Simon Tuck, writing in the Globe and Mail this morning, gives a preview of what might be coming next week in a landmark federal government report, believed to recommend loosening restrictions on Canadian communications players. The report is expected to recommend:
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Incentives for more broadband or high-speed Internet service, particularly for rural and remote communities. Advocates argue that this is a social necessity. More importantly, because broadband enables so many new kinds of applications, it also brings with it more potential for competition in the sector overall.
- New incentives for private sector investment in new equipment and other technologies that can help boost Canada’s lagging productivity. More than the existing SRED regime?
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New distance between the governance of those that create content and those that provide the carriage for the programming. This is a fascinating development too. What is content? Programming? That’s the key thing to understand here.
The flavour seems to be "relax restrictions, while introducing programs and rules designed to foster competition". That’s a good thing! Simon’s preview, however, is a bit of a mixed bag. Hopefully the final report is a little more cohesive.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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The Globe & Mail ROB has <a>a full story this (Saturday) morning.