I think your question was how do you get connectivity in Canada? It is a big task. We have 36 million people, and the country is arguably the second-largest in the world, but a significant number of us live within 100 miles of the border, which is about 3,000 miles or so wide. It is a geographical challenge, no question, because of the investment for companies. If you want large, strong companies that are going to compete internationally, they have to have a return on their investments, which is natural.
Certainly there are ways of doing it. We should be on top of the 5G technology that's coming out. Because of companies like Nortel and BlackBerry, Canada still has some of the best radio engineers in the world. We should be on the 5G because it is the next generation. It take wireless to the next stage. It supports the Internet of things that we're going to have everywhere. You can't do Internet of things unless you have 5G.
To get to connectivity, your specific question, the government is already putting another $500 million into Connect Canada. I understand they want to call it something different but it's Connect Canada, the extension of fibre optics further out, which is very good. Certainly Canada is prime for satellite. We need to develop more satellite connections for the more remote areas because it's just not advantageous to go far afield. I was in Saskatchewan; we go up to the 60th parallel. We have communities and to get fibre optics up there is just not economically advantageous. A satellite can do the job.
It has to be a holistic approach though. You have to have an investment that goes not only into urban areas because companies have to get more connectivity into urban areas, however it's easier. That's where the competition usually comes, but to develop the connectivity out farther, there has to be a partnership between government and business. I know government can't do it on its own, nor can business.