Industry Committee on March 19th, 2013

[Alain Beaudoin]

We're aware that some stakeholders have asked to have a portion dedicated to it. On that specifically, I would have to get back to you with details, just to be sure I provide you with the appropriate answer.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

But I assume the department is looking into that possibility.

[Alain Beaudoin]

We're looking at any possibilities. We have ongoing consultations with the stakeholders, and we know for a fact that some stakeholders have called for the issue you referred to.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Have you done any work to see whether that really is the case, that there would be the 5% to 10% savings on it?

[Alain Beaudoin]

I'm not in a position to answer that. I don't know. We'd have to get back to you on this through the clerk.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Your target is 2015. How realistic is it that you will be able to reach your target?

[Alain Beaudoin]

Which target are you...?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

I mean the target that the CRTC has set for broadband Internet access. Is the government going to come back and report here on whether it's going to be accessible to all Canadians by 2015?

You may have addressed this earlier; I'm not sure.

[Alain Beaudoin]

With regard to the upcoming 700-megahertz auction, when the minister made the announcement on March 7, he referred to e-mails that the auction would take place on November 19 of this year, and the auctions will start on November 19, 2013.

Is that what your question was all about?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Yes, exactly.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Madam Sgro.

We'll now move on to the next round of five-minute question sessions.

Mr. McColeman, you have five minutes.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses.

You mentioned, in one of the slides, that satellites are now starting to be looked upon as a real possibility for the future, in terms of speeds and competitiveness.

Is there anything more you can explain to us in terms of the role you see these devices playing in future access?

[Pamela Miller]

Certainly satellite offers great possibilities for the very remote areas. With the new technologies, as I mentioned earlier, we see what is called a “10 times” throughput increase in the speeds that can be achieved.

Recently we had two of these high-speed satellites launched. I think they are going to offer up greatly expanded opportunities for what could be done using those technologies. I would suggest, if you wanted to have a more in-depth description of the satellite industry, that we could come back to you. You might also invite some of our private sector participants in this area who are active. We have some good Canadian innovators in this area.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

That was going to be my follow-up. Who are the Canadian players in that particular segment?

[Pamela Miller]

We have a number of companies. Of course we have Telesat, and we also have companies that offer services using satellites. Barrett Xplore certainly has been a leader in this regard.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Excellent.

Let's go on to your comments about the competition. I think the way you're structuring things is to guarantee individual providers in all markets. Is the ultimate purpose to give the consumer a benefit of lessening the cost of services? Is that one of the goals?

[Pamela Miller]

I would say that overall we're looking at having better prices. Increased competition leads to innovation and better services, and it has an overall positive impact on consumers. Since 2008, when we ended the AWS set-aside, we have seen a 10% decrease in wireless prices. Now our prices in the wireless area are actually better than those in the U.S.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

That's good news, and I think it ties in to the next question. It's about the graph that shows that by 2016, total traffic will be nearly four times higher than in 2011. When I look at that graph and see how dramatic this increase has been in the relatively short period of time since 2011, the question comes across my mind: how does Canada fare, with this kind of growth, in comparison with other countries? I know you have given us investment dollars and some comparisons, but are we keeping up in terms of scaling up to meet this demand? Are we doing the necessary investing—meaning, are the players doing the necessary investing—on this kind of trajectory?

[Alain Beaudoin]

The growth in other countries is quite similar in terms of the increased demand for mobile; it's something we see across similar countries.

As to your questions about what Canada is doing, the government thinks the March 7 announcement to auction the 700-megahertz spectrum and the 2,500-megahertz spectrum in the next few years will give access to additional spectrum that will be required to increase capacity to meet the demand.

At the same time, the government is mindful of the fact that there will be increased demand for more commercial mobile. That's why, as part of the announcement, the minister announced that we're launching consultations on what we call a commercial spectrum outlook and will consult with the stakeholders as to identified future needs for mobile in order to meet the growing demand and to make sure that we can identify the spectrum as we move forward, in order to re-auction it in years to come.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

That seems to be critical in terms of Canada competing on opening up the opportunities commercially in the emerging markets. As you've said, it is to set the platform for companies to be able to do that.

Are there any other innovative approaches or best practices that you see happening in other countries—this will be my last question—that we could be piggy-backing on, or adopting, or that would fit the type of platform our government is setting? Is there anything else we could be doing? I guess that's the last part of that question.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

You'll have to think about that question and maybe squeeze in the answer at some other time. Time has run out on that question round.

Thank you, Mr. McColeman.

It is now over to Ms. Borg for five minutes.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

Just over three years ago, the former industry minister announced a digital strategy for Canada. Both industry and the general population welcomed the announcement. It was supposed to give us an overview, an opportunity to tie all the access issues to the digital economy and even digital literacy.

Several other countries have already begun implementing their digital strategies, Australia and Great Britain, to name a couple. In Canada, however, it seems to be more of an urban legend. We haven't heard anything about it in a while. Minister Paradis said it was coming. Can you give us an update? Where do things stand now?

[Alain Beaudoin]

To answer your question, I would say that, further to consultations carried out in 2010, the government has put forward numerous measures to support the digital economy. My colleague and I mentioned—

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Sorry for interrupting, but my question was about the digital strategy specifically.

[Alain Beaudoin]

I'm getting to that.

The government put forward numerous measures that support the digital economy, including the spectrum auction the minister announced on March 7. Many other measures that support the digital economy have also been announced in recent years. For instance, the adoption and use of the information technologies we were talking about earlier. The IRAP initiative also comes to mind. It's a program to help small and medium-sized businesses adopt solutions to increase their Web presence and obtain loans to acquire the necessary equipment. The Business Development Bank of Canada also plays a role.

Other measures have been taken as well, precisely because businesses in the ICT sector required more resources within IRAP given that they are such major innovators. In fact, the ICT sector accounts for more than 30% of all private sector research and development in Canada. IRAP supports businesses in their efforts to innovate and pursue research and development. Those are some of the measures that have been implemented.

The government has also advanced numerous initiatives under the legal framework, copyright, for example. All of those measures support the digital economy.