Monday, January 28, 2008
Is Canada a leader in bridging the digital divide?
I was recently pointed to a speech last month by New York governor Eliot Spitzer to the New York State Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Niagara Falls, where he launched a campaign for universal broadband service for all of NY.When many of us think of NY, we think of one of the most densely populated parts of the planet. We think of advanced communications driving Wall Street, forgetting that there is a lot of territory upstate.
A drive from Buffalo to Albany can look similar to driving from Toronto to Sudbury - albeit with way fewer Tim Horton's locations and no Canadian Tire stores.
Governor Spitzer said that his state has inadequate infrastructure for the Information Age.
In fact, fewer than 25 percent of New Yorkers in rural areas have access to broadband Internet. Some may assume that because these areas are rural, they have natural and unavoidable disadvantages. But a rural landscape has not stopped Canada, a mostly rural country, from maintaining a broadband penetration rate of over 50 percent.He blames the US federal government for a lack of leadership - the absence of a national broadband strategy.
This problem does not only affect Upstate. Downstate doesn’t fare much better. Nearly two-thirds of people living in New York City lack access to affordable, high-speed broadband.
So the governor has set his own objectives:
Our goals are—by the year 2015—for every citizen of New York to have access to at least 20 megabits per second in each direction, and 100 megabits per second in major metropolitan areas.Despite Canada being cited as ahead of New York, will broadband be an issue in Canadian politics? How will we ensure that in 2015, Canada will still be seen as a leader by our neighbours?
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Eliot Spitzer, broadband
Posted by Mark Goldberg @ 1/28/2008 06:41:00 AM 
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Good question Mark. I guess one way would be for Ontario or Ottawa to set the same broadband goals that Mr. Spitzer has set for the state of N.Y. but just move the target date up a year or two.
The next question for both Mr. Spitzer and any Canadian government that adopts similar goals is "how?". Leave it to the private sector or should/must government get involved.
Governments have a lot of levers they can pull to achieve objectives like the ones Mr. Spitzer has set - things like tax policies and incentives, procurement, funding programs, regulatory frameworks and decisions, being telecom friendly when it comes to things like access to rights-of-way and/or the location of facilities, etc., etc.
The next question for both Mr. Spitzer and any Canadian government that adopts similar goals is "how?". Leave it to the private sector or should/must government get involved.
Governments have a lot of levers they can pull to achieve objectives like the ones Mr. Spitzer has set - things like tax policies and incentives, procurement, funding programs, regulatory frameworks and decisions, being telecom friendly when it comes to things like access to rights-of-way and/or the location of facilities, etc., etc.
Posted by 
: 12:51 PM, January 28, 2008
: 12:51 PM, January 28, 2008
Government involvement could encourage States to adopt high speed broadband polices in order to promote economic development, civic participation and an improved quality of life.
Investment could be stimulated through tax incentives, universal service fund reform, and leveraging public monies.
The Communications Workers OF America's project Speed Matters addresses these issues. Check out the website at www.speedmatters.org
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Investment could be stimulated through tax incentives, universal service fund reform, and leveraging public monies.
The Communications Workers OF America's project Speed Matters addresses these issues. Check out the website at www.speedmatters.org
Posted by 
Roger Osburne : 2:45 PM, January 28, 2008
Roger Osburne : 2:45 PM, January 28, 2008 << Home
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