The Canadian telecommunications industry continues to evolve at a rapid rate since the government declared high-speed internet to be an essential service back in 2016. Since the declaration more Canadians have been turning- in increasing numbers – to digital devices as well as digital platforms that require the internet for audio and video content broadcasts.
Here is a sample of some of the analysis from Canada’s telecom industry for the years leading to 2018 and beyond.
How does Canada stack up against other countries?
Canada is among the top countries in the world with the highest LTE – a 4G mobile connection standard that promises up to 10 times the speed of the 3G network – usage rate. It also provides some of the most efficient and advanced broadband and wireless internet services. In terms of price, Canada’s broadband and wireless charges are generally higher than in Australia and Europe but lower or comparable to those in Japan and the United States. Notwithstanding, Canada is ranked 1st in the world in internet affordability when the market’s competition and the income per capita are factored into the equation.
Recent developments in the country’s telecom sector
In December 2016 the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) declared high-speed internet a basic telecommunication service establishing a goal of 50MB/s download and 10MB/s upload speeds. To facilitate the attainment of this goal the federal government – through the CRTC – set aside a fund of $750M CAD to fuel the project over the course of five years. The bulk of the money would be used by top telecom providers and ISPs such as Bell telecommunications and Acanac to finance the establishment of internet infrastructure in rural Canada.
Still on recent developments, earlier in the same year, Bell (BCE) acquired Manitoba’s Telecom Services Inc. – the most dominant telecom company in the Manitoba region. This move increased its subscriber count to a whopping 9 million – just one million shy of the biggest telecom provider- Rogers Inc.
The Internet of Things
The internet of things (IoT) is currently undergoing extremely rapid growth and development in Canada and this growth is projected to increase even more by the end of 2018. This growth is not only experienced in Canada but in other developed countries as well though Canada is undoubtedly at the forefront. Collectively, experts predict the global IoT spending to shoot from $737 billion to over $1.29 trillion by the year 2020. This is around the same time Canada expects to have connected at least 90 percent of its population with the targeted download and upload speeds.
As part of Canada’s initiative to greatly improve the internet landscape, in addition to working towards making high speed broadband easily accessible and affordable by all its citizens, the government is also aiding the telecom and data providers to grow and be able to acquire the complex infrastructure required to keep up with the rapidly evolving IoT demands. The evolving IoT landscape means that unlike in the past – applications, platforms, and even customers will relate to data differently and because their data needs are constantly growing and becoming complex in nature telecom and ISP providers need to be able to satisfy them adequately if the industry is to continue flourishing.
The government is also currently revising its data regulations and setting up new policies that will incentive new data players, both foreign and domestic, to join the market and further boost the Canadian economy.