Broad Overhaul

1. Label the internet as a necessary utility.
2. The internet should have its own regulatory body. The CRTC has no concept of what the internet stands for.
3. The Canadian government should allow communities/towns/cities to borrow from the Bank of Canada at a 0% interest rate to build out their own fiber networks as infrastructure loans. Then those communities/towns/cities can lease these networks to ISP's or host internet services themselves.
4. Government backed wireless towers for rural Canada.
5. From a home/business stand point, we should be aiming for a 20Mb symmetrical connection.

Comments

MarcusC — 2010–05–12 23:29:00 EDT wrote

I definitely agree with 1, 2, and 5.

No. 1 — should be self evident to all involved, sadly it is being considered by current legislation as a non–necessity, pretty much a form of entertainment, rather than a required two–way worldwide communication channel.

No. 2 — I have to agree the CRTC seems to have lost sight of the reality that the internet is more than an entertainment source, although it can be used as one. The internet in time will spell the end of other distribution methods for media. The CRTC seems to be complicit in the putting off of that eventuality in Canada and making sure the telcos and cablecos maintain their hold on things.

No. 3 — I'm not sure if this is the most efficient way to accomplish this.

No. 4 — Wireless can be part of the solution in some areas, but due to technical limitations is in my opinion not a total solution.

No. 5 — Symmetrical bandwidth or at least a better ratio is a must, the internet connection must be able to work well both ways, otherwise we become merely listeners in the world nearly unable to speak or spread our culture.

R — 2010–05–15 20:04:37 EDT wrote

Sams as MarcusC except we might want to aim higher (5.) as many countries already have 100Mbits. By the time this is realized we should aim for at least 100Mbit!

knocknock — 2010–05–17 18:56:19 EDT wrote

These are all fantastic ideas; I especially like #4.

Vaudevillian — 2010–05–19 09:25:43 EDT wrote

The 20Mbs is the broad range we should be aiming for, that includes rural Canada. In city centers going above that with fiber infrastructure is not that hard to accomplish. As for ideas 3 and 4, it would be roughly a 10 year investment. You could even set up the individual to pay the install to the house from the curb or offer them the chance to dig the ditch themselves. Buying this much product will bring down the prices a lot. Building out important infrastructure like this will create tens of thousands of jobs, from construction to high tech jobs.