canadians will have access to faster, more reliable networks, regardless of traffic load.
And to expand high-speed Internet coverage, we recently in our budget Budget committed to 500 million dollars for the Connect to Innovate program. This program will build the digital backbone that enables Canadians in rural and remote communities to have access to high-speed Internet. Up to 300 communities across Canada will benefit from this program. And, I am delighted to say that Canadaâs Internet service providers have expressed overwhelming support for this program. You know, Connect to Innovate is heavily over-subscribed because of your interest. And that means our government can select the best proposals with the greatest benefit to consumers. And thatâs great news for Canadians in rural and remote communities.
But thereâs still more to do. For example, too many Canadians still feel like they are being left behind, either because they live in parts of the country where high-speed Internet and fast wireless networks are still not available, or because they canât afford to pay for those services.
Only about one in four Canadians in rural communities has access to high-speed Internet. But access isnât the only challenge.
The bigger barrier is price, which are especially high for low-usage cellphone plans. Subscribers pay more for basic cellphone service in Canada than for similar services in the United States and the United Kingdon. I get letters regularly, just like my colleagues do, from Canadians who are concerned that they are not receiving the best possible prices and they are being priced out of the market. People like the father of three, whoâs struggling to keep up with the high cost of his familyâs cellphone bills, which keep rising every single year.
Low-income Canadians spend a higher share of their household income on cell phones and internet bills than high income Canadians. So itâs not surprising that only six out of ten low-income households in Canada have Internet access. By contrast, virtually all households that earn $125,000 annually have it.
The digital divide is unacceptable and it represents a real barrier to continued prosperity for all Canadians. You know, every child whoâs unable to do school assignments or download music online is one less consumer of your products and services. Each one of these children is potentially one less software developer for your industry, and one less job creator for our country.
We need every Canadian to be innovation ready. Ready to spot opportunities, imagine possibilities, discover new ideas, start new businesses and create new jobs. All Canadians need access to high-speed Internet, regardless of their income level, or postal code. Until we bridge this digital divide, Canadians will not reach their full potential.
Some of you have taken first steps to address the issue, as mentioned earlier.
In particular, I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Rogers and TELUS who have introduced a service that charges low-income households ten dollars a month for basic Internet.
More providers need to follow their lead and our government is doing its share.
That is why, in our most recent budget, we proposed to invest up to $13M to facilitate all service providers (that’s everyone) to offer these programs to low-income families. In fact, our government would like to see more package options and price points offered to all Canadian families, particularly in the wireless sector.
Other countries have benefited from service innovations that support low-cost options for consumers as well.
Innovations such as Wi-Fi first applications have created a new low-cost business model in the wireless market. This particular model depends far less on routing signals through commercial wireless networks. Instead, Wifi based service providers route phone calls and data primarily through Wifi networks. It only falls back on a commercial wireless network when customers are out of Wifi range.
South of the border, Republic Wireless offers such a plan for as low as US $15 per month.
This new Wi-Fi first model could benefit Canadian consumers as well, especially those with low incomes who are not well served by existing plans. So, ladies and gentlemen, middle-class Canadians and those working hard to join them, are concerned about the rising cost of their Internet and cellphone bills. And I’ve mentioned that I’ve heard this from constituents and Canadians from across the country. They deserve more affordable options. They deserve more options and choice.
Thatâs why our government is taking action. To that end, I am directing our national telecommunications regulator to reconsider one of its recent decisions and launch a new proceeding. On March 1st, the CRTC issued rules for regulated wholesale roaming by wireless providers and this decision excludes Wifi based providers from access to regulated roaming services. And that effectively prevents Wifi based providers from offering their low-cost plans to consumers. And this lack of choice does not benefit Canadians and for this reason, I am directing the CRTC to rethink its decision and reconsider the Wifi-first model. This model could provide Canadians with more choice and affordable prices. As the CRTC looks at this model, I will also ask it to maintain a strong investment environment that supports, and I want to be clear about this, that supports facilities-based competition.
Thatâs how Canadians will benefit from faster more reliable services across the country.
But thatâs not all. Fees that providers charge to unlock cellphones are a major irritant for consumers as well and this is an issue again that I’ve heard directly from Canadians. Last year, Canadians paid nearly $38M to have their phones unlocked. I know that the CRTC is looking at this issue, and our government will closely monitor the results of the CRTCâs review.
We will continue to do everything possible to promote more competition and choice for consumers.
To that end, Iâm pleased to announce today that our government has made changes to its licensing process for satellite-based providers of high-speed Internet. This action will encourage these next generation providers to enter the market. Thatâs good news for Canadians living in rural and remote communities, because new low-earth orbit satellites have the potential to revolutionize the delivery of rural broadband.
Our government will continue to manage spectrum in ways that benefit all Canadians, because the goal is to improve the quality and capacity of our wireless networks. Especially since Canadians have a never-ending love affair with these wireless devices – trust me, I have 2 daughters – which has triggered an explosion in demand for more data and faster networks.
Demand is also surging as advanced devices merge with networked sensors and software, which is ushering in the age of connected cars and the Internet of Things.
And again, that is why our government is making low-frequency spectrum in the 600MHz band available for wireless service providers. The 600 band will improve the quality and range of wireless coverage for Canadians. In particular, it will extend more wireless signals to Canadians living in rural and remote communities.
And let me be clear about our approach to the 600MHz auction. It will provide an opportunity to support more competition, lower prices, and encourage investment.
But thatâs not all. For Canada to be a world leader in innovation, our country needs to develop and use emerging technologies, such as 5G wireless networks. The 5G market is expected to be worth $36B globally by 2020. Canada must be ready to compete. 5G would allow Canada to become a global leader in emerging technologies such connected cars and smart cities, both initiatives that this government supports.
Thatâs why I am pleased to launch a public consultation on releasing spectrum to support the development and deployment of 5G mobile networks.
Thatâs how Canadians will have access to faster, more reliable networks, regardless of traffic loads.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no difference anymore between the digital economy and the rest of the economy.
The digital economy is the economy.
For that reason, our government is taking steps to reflect Canadaâs digital economy. We will review the Telecom and Broadcasting Acts as we announced in the most recent budget. These two acts were written before the Internet became an ever-present part of our lives. These acts need to be examined through the lens of current and future trends of technology. But above all, we must respond to the changing needs and expectations that Canadians have.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage and I will work together to review both of these acts. The goal is to position Canada to be a global in the digital economy. Thatâs how we will create better jobs and better business opportunities for all Canadians. Thatâs how we will encourage more Canadians to be developers of content and content creators for the Internet.
Our government looks forward to co-investing with you in the digital future.
Thank you very much.
Minister Bains and I discussed aspects of his address for a further 10 minutes, captured in the accompanying video.
As Canada seeks to develop an innovation agenda, a new report [pdf, 6MB] from the MacDonald Laurier Institute warns Canada to avoid Europe’s state-imposed mandates and top-down regulations that have contributed to underinvestment and poor network quality.
The report, “Winners and Losers in the Global Race for Ultra-Fast Broadband: A cautionary tale from Europe,” was authored by Andrea Renda, who is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Regulatory Policy Unit at CEPS, the Centre for European Policy Studies. He is also a Senior Fellow at Duke Universityâs Rethinking Regulation Program, based at the Kenan Institute for Ethics.
MacDonald Laurier Institute says the report “demonstrates Europeâs policy of mandatory network sharing has discouraged investment in the continentâs networks and diminished the positive economic benefits that high-quality networks can enable.”
For example, fibre to the premises coverage is approximately double in the US compared to Europe (23 percent versus 12 percent); and overall next generation access coverage reaches 82 percent in the United States versus 54 percent in Europe. Furthermore, telecommunications revenues are dramatically higher in Australia, the US, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Iceland, and Norway than in EU nations, which all fall below the OECD average.
It warns that “continuing down the European path could lead to a substantial price to pay in terms of growth and jobs.”
As indicated by Renda’s report, the development of broadband communications creates both challenges and opportunities for policy-makers.
How does public policy create the conditions for high-quality broadband infrastructure?
How does it ensure market competition and protect consumer interests?
And to what extent are these objectives in conflict?
Renda says the tension of these conflicting objectives resulted in many governments mandating “network sharing” where the owners of broadband infrastructure are required to grant access to competitors, particularly in the “narrowband” era of lower capacity networks.
But todayâs ultra-fast broadband has become an information superhighway on which users can find all sorts of products and services that run “on top of” the network (so-called “over-the-top” services such as Netflix). These services are what users want when they connect to the broadband network; having 10 alternative identical ways to reach the same slow Internet is not going to add a lot of value to end users, especially if competition stifles incentives to deploy better networks, or to ultimately create products or services that highly depend on network speed.
The study investigates the policies most likely to create conditions for a jurisdiction to win the race for leadership in global ultra-broadband connectivity, with significant economic implications. It observes that the experience from Japan and South Korea suggests “a light regulatory touch can create the conditions for private investment in broadband networks and in turn help to produce the digital networks that can serve as the foundation for innovation, digital adoption, and economic growth.”
On the other hand, the study observes that the European Union has largely applied heavier-handed regulation (originally crafted for the age of legacy copper networks), with very different results. “The main takeaway is that Europeâs policy of mandatory network sharing has discouraged investment in the continentâs networks and diminished the positive economic benefits that high-quality networks can enable.”
While the report discusses the impact of the EU regulatory approach on competition, innovation, and investment with exclusive reference to wireline telecommunications, the author states “many of the findings apply also to wireless.”
“The lesson for the Trudeau government is that heavy-handed telecommunications regulations such as mandatory network sharing can lead to underinvestment in digital networks and in turn undermine its broader goals with regard to innovation and entrepreneurship.”
