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Robert Ghiz, President and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) was the featured keynote speaker for the penultimate session of STAC2021, the annual conference of Canada’s Structure, Tower and Antenna Council, held online this year, after having to cancel last year’s event due to COVID-19.

In my years hosting The Canadian Telecom Summit, I have had the pleasure of welcoming Robert a number of times. His talks are typically packed with statistics and topical information about the wireless industry and its impact on Canadians and Canada’s economy. And he is arguably the most prominent public figure pushing Prince Edward Island as the tourist destination of choice when we get past these pandemic times.

Today, he shared important perspectives on Canada’s wireless and telecommunications industry as a key part of nation building, saying “Our industry today is what the railway was 150 years ago.” STAC members and the telecommunications industry have met the challenges of the pandemic head-on. “Canada’s wireless industry has been recognized as a national success story throughout this pandemic.”

CWTA members ensured that “even with intensified network traffic and altered usage patterns, that Canadians can continue to rely on the high-quality networks to which they have become accustomed.”

He told STAC that “Canada’s telecom network operators continue to invest billions each year in expanding Canada’s digital infrastructure while ensuring that Canada maintains its global leadership in quality of service by deploying next-generation technologies such as 5G.”

These investments have also outpaced our global peers. In the G7, Canada ranks first for investment by spending $255 per capita on telecoms, compared to $156 for the average OECD country and re-investing 23 cents for every dollar of revenue, compared to the average of 15 cents in OECD countries.

A report by Accenture estimates that $26 billion will need to be invested by facilities-based carriers between 2020 and 2026 in order to deploy the network infrastructure for 5G. Accenture found that Canada’s facilities-based wireless carriers have invested over $72.3 billion in building Canada’s wireless networks since 1987.

With its focus on facilities-based competition, yesterday’s CRTC decision [decision, backgrounder, news release] appears to endorse the federal government’s statement last summer that “Canada’s future depends on connectivity.”

In a statement following the release of the CRTC’s decision, Minister Champagne wrote:

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s telecommunications service providers and their front line workers have been doing their part and providing essential services to keep Canadians connected. Now more than ever, Canadians are relying on telecommunications services for work, school, finances and health care – making access to high-quality and affordable services essential.

Returning to the address by Robert Ghiz to STAC 2021, he closed by emphasizing the importance of investment in telecommunications services. “COVID-19 has highlighted the need to invest in providing digital access to all Canadians.”

Canada’s future depends on connectivity.

As the annual meeting of STAC, Canada’s Structure, Tower and Antenna Council, STAC2021 continued yesterday, one of the more interesting sessions was the afternoon panel presented by the “Women of STAC” sub-council, bringing together women from across the country to discuss some of the career development tools that have helped them thrive in a predominantly male-dominated tower industry.

The “Women of STAC” sub-council works to identify areas where there are training, mentoring, and networking gaps and identifies opportunities for career advancement for women in Canada’s telecommunications industry. The committee explores initiatives such as scholarships, training grants, corporate and industry recruitment plans, and educational opportunities for STAC members.

I found it to be a fascinating session, with a wide range of perspectives brought by Katie Malone from TELUS, Tracey Walsh of CBC/Radio-Canada, Jennifer Mills with the Canadian Coast Guard, Lorna Levac, from Land Squared / Shared Network Canada, and moderated by Lisa Traverse of Alliance Corp.

The speakers discussed how leadership skills, mentorships, networking and safety leadership helped elevate their careers working for a variety of employers: a wireless service provider, a broadcaster, the Coast Guard, and a vertical real estate company, shining light on challenges and opportunities they faced along their career paths. Communicating, exhibiting enthusiasm, and pride in your work, while treating people the way you want to be treated were discussed as important leadership traits.

In terms of mentorship, Lisa Traverse quoted Tim McGraw’s lyrics (from what happens to be among my wife’s favourite songs):

When you get where you’re going don’t forget turn back around
And help the next one in line
(Always stay humble and kind)

How do younger employees learn how to network effectively? How do companies provide opportunities for networking and mentorship to accelerate professional development for employees? What more can executives do to facilitate and encourage high potential candidates progressing toward their career objective?

Prior to the pandemic, we already viewed our home internet connection as important. Fast forward to the past year and as an industry, we worked to try to plug holes in coverage as quickly as possible, and in many cases, wireless was the best solution. Government programs are stimulating even more projects across the country. Where will all the tower technicians come from to do all this work?

The industry estimates 1500 new tower technicians will be required over the next 5 years. How do tower companies recruit and train workers to fill positions across the country?

That was the theme of a panel yesterday at the annual meeting of STAC, Canada’s Structure, Tower and Antenna Council, STAC 2021, hosted by Isabela Jimenez from the CWTA, and including Jeanne Piercey from TEP Canada, Rob Harper of Morrison Hershfield, Derek Gordon of VIAVI Solutions, and Maguessa Morel-Laforce from CWTA.

Labour force job openings pose a challenge in the Canadian tower industry, and STAC has created a new Industry Workforce Development Committee, dedicated to finding ways to attract and maintain the skilled workers the industry needs. Yesterday’s session looked at efforts to combat worker shortages by attracting talent, working with the provinces, and developing a tower tech training curriculum.

In the US, there are a few colleges that help train workers to attain a National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) credential. Such a certification does not yet exist in Canada, but it is being explored to help fill the gap in the labour force.

The modular curriculum for an entry level position would include an intro to telecom tower work; climbing; measurements; construction; electrical and RF. A great deal of focus is on worker safety, training students to understand electrical safety, indoor versus outdoor cabling, rigging, types of knots, signaling to co-workers, and risks from wild-life, mixing classroom and lab work. The courses are designed to enable graduates of the program to be ready to start work on their first day.

With the roll-out of 5G, the industry will need even more engineers and technicians. STAC is working to gain support from provinces to achieve certification for Telecom Tower Technician as a recognized trade.

Hopefully, governments will take the appropriate steps to help identify the field for young people looking for a trade in a growing industry.

It is a great opportunity. New recruits are desperately needed for companies to implement all of the major capital projects that are on the horizon for the foreseeable future.

The intersection of Competition Law and Canadian Telecommunications has been top of mind for the past month since the news of Rogers and Shaw coming together in a $26B transaction.

Many are getting a crash course in various provisions of Canada’s Competition Act pertaining to mergers, debating the difference between a lessening of the numbers of competitors, and a lessening of competitive intensity. How do non-price factors, like quality, service and innovation figure in the Competition Bureau’s assessment of a merger?

But competition law impacts business behaviours outside of mergers as well. Yesterday, at the annual meeting of STAC, Canada’s Structure, Tower and Antenna Council, STAC 2021, delegates heard from Elad Gafni, an associate at Gowlings Ottawa office with an introduction to Canadian competition law including a discussion on how it interacts with trade associations, in particular, including “do’s and don’ts”.

Within the dual track (Criminal and Civil) system for dealing with anti-competitive conduct in the Competition Act, Section 45 deals with criminal conspiracies, prohibiting agreements or arrangements with competitors to engage in price-fixing, market allocation, and controls/limits on supply. Misleading advertising is also under the criminal track.

The civil track is most often handled through reviews by the Competition Tribunal. These would include performance claims in advertising, competitor agreements that don’t qualify as a criminal conspiracy, tied selling, or abuse of dominance, among others.

As many people in industry attend events, or participate in inter-company consultations, the provisions in the Act designed to prevent anti-competitive behaviour are important to be understood. Trade associations, by their nature, bring together competitors for cooperation and dialogue on certain issues. However, there are risks of breaching competition law in such meetings. Examples of activities that are recognized as acceptable for associations would include codes of conduct; self-regulation; government relations; standards (as long as they don’t unfairly discriminate); market analysis; and, education. Tips included having agendas for meetings; how to deal with something going wrong; or, mention of a sensitive topic. The Competition Bureau has a guide available for trade associations [pdf, 884 KB].

For some industry veterans, this may be second nature; for many, it was an important education on how to properly interact with people who are competitors in the marketplace, but colleagues in industry-wide issues, like safety and technical standards.

The Competition Bureau will feature prominently in the telecom news for the next little while. The session at STAC 2021 was a helpful introduction to Canada’s competition law.

The annual meeting of STAC, Canada’s Structure, Tower and Antenna Council, STAC 2021 continued yesterday, with an opening keynote for Day 2 by Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod on “Keep Fit and Have Fun”. This was obviously quite a change-of-pace type of session for a telecom event, and I thought it was inspirational enough to make this a change-of-pace posting on my blog.

Their message, that we can all live, work and play together, had been ultimately ignited by their commitment to diversity and inclusion. The session heard Hal and Joanne talk about why this commitment is important to them, and what they do about it. Their first interactions with the Canadian media establishment were not shining examples of the Canadian multicultural ideal.

A bit of history: it started with a chance meeting at a gym over 33 years ago. Bodybreak has grown to be one of the most recognized, iconic brands in Canada known for promoting healthy, active lifestyles to Canadians of all ages. The session gave STAC participants a look behind the scenes at what motivated them to start BodyBreak and how it all came together. It comes down to how they dealt with roadblocks that were put in front of them, with a positive perspective. Instead, the pair figured out a way around the challenges to succeed in bringing their message of inclusiveness to the airwaves.

What we do today impacts what we will be able to do as we get older, as we heard from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. “What will your last 10 years look like? Will you grow old with vitality or get old with disease? It’s time to decide.”

Hal and Joanne identified triggers that set poor habits in motion for many. And for those of us who have spent the past year isolating at home, and especially after what seemed like an especially dreary, lonely, and nearly endless winter, the session provided motivation on how to establish new triggers, new routines and the rewards that can be expected for your efforts, with lots of simple tips to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.

A nice change from the standard approach for an opening keynote at a telecom event!