Community Broadband Policy

Govenment policy, regulation and support of broadband deployment is an important factor in the development of community internet access. Rural versus urban, competition and existing industry segments are all factors which must be taken into account. On this page we sample global direction. The importance to senior governments of widely accessable broadband access to the internet.

FCC Adopts Rules for Broadband Over Power Lines (pdf):
"Access BPL is a new technology that provides access to high speed broadband services using the largely untapped communications capabilities of the nationÕs power grid. By facilitating access to BPL, the Commission takes an important step toward increasing the availability of broadband"October 14, 2004

FCC Removes More Roadblocks to Broadband Deployment in Residential Neighborhoods (pdf):
"…relieved incumbent local telephone companies of most obligations to lease advanced fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network facilities to competitors at a regulated, cost-based price. The FCC found that those obligations discouraged incumbent carriersÕ investment in FTTH broadband facilities."October 14, 2004

World Summit on the Information Society: Geneva 2003, Tunis 2005
The World Summit on the Information Society will provide a unique opportunity for all key stakeholders to assemble at a high-level gathering and to develop a better understanding of this revolution and its impact on the international community. It aims to bring together Heads of State, Executive Heads of United Nations agencies, industry leaders, non-governmental organizations, media representatives and civil society in a single high-level event. The roles of the various partners (Member States, UN specialized agencies, private sector and civil society) in ensuring smooth coordination of the practical establishment of the information society around the globe will also be at the heart of the Summit and its preparation.
Portion of a speech (.doc) made by Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi at a regional meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), November 7-9, in Bucharest. …"We need a new global governance framework. Developing policy frameworks for cyberspace-to deal with issues of cyber-crime, security, taxation, intellectual property protection, or privacy-is something like establishing a new government in the New World. I recall the early history of colonial states in the USA or the story of El Dorado in Spanish America. But cyberspace is an invisible world and much more complex. Its inhabitants are not only individuals but include corporations, governments and even sovereign states. They require new mechanisms for coordination. We need a much more stronger political will to solve the issues than our ancestors did in establishing a state in their newly conquered territories."

Broadband for Rural and Norther Development:
Industry Canada's Broadband for Rural and Northern Development Pilot Program provides funding through a competitive process to bring publicly available broadband access to Canadian communities, with priority given to First Nations, northern, remote and rural communities which are currently unserved by Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or cable modem service. The broadband initiative is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to ensuring broadband access for all Canadian communities by 2005.

Canadian Department of Justice:
The Department of Justice Canada has issued a call for comments on various "Lawful Access" proposals which would, amongst other things, require ISPs and Telcos to put in place systems to track, store and monitor all internet access by Canadians. Discussion

Connecting Canadians:
the federal government's vision and plan to make Canada the most connected country in the world. In an increasingly competitive and knowledge-based global economy, Canada can benefit by becoming a world leader in the development and use of advanced information and communications technologies.

National Broadband Taskforce: has made recommendations to the Government of Canada on how best to make high-speed broadband Internet services available to all Canadian communities by the year 2004.

Dream of wired Canada depends on Rock January 16, 2002
One of Allan Rock's first challenges as the new minister of Industry will be to take charge of the connectivity agenda - enabling Canadians to become the world's most sophisticated users of the Internet and leading suppliers of technology, software and content. Report Summary ( pdf ). Social Economic Impact of Broadband In Rural Communities:
A Preliminary Brief ( pdf ) Resource Centre: A wide range of well focused recent research reports and papers
Overview of Cook Report on the Internet available in full from the resource centre.

Premier's Technology Council appointed British Columbia, Canada: ( Aug 20, 2001 )
In August 2001, Premier Gordon Campbell announced the formation of a Premier's Technology Council, whose mandate is to provide advice to the Premier on all technology-related issues facing British Columbia and its citizens. Anyone wishing to get in touch with the Priemier's Council can write to Premiers.TechnologyCouncil@gems8.gov.bc.ca or to Premier's Technology Council, 730 - 999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC, V6C 3E1

Second Quarterly Report Premier's Technology Council ( pdf 133 pages) ( April 2, 2002 )
A wide ranging report encompasing reports from task groups including:

Access & Opportunity
Network Infrastructure
Public Access and Digital Literacy
Operations & Services
Growth and Development
Marketing & Public Awareness

First Quarterly Report Premier's Technology Council ( pdf 69 pages) ( November 2001 )
In its first quarterly report (November 2001), the Premier's Technology Council identified a number of key issues as critical to putting British Columbia at the forefront of the world's technologically-advanced economies and to improving the quality of life of its citizens. These include ways to remove barriers to high-speed telecommunications networks, to improve efficiencies in government operations and services (e-health, e-learning, e-government), and to stimulate technology industry growth and development. One of the first sets of recommendations the council will be bringing forward will focus on the strategies to bridge the digital divide - the figurative line that separates British Columbians who have the access and skills needed to make use of information from those who do not.
The Digital Divide in British Columbia ( pdf ): a dicussion paper.
Gerri Sinclair has been appointed president of the Premier's Technology Council. ( Sept 26,2001 )
New members appointed to technology council ( November 9, 2001 )
The new members are George Hunter, executive director of the B.C. Technology Industries Association; David Sutcliffe, chair and CEO of Sierra Wireless Inc.; and Douglas Manning, CEO and president of Bridges.com Inc. They join 14 other business leaders, researchers and educators from all major technology sectors, appointed Aug. 20.
Council presents strategies to bridge digital divide.pdf 57 pages ( November 22, 2001 )
The council's report details a range of options for ways the private and public sectors can work together to expand Internet access. These include expanding local access to high-capacity broadband lines in a way that allows several community service providers to use the same regional network. The report also explores how increasing the emphasis on electronic initiatives like e-health, e-learning and e-procurement can help renew services and make government more efficient.…"We have defined our major issues and the work that lies ahead of us. We now want to receive input from key stakeholders to help identify opportunities to achieve these goals and make British Columbia a global magnet for high-tech investment, growth and job creation."

Openaccess: -- Technical and political issues surrounding open access on public telecommunications networks. This mailing list focuses on developing technical and political solutions to making possible non-discriminatory access by third parties to underlying public telecommunications infrastructures and support structures.

Implementing Competition In Broadband.: ( Feburary 25, 2002 )
After 5 years of experimentations with the the implementation of local exchange competition, we are now reaching the point where the focus of regulators appears to be crossing over from telephony competition to so-called "Broadband", thus leaving behind, unfinished, a task which has barely begun. One cannot but conclude that citizens are sending mixed messages to regulators: "Please give us a choice of local exchange telephone service providers. Ah, but wait, we want broadband now!". A commentary on the release of Prof. Faulhaber's paper entitled Policy-Induced Competition: The Telecommunications Experiments ( pdf ) Regulatory:
Promotion of the deployment of next generation Internet Protocol applications, of which, open access for Internet Telephony is the prime motivator. Essays and links to current and open related issues FCC and CRTC

BCIA: British Columbia Internet Association. Is a non-profit society representing the interests of the Internet industry in British Columbia.. ( September 30th - October 2nd ), BCIA Conference, Pentiction.

The Digital Divide Policy Forum -- Working to Connect British Columbians. The Digital Divide Policy Forum has been launched by a number of organizations and individuals concerned with the need to develop a broad consensus within British Columbia on how to Bridge the Digital Divide. The recently elected Provincial Government has also recognized the importance of connecting all British Columbians, and has asked the recently appointed Premier's Technology Council to develop a plan to "Bridge the Digital Divide" in British Columbia. The Council is to report back to the government in November of this year. - In a very short period of time, BC needs to develop, as a Province, a strategy on the Digital Divide that has broad and knowledgeable support. We need a Work Plan with specific targets and outcomes that are understood and shared by British Columbians. List Server

Digital Divide References: Open Directory Project

Digital Divide Network: Knowledge to help everyone succeed in the digital age. USA

What is the Digital Divide: Sociodemographic barriers to utilisation and participation in telecommunications services and their regional distribution: a quantitative analysis.
Around the world, the concept of a 'digital divide' is being used to describe disparities in the use of the Internet and new communications services across different social groups. A survey of the latest data has found that income and social situation are the key factors determining which side of the 'digital divide' Australians are on.

eEurope: A digial Society for all. The story of the e-Economy is complex, but it is one we need to understand. The prosperity of the EU's 377million citizens - or about half a billion if we include candidate countries - depends on it.
You can teach an old continent new tricks.

BC CEDNet: The British Columbia Community Economic Development Network. B.C.'s towns and neighbourhoods have a vital role to play in strengthening our provincial economy. This Fall, BC CEDNet and a large number of partner organizations will organize a series of forums at which B.C. citizens can discuss that role and the public policies required to support it.

BCNet: BCNET is an advanced network serving education, research and development, government and industry in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Using the latest in technology, it provides many organizations (and hundreds of thousands of people) with high-speed, reliable connections to each other and to the worldwide Internet. Re-designing Networks by Michael Hyrbyk , Expanding Optical Networks in BC

CANARIE: Canada's Advanced Network Development Corporation. CANARIE's mission is to accelerate Canada's advanced Internet development and use by facilitating the widespread adoption of faster, more efficient networks and by enabling the next generation of advanced products, applications and services to run on them.

"A Nation Goes Online": Canada's Internet History: ( June 21, 2001 )
An historical account of the Canadian Internet, it is told by the people who worked on the frontlines - the believers, the researchers, the innovators, the businessmen, and the politicians. It was their commitment and hard work which led to a national network. CA*net, Canada's first national Internet, was the beginning of a new kind of Canadian infrastructure for a new age - the information age. Summary The Coming Revolution in Dark Fibre Networks, Advanced Networks Workshop with .ppt presentations Filling the Pipe: Stimulationg Canada's Broadband Content Industry through R&D.
addresses the state of broadband content development in Canada and the needs of the stakeholders within the industry. The goal of the study was to determine ways to stimulate the development of advanced broadband content by Canadian companies for use on the rapidly developing networks by audiences in Canada and abroad. Summary, Discussion Forum. CA*Net 3: Canada's Research and Education Internet backbone, connecting individual universities, federal and provincial government labs and research institutes through provincially based Regional Advanced Networks, or RANs. Lists, FAQ on Dark Fibre, CAnet-3-News ( Mailing List Archive sorted by date )

GAIT: Group for Advanced Information Technology is part of the Technology Centre at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), and is an amalgamation of three working groups formerly known as Applied Research in Computer Systems (ARCS) Lab, Media Studio, and  Interactive Media Lab. Internet Engineering Laboratory

BCCNA: BC Community Networks Association is a non-profit society formed in 1993 to support the development of community computer networks in British Columbia. BCFree Mailing List

BC Ministry of Competition Science and Enterprize: brings together government programs dedicated to building a competitive business climate and a strong British Columbia economy.

CRTC: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is an independent agency responsible for regulating Canada's broadcasting and telecommunications systems. We report to parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

CRTC and The New Media ( 1999 )
Now &endash; to the essence of our conclusion: The CRTC will not regulate new media services on the Internet. Our message is clear. Let me repeat that for those of you who were worried &endash; the CRTC will not regulate any portion of the Internet. CRTC: Optical Fibre Service ( July 16, 1998 )
Pursuant to the Commission's directive in Tariff Filings Related to the Installation of Optical Fibres, Telecom Decision CRTC 97-7, 23 April 1997 (Decision 97-7), BC TEL under Tariff Notice (TN) 3660, Bell Canada (Bell) under TN 6067, TELUS Communications Inc. (TCI) under TN 933, TELUS Communications (Edmonton) Inc. (TCEI) under TN 59, and MTS Communications Inc. (formerly MTS NetCom Inc.) (MTS) under TN 280, filed proposed tariff revisions for the introduction of optical fibre service under General Tariffs (GTs). BC TEL under TN 3660A, and Bell in a letter, subsequently submitted their respective standard agreements with customers for the provision of optical fibre service.

Connecting Canadians: is the federal government's vision and plan to make Canada the most connected country in the world. In an increasingly competitive and knowledge-based global economy, Canada can benefit by becoming a world leader in the development and use of advanced information and communications technologies.

Changing Our Ways: Why and How Canadians Use the Internet: ( March 26, 2001 ) Using the StatsCanada 2000 General Social Survey data on individual Internet use, this article explores the use of the Internet, and its social impact on Canadians. During the year 2000, an estimated 13 million, or 53% of Canadians over 15 years of age, said they used the Internet at home, work or somewhere else in the last 12 months. Most non-users say cost and access are their greatest barriers to the Internet. The majority of Canadians feel everyone should have access to the Internet, but they are divided about who should remove the barriers

MIT Center for Technology, Policy,and Industrial Development:
CTPID's mission is to develop new knowledge, advanced technological strategies, and innovative partnerships that address global industrial and policy issues and to provide an enriched environment for MIT faculty and students to pursue their intellectual interests.

Digitial Broadband Migration Part II ( October 23, 2001 )
"The widespread deployment of broadband infrastructure has become the central communications policy objective today." He outlined five specific areas that will guide the Commission's policy.

New Library: the People's Network ( April 1st, 1999 )
This development of an information society and the introduction of the UK Public Library Network - the people's network - will require the library service itself to change. This report describes the nature of the changes required and proposes the establishing of a Public Library Networking Agency to bring them about, while maintaining the best of what people currently value in their local library service.