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Another study on broadband

March 13, 2013 / 1 Comment

A colleague pointed out an article in the Ottawa Business Journal that indicated that on March 7, Canada’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology began a study of Broadband and Internet access across Canada. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce was the only witness at that particular session. In the introduction to its testimony, Scott Smith of the Chamber observed:

Canadian business is not online and this is despite the fact that Canada has some of the most advanced and available telecommunications infrastructure in the world. … So the story I want to tell you is one of adoption, or lack of adoption, not about barriers to access. With our relatively small population in a huge land mass, the Canadian market is essentially California with a distribution challenge. Yet Canadians continue to be among the first users in the world to benefit from next generation network.

Access to networks isn’t the problem, even though solving this non-issue continues to be a focus for many politicians at various levels of government.

It is adoption that we need to address.

Digital literacy and adoption are much more difficult challenges than throwing money at regional broadband infrastructure. How do we convince households to get computers and subscribe to connectivity; how do we get businesses to go online and adopt e-business strategies? The Chamber of Commerce identified market certainty as an issue

One of the committee members asked why businesses aren’t investing in ICT, after all, it would seem to be for their own benefit. Unfortunately, the Chamber did not have any studies to cite. I wonder to what extent there are government policies that inadvertently discourage adoption of ICT.  Besides CASL, which I have highlighted at length, are there other regulations that discourage e-commerce and ICT adoption.

How do we ensure that individual citizens are not left behind? Among those households with a computer, virtually all have broadband connections. However, nearly 20% of Canadian households have no computer. How do we reach them?

As might be expected, half of the households with no computers are households in the lowest income quintile.

Statistics Canada data has been showing that Canada actually has a bigger urban broadband problem than rural, yet no programs appear to have targeted this segment.

On these pages, I have written about ideas to start with targeting computer and connectivity solutions for low income households with school aged children [see, for example, here]. This needs the participation and cooperation from the carrier community and may be well suited for a network of public private partnerships.

Getting computers into all households with school aged kids would be a good starting point for increasing digital adoption in Canada. Even for those of us who have been on-line since the earliest days of networking, our kids can be a leading source of technical support and improved household digital literacy.

We will see what direction the INDU study takes as the committee continues to explore Broadband and Internet Access in Canada. There will be an outstanding panel at The 2013 Canadian Telecom Summit looking at building an innovation economy. The session will be moderated by Namir Anani (President & CEO, ICTC) and it features Chris Hodgson (Canadian Retail and Tech Practice Lead, Google), Tracey Jennings (Canadian Leader: TICE, PwC), Warren Jestin (SVP and Chief Economist, Scotiabank), Ron Styles (President & CEO, SaskTel), Joan Vogelesang (President and CEO, Toon Boom Animation) and John Weigelt (National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada).

Have you registered yet?

Empathy for the digitally disenfranchised

March 17, 2013

Sometimes it’s easiest to simply respond to the loudest voices. There are lots of instances where we see government bodies respond to groups, large and small, making lots of noise.

That is completely understandable. It is natural for us to turn our heads in the direction of a loud noise, to soothe a screaming infant, to turn down the loud music that wakes us each morning.

The old squeaky wheel adage.

It is a tougher job to ensure that policies and regulations address the needs of those who aren’t shouting.

How do we ensure that someone deals with the needs of voices that can’t be heard?

For example, there are more than 2 million households in Canada that have no computer, let alone an internet connection. Who is representing these people at regulatory hearings and policy discussions?

Connected computers correlates with household income. Half of the households in the bottom 20% of income account for 1.25 million of the digitally disenfranchised. Half of the households that have no computer are those in the lowest income quintile.

Many of us have trouble relating to them.

I had an interesting exchange on Twitter with a reader who followed up on some of the Scotia Capital wireless myths that I posted last week. He was having difficulty with the arithmetic associated with comparing 2-year contracts in the US to 3-year contracts in Canada. When told that you can accelerate the upgrade date, he asked why would we bother with 3 year contracts then?

To which I responded “not everyone wants or needs a new phone or can afford to change every year or 2.”

According to the Scotia Capital report: “We think the three-year contract has actually led to low handset prices that helped smartphone penetration in Canada.”

It would be great if everyone had economic circumstances that enabled them to upgrade devices as frequently as manufacturers and application developers might prefer. However, many people have different priorities for their spending and prefer to spread out or defer the payments as long as possible.

With the virtual elimination of early termination fees in favour of accelerated device financing buy-outs, it is difficult to understand why the issue of 3-year contracts continues to surface. Such lengthy terms have proven to be the most popular choice when shorter terms were also offered. Long term contracts have provided initial cost advantages that Scotia Capital says contributes to higher penetration of smartphones. Will such low-cost entry options continue to be available?

Loud voices resulted in broadband stimulus packages that focus on funding for rural without consideration of economic need for transfers spending hundreds of millions of dollars without any consideration of the needs of low income Canadians. Where are the broadband stimulus programs for Canada’s urban centres?

While it is easiest to hear the loud voices in the room, it is just as important for policy makers to consider and respond to the needs of those who aren’t being heard at all.

Canadian Wireless Myths and Facts

March 11, 2013 / 2 Comments

In response to popular demand, the folks at Scotia Capital have authorized me to post their recent Canadian Wireless Myths and Facts report on this blog.

If you would like to challenge a Bay Street analyst on the numbers, please go ahead. As my friend at Scotia Capital says, he is challenged on his numbers every day.

Keep in mind the comment policy of this blog.

Canadian Wireless Myths and Facts 06Mar2013 by Scotia Capital

Top 10 myths on Canadian wireless

March 8, 2013 / 2 Comments

Scotia Capital released a report this morning called Canadian Wireless Myths and Facts.

We believe the facts support that Canada has a healthy wireless industry that benefits both consumers and carriers. We think it is time for the regulators to declare victory on the policies they adopted five years ago.

Contact Scotia for a copy. [Update: The Scotia Capital report can be found here]

In a series of tweets, I highlighted the top 10.

I encourage you to get a copy of the 14 page report and see the basis of these assertions.

Leveraging innovation

March 3, 2013

I have written in the past about the excellent book Start-up Nation by Dan Senor, exploring the entrepreneurial success of Israel in creating high performing technology companies.

Yesterday, Singapore Telecommunications and Amdocs announced that they are establishing a joint R&D centre in Raanana as part of SingTel’s investment in new technology. Amdocs already operates a similar centre jointly with AT&T.

SingTel said its initial focus will be on voice and facial recognition as well as systems that enable mobile and Wi-Fi networks to work more efficiently.

“More and more mobile customers are using mobile devices for more than just communications,” said Allen Lew, chief executive of SingTel’s digital life group. “In our business it’s not enough to be up to date, we have to be up to tomorrow.”

It makes me wonder if any Canadian carriers are looking at similar ventures.

One of the sessions at The 2013 Canadian Telecom Summit in June will be looking at Building an Innovation Economy. The panel is being moderated by Namir Anani, who heads up the ICT Council of Canada. Panelists include Chris Hodgson of Google, Warren Jestin of Scotiabank, Ron Styles of SaskTel and John Weigelt of Microsoft Canada.

Have you registered yet?

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