Wirelessnorth.ca

New foreign ownership policy coming, Carriers ask for level playing fields and cheaper spectrum

We like Tony, he has the Clash on his iPod. This morning he came out swinging at the Canadian Telecom Summit. Here’s our on-the-fly notes from his keynote, and the “rebuttal” from Rogers Rob Bruce.

ICT is critical to the future competitiveness of all Canadian Industries. We need to infuse digital iniovation into every capilary of the economy, that’s how canada will compete

In terms of infrastructure, we know you are making massive investment so it’s critical we have the right regulatory environments

Also need to encourage investment in infrastructure so that canadians have access to world leading services.

Another priority is opening canada’s doors to VC and foreign insvestment. OECD rates Canada one of the most restrictive to foreign telecom investment.

We need to give access to capital and create the competition that will benefit all Canadians. (The big news) releasing a consultation paper on foreign competition in telecom.

Want to rely more on market forces and less on regulation

This government believes in “greater competition, free markets (less regulation) and more choice for consumers”

Summary: Dear telecom industry, digital policy is not about you, it’s about every other sector of the economy. Give Canadians choice and accessible access to world-leading telcom or…. else[?]”

Rogers:

Thanks to the minister. Glad to see a minister here and engaged in these important topis. [dramatic pause] At Rogers, we’re in favour of market forces and level playing fields too.

Remember that Canada is not the only country driving the digital agenda. And that’s because telecom is vital to the future economy everywhere in the world.

[same words, slightly different agenda]

We invest in infrastructure, we invest in innovation and we want to keep doing so with every dollar we can. We are investing 2B a year in netorks. Take the telco sector, look how many jobs we create!

The can telecom sector is innovative and competitive. I used to work for pepsi and in the height of the cola wars, competition never felt so fierce.

our critics [that's us! our heart flutters -ed] attack us on pricing and innovation. According to one study, average revenue per minute, canada has 3rd lowest pricing per minute acording to survey of 20 OECD countires. [but a far cry from free eh? which it really well could be, in theory, when compared against the enormous pipe-width of mobile broadband compared to what voice actually requires-ed]

Rogers says entry level pricing is cheaper than the US. Says networks are much more reliable.

With tethering, we let customers share data between smartphone and a computer. Iphone customers in the US can’t do this.

[Rogers is comparing itself to AT&T, but that's a pretty low bar isn't it?]

Network and network performance – Canada is one of the only countries in the world offering 3 networks at HSDPA+ [true that]

there’s no need to set targets, we’re raising the bar on our own. I see a dynamic communications industry, leading and innovating. We need to work together. [blah blah, how about a targets of actual penetration of advanced technologies, we think those would be good bars to set]

We support regulation that supports where we’re going not where we’ve been. to drive digital economy forward we need to embrace the future not protect the past [kudos here. Remember that Rogers, is among the good guys in pushing for a better C-32 copyright bill.

What we ask is immediate action on 3 fronts: industry and government needs to work together more tightly.

Canada pays some of the most expensive spectrum licence fees in the world.
In Japan there are no auctions, carriers are charged less for spectrum which allows carriers to invest more in infrastructure. [ok so now rogers is willing to compare themselves to Korea and Japan. But the the point is valid, taxing the hell out of spectrum is hardly a handy way to bring down the cost of ICT infrastructure.]

We also need government help for rurual access.