Intelligent Communities Summit - Day Two

Coverage from the Times & Transcript: Broadband economy open to everyone and New economy picks winners, losers.

For the Rahaf Harfoush notes, scroll down to about 2/3 of the way through.

Enhancing Innovation: A Mobile Wireless Revolution

Bernard Lord, former premier of New Brunswick, President and CEO
Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association

As I was reviewing the website for this summit, it was clear that this was a summit whose time has come. I support the objectives of gathering people together to brainstorm to improve the quality of life. I am very passionate about this topic. I believe that our best years are ahead of us. I am proud to call Moncton home.

I also accepted the invitation because these kinds of summits result in the create of new ideas.

(French) We need to look seriously about the problems we now face. (English) We have feelings of fear that the future may not be secure, and these feelings are real, and amplified by the recession. People have lost their savings, lost their jobs, young people can't enter the workforce.

We are living through an economic downturn and are faced with a series of challenges.
- economic challenge - kickstart the economy
- social challenge - make sure all citizens benefit from society
- fiscal challenge - more debt, more deficits
- environmental challenge - protecting our environment, staying away from either-or choices between environment and economy
- demographic challenge - we can see it coming, we can pinpoint to the day when the balance will tip

It once was said that living in Canada was like living the geographic lottery; you win just by being here. Being in Moncton is like winning with tag and the extra bonus. We were one of the last to enter the recession and we will be one of the first to get out. Education is up, life expectency is up, and this week we were told by the U.N. that we live in one of the best countries of the world. But with this luck comes the responsibility to make sure we continue to make this the best country of the world.

I believe we will end up in a renewed economy, where creativity will be key, where you can access the world at your fingertps.
- investing in people
- instrastructiure
-
- innovation
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Wireless has become a catalyst and enabler of progress and change. Canada is a world leader in wireless communication, past and future. We are currently living through a wireless mobile revolution. It is increasing productivity, enhancing productivity, making communities safer. We have a choice, whether or not to embrace it.

The CWTA s the authority on wireless communications in Canada. It represents 150 wireless service providers. It champions the interests of 22 million Canadian who use wireless devices. It represents consumer interests.

Brudges, road and ports are important infrastructur, but Canada needs 21st century broadband infrastructure. It will be the backbone of any digital economy strategy. We've gone from 12 million cellphone subscribers to 22 million today, to 30 million in 2014. We know that wireless is moving deeper and deeper into the Canadian family.

30 percent of phones in Canada are smart phones; one smart[hpne uses 30 times more bandwidth than a normal cellphone. So people are using phones in ways we never imagined. 99 percent of Canadian households have access to some form of wireless services. In June 2009, 21 per cent of people used their cell phones to browse the web and access email. Nearly 1/2 of Canadians can't leave home without their mobile device.

What does this tell u? The wireless industry's investments in infrastructure and innovation have already resulted in change. And it tells us Canadians want more. We already enjoy next generation wireless services across the country. We were among the first in the world to enjoy large-scale 3G networks, and access is available to 90 percent of homes. Some Canadian networks work at 21 megs per second. And that's just now - the expectation is that it will grow to over 100 megs per second. And the networks are reliable - when the iPhone was launched in the U.S. it was plagued with problems, but in Canada it launched perfectly.

In fact, with the ongoing network buildout, Canada will have 4 or 5 3.5G netwlorks (HSPA), more than anywhere else in the world. Now it the time to step up and provide innovation for our communities.

Competition in the wireless industry has always been the driving force. But continued innovation requires continued investment. More than 6 billion dollars just last year. While other industries are asking for bailouts, this industry is pumping money into the networks. It's critical that the pace of investment continues to outpace the growth of network usage.

The government invested 220 million to help this growth, but other measures could be taken. We will need more spectrum. We want government to release more spectrum so we can build out networks, longer term licenses with certainty of renewal. Also, accelerated depreciation to create that incentive for carriers to build their networks.

The common goal is to ensure Canadians have the best access, while stimulating growth. The government can take direct measures to incent these investments.

Some of our own innovations, with out members:
- recycle my cell - a national program to promote recycling cell phones - recyclemypohone.ca for the ten closest places to drop it off - 3700 sites in Canada
- Canada's wireless industry introduced last month a new initiative for the 21st century consumer - Canadians deserve the best service - so we introduced a new code o conduct, a commitment to providing the highest standards of service
- two weeks ago, we brought mobile philanthropy to Canada by creating the mobile giving foundation, enabling donors to give small donations - $5 or $10 - using mobile technology
- we are working on two initiatives to increase safety. First of these is a mobile amber alert to locate missing children
- we are also working on enhances 9-1-1 services, to make it easier to ind people who need help
- we launched Zoompass to enable mobile payments - it's an interface with a contact manager - your cellphone will become your credit card or your debit card

I thought I'd end with a Top 10 list of facts

1. wireless coverage in Canada reaches 99 percent of the population
2. it covers more than 1.3 square
3. two dozen wireless providers
4. 22 million subscribers
5. 75 percent have at least one cellphone
6. there are more wireless numbers in Canada than wired numbers
7. 6 million calls to 9-1-1 from cellphones
8. $25 b investment, $9 b in the last year
9. Canadians send 100 million text messages a day
10. As early as 2010, Canada will have 4 3,5G wireless networks

We need to embrace the wireless revolution here in Canada and in Moncton.

Q. It's a very expensive deal to subscribe to a cell phone. It seems to me that here's some interest in these companies to come out and explain the cost of these investments.

A. I agree. That's part of my job. The investments are significant. $4 billion of the investment was just to buy spectrum. It's just a license. This industry is not seeking a handout. That adds some cost.

Look at how things evolved. My first cellphone was a big bagful. It was 50 cents a minute. There's a lot of competition. If you only what voice, that's very inexpensive. I find it's very reasonable for what we get. It requires a lot of investments. If you want it all it's a little bit more expensive. These are massive investments.

Q. What happened to that $4 billion?

A. You know how governments are. We know that this year the government has made decisions to support other industries. But there are investments that could b made in this industry. This is a growth industry. The government could do a lot to reduce the cost of this buildup. $4 billion could certainly do that. Wireless providers have lss than 2 percent of the spectrum, but we pay 50 percent of the fees.

Q. (French) There's a new generation of young families at the college. ...

A. I am content to see the young people. I am more optimistic and more confident in the young generation. Community Colleges have taken the right decision to educate the young people. There are many opportunities, many virtues. But i reiterate, Community College has a responsibility to listen to the young. Our parents, our grandparents, faced great challenges. Today we face choices, must choose priorities.

The second question is about the code of conduct. The objective is to provide better service. It gives certain rights to consumers. In the code of conduct you see a method for resolving complaints. It was not created by us, it's completely independent, created by CRTC. If you don't respect it, you have an obligation to respect it. The industry recognizes the necessity of it. It's important that consumers have an assurance of a certain level of service.

Q. (English) We pay extremely high cellular costs. Our average in the U.S. is $60, our average in Canada is $220. Is spectrum the only component?

A. Spectrum is one component, but not the only component. The other part of the challenge is that e wanted to provide service to 100 percent of Canadians, and the most reliable service. Our charges are among the lowest in the world. We have a huge area to serve. We get a very good deal in Canada.

Break

Chatting with people from CapAcadie, French language news in Moncton. Here's their Twitter feed.

Economic Club of Canada Luncheon

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Original article from http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2009/10/intelligent-communities-summit-day-two.html