It can be a fascinating exercise reading comments on news stories and blog posts about the state of Canadian broadband. People can be so passionate about the issue. Sometimes I wonder if some childhood traumatic psychological experience\u00a0has made some of the writers so hostile. Did a phone company truck run over their bicycle? Maybe an installer drilled a hole through a lucky hockey stick when he was fishing wires through the wall?<\/p>\n
Is Canadian broadband being sold to consumers for a lower price per month than what\u00a0some residents of some countries\u00a0pay each month?<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
And I didn’t need OECD rankings or an econometrically-challenged study from Harvard to tell me that. After all, when\u00a0 billions of dollars are thrown by some\u00a0governments at building\u00a0network, one would hope that there would be some kind of reduction in the monthly bill paid by consumers.<\/p>\n
But let’s not make the mistake of saying that this makes those broadband networks less expensive. Not necessarily. Where do you think that government money came from? At some point, someone is paying the bill. So everytime you look at your paystub or make your monthly tax remittances, give thanks that there isn’t a hidden “broadband network fee” added onto the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just one of many problems with comparative studies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This\u00a0is why an overall literature review is required, to understand why differences exist. Not all experiences can (or should) be replicated.<\/p>\n
I think\u00a0all Canadians\u00a0can all agree that we want to see\u00a0continued investment in broadband connectivity: more fibre; more spectrum; more choices of services and packages; and, for solutions to be developed to provide reasonable connectivity to Canadians who are outside the urban corridors.<\/p>\n
But\u00a0we have to ask\u00a0a number of\u00a0questions. Given the fiscal realities of our\u00a0Government in 2010, who is going to invest in new infrastructure? How do we create the right climate for the financial community to back that investment?<\/p>\n
As we watch today’s Throne Speech for signals about\u00a0federal leadership that may guide Canada’s digital future, keep those considerations in mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It can be a fascinating exercise reading comments on news stories and blog posts about the state of Canadian broadband. People can be so passionate about the issue. Sometimes I wonder if some childhood traumatic psychological experience\u00a0has made some of the writers so hostile. Did a phone company truck run over their bicycle? Maybe an …<\/p>\n