Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Review of basic telecommunications services, April 11, 2016

In this hearing I explain why the CRTC should focus on demand, not supply. The CRTC should focus on the actual technologies and services that users adopt, not on network speeds.  Most of the services that clearly belong in the bundle of basic commitments – affordable access to a reliable communications platform that provides access to emergency services, essential government services and information, employment applications, and even basic e-commerce – do not require a class of service sufficient to support high quality streaming video.  A modest basic telecommunications policy that allows people to participate in the digital economy can achieve more than a policy promising to deliver the fastest speeds to everyone. How to provision communications networks to support important social commitments requires a more critical view than has been offered to date.

Read about the hearing.