Old Fashioned Telephone Lines and the SuperNet Last Mile Solution

There is an interesting article by Fil Fraser on Alberta’s fibre-optic SuperNet in the October issue of Alberta Venture magazine. It is entitled “Only So Super” and it is well worth a read. Fil makes the point that the high-speed Internet access has not made its way into rural Alberta homes and businesses yet. That ubiquity of service was the promise of SuperNet but it has not happened – yet!

This is because the “last mile” connection from the public institutional users like hospitals, schools and libraries does not extend to the private citizen user. That so-called “last mile” of connectivity out to the rest of us in our homes, community groups and businesses has not yet been effectively resolved.

There are Internet Service Providers (ISPs) out there trying to resolve the last mile in rural Alberta using wireless and satellite services but with varying degrees of success. Wireless is a capital intensive and difficult public policy process to put up towers all over the place, and it has technical challenges too. The latency in signals from satellite does not serve video conferencing requirements effectively and video conferencing is going to be a major rural Alberta application of the power of the SuperNet. Some are proposing fibre to the home but that is very expensive and hardly necessary for most user’s needs.

Fraser notes “In less than a decade, technology has moved communications from dial-up services to coaxial cable to wireless networks to the nearly limitless, speed-of-light, carrying capacity of fibre-optic cable.” With the SuperNet, that “speed-of-light” fibre-optic is so close but yet so far from serving rural Alberta citizens and businesses. But until the last mile is really resolved, it is still out of reach.

There is an interesting, exciting and elegant alternative to resolving the last mile for the vast majority of rural Albertans. That solution is good old-fashioned copper telephone wire. That well known and familiar technology is already in every home and business in Alberta that has a land-line telephone. The technology has developed now so you can use it connect small town Albertans to the SuperNet using the reliable, robust, cheap, and ubiquitous copper wire telephone lines - with no new capital costs. Everything old is new again!

But there is a catch. The SuperNet was built by Bell and they are responsible to resolve the last mile issue. Bell’s position is wireless and satellite are enough to resolve the last mile issue, and they may be legally correct. However, As Fil Fraser noted, the accelerating use of video and video conferencing as the new normal expectation for Internet use, means theses “solutions” are not good enough anymore.

Copper wire is a winning solution to deal with the increasing demands of modern Internet users, especially for the new trends towards video and high-definition video conferencing. Here is the catch. All that copper wire in Alberta is owned by Telus and they claim this elegant and obvious last mile solution for rural Albertans is unworkable.

In Fraser’s article Telus likens the use of copper wire for SuperNet access would be like asking them to “build another company a black-and-white TV network instead of the new HDTV network we are halfway through building.” What? I am no techie but I understand Telus uses its copper wire for its own Hi-Def TV service as well as for their DSL Internet service. What is not workable about that?

Telus is suggesting their efforts to place their fibre-optic cable “across much of the province” would require them “…to actually pull out some of that hardware and go back to copper.” Why? I understand they don’t pullout copper wire. They just lay the fibre right beside it. But I am not techie! It would be illogical to pull out copper wire if it was able to provide high speed reliable and robust Internet service capable of video and high definition video conferencing for rural Albertans.

If Telus is laying optic fibre beside copper wire why are they even trying to duplicate the SuperNet? That fibre-optic system was already paid for by Alberta taxpayers? Why wouldn’t Telus access SuperNet themselves and provide all their new services to customers on that system? Saving the capital costs of installing a parallel fibre-optic service seems like a no-brainer and the funds could be used in other ways to improve shareholder value. Am I missing something here?

There is some good news. While the Internet and wireless is unregulated and priced by so-called competitive market forces, good old fashioned copper telephone wire access is still regulated...by the CRTC. So the Internet Centre, the very first commercial Internet Service Provider in Alberta, has taken the matter in hand and has applied to the CRTC for a regulatory ruling. They have filed an application with the CRTC for Telus to provide ISPs the access necessary to their copper wire to provide high-speed Internet service to rural Albertans.

If the Internet Centre is successful then the 180 Alberta communities who currently have no Internet service can get it and get SuperNet access to boot. If you have a landline telephone in a community in Alberta, you will be able to get high-speed Internet service that is capable of handling video and high- definition video conferencing at least the same cost as wireless if not less. Don't you just love competition?

I am no techie, but I have talked to knowledgeable telecom consultants about this unloaded copper wire approach and everyone agrees that it is a great solution. I am advised that SaskTel is already using its copper wire for high-speed Internet access in small communities in Saskatchewan. One consultant told me “Just because copper wire is buried, does not mean it is dead.”

The CRTC advises that there is a 90% chance they will have their decision out before Christmas. Cost effective, reliable and robust high-speed high capacity Internet on copper wire they already have in their homes and businesses would make a nice Christmas present for rural Albertans. Keep your fingers crossed rural Alberta.

Is Jaffer on His Way to the Senate?

Congratulations are called for given the “secret” post-campaign marriage of Rahim Jaffer and Helena Guergis. Mr. Jaffer has also recently conceded the election to Dipper Linda Duncan.

Jaffer Severance Pay:
Don’t cry a tear for Mr. Jaffer and his campaign loss. He will collect $77,700.00 severance pay complements of the Canadian taxpayer. He will have to wait about 20 years to collect his $53,000.00 per year pension.

Senator Jaffer?
In the meantime it would not be a surprise if the Harper Party appointed Mr. Jaffer to the Senate. Jaffer would have to move to Ontario permanently because there are no Senate vacancies in Alberta right now, but Ontario has two openings. How hard will that be to relocate to become an Ontario Senator, especially since his wife is from Ontario?

Senator Jaffer will collect a basic entitlement of $134,400 per year for almost 40 years - until he is 75. If he takes on another role in the Senate he will get a significant top-up in the pay envelope. Dirty work but someone has to do it.

Senate Reform - Bert Brown is now Cool to the Idea!
I wonder if part of the Senate appointment will require Jaffer to support Harper’s campaign promise to institute 8 year term limits for the Senate. Bert Brown is the other Alberta Senate Reform champion but he is reported to be cool to Harper’s ideas on Senate reform all of a sudden. Brown was recently and finally appointed to the Senate as an “elected Senator” from Alberta. Newspaper reports indicate Mr. Brown is now cool to the idea of term limits but he still supports provinces electing Senators. Is anyone surprised?

This seems to put Mr. Brown totally off side with the Harper Party on Senate Reform. Brown does not want to see Harper unilaterally impose term limits because it would create a Constitutional crisis – likely lead by Quebec with Ontario and Atlantic Canada support. That would cause a provincial court challenge and further divide the country. But would Harper care if he is not going to stay in politics much longer than the life of his minority government?

Would Harper want to give up the discretion for Senate appointments to a bunch of wild-eyed reactionaries who might get elected from Provinces who would expect Harper to honour that democratic process? I think not.

Senate Reform is going to be a political sideshow given the serious economic, environment and social issues Canada really faces these days. That does not mean Senate reform will be ignored by the Harper Party. It is still a handy bone to throw to the radical right base that Harper still needs…even more than he needs Quebec…for the short term anyway.

CTV Decides to Defend Themselves on the Dion Interview NOW? SPARE ME!

Here is an example of rationalization after the fact. CTV News is apparently now offering a defence to the airing of the Dion interview where he had to repeatedly ask for a clarification of the question to the effect of what Dion would do differently than Harper "now" if he were Prime Minister.

The question was ambiguous in that "now" could mean if Dion was PM for the same time Harper had been like 2.5 years, or during the current election campaign or afterwards in how he would govern differently if Dion won the election. Dion was seeking a clarification as to which time frame the interview was referencing. The answer would be significantly different in each case.

CTV thought this was so critical to quality journalism that they has a "responsibility" to air it. They had a responsibility all right. Starting with a responsibility to clarify the question would have been a professional place to start, especially in a second language.

Harper spun the event in yet another direction, being the congenitally misleading politician that he is...but that is just the same old mean-spirited politics that seem to be standard in Canada these days.

CTV- this just doesn't cut it. At least CTV you didn't go as far as the RCMP did in the last election and announce a criminal investigation publicly on Income Trusts. The spirit of "being responsible" sure seems to be in the same vein. Later the RCMP found no wrong doing by any politician and only some bureaucrat benefited with insider information. But those facts and that story got little to no play after the "facts."

Re-Engaging Culture Creatives in Public Policy Design

The Alberta Rally for Arts happened in Edmonton near the end of the federal election campaign. It was one of many events across the country to protest the Harper Party arts and culture funding cuts and to mobilize people to get involved in the election. I was asked to help out and here is a clip of part of my comments.

Based on the turnout being the lowest in history one wonders if people are grumpy but not angry enough to get seriousy engaged in effective citizenship.

The culture creatives and progressives in Alberta are a key group that need to re-engage in civics and citizenship if we are to have a cohesive, inclusive and creative society. I am a big believer that the world needs more Canada but Canada has to be more than mere myths of creativity, innnovation and inclusion.

I intend to try to continue to engage progressives and culture creatives in public policy design and development from now on. So you can expect some more "Free Speech" blog posts to those ends going forward.

Canadian Election - The Daily Show

This insight into Canada and our relationship with the USA and our election is so much fun. I love being Canadian just for the reasons Jon Stewart talks about.