We don’t have to argue about the potential of the Internet, do we?

Its value as a social, political and economic tool is well-known; its efficiency at distributing data — be it for entertainment, health, academic research or business innovation — seems unsurpassed.

So why are we entrusting this valuable national resource to third-party, for-profit companies, soon perhaps based in other jurisdictions?

What Canada needs is its own Internet infrastructure, and the country needs a new crown corporation to run an alternative telecom service provider.

Cellphone users are complaining about high prices and a lack of choice; a new public utility could offer such options. Web surfers are concerned about the paucity of Internet exchange points in Canada, and the fact that fewer IXPs means much of our Internet traffic has to travel through the U.S. (Canada has just a handful; the U.S., has dozens of centres where huge volumes of Internet traffic is routed).

With much discussion erupting around the possibility of a major U.S. telco coming into the Canadian market, and the hope such an entrant would in fact offer us all better smartphone and data rates than current providers do, calls for a public entity to provide telecom services across the country are becoming more widespread.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada is now calling on the federal government to scale back what it calls the advantages being offered to Verizon Communications to set up as a fourth major carrier.

Instead, it is proposing that a Crown Corporation be established to fulfill the same objective: lower costs, competitive offerings, continued development, truly national coverage.

“To get out of a crisis it’s important for a government to be able to think ‘outside the box’ and setting up a public telco would be a smart way to do just that,” said CEP President Dave Coles.

“Instead of giving a slew of benefits to a gigantic U.S.-based corporation that will take the jobs, expertise and profits out of the country, why not set up a Crown telecommunications company that will hire Canadians, build on this country’s impressive history in the sector and return the surplus to the public?” asks Coles.

There are proposals that, during the upcoming wireless spectrum auction process that gets underway later this year, the government itself should become ‘a bidder’, and reserve some of the valuable 700 MHz wireless spectrum for public use.

‘Canada Wireless’ would be in charge, acting as a Crown Corporation, accountable to Parliament and therefore, to the Canadian public.

Such a move would not be as unusual as it sounds.

Communications service provider Telecom New Zealand, for example, offers mobile and fixed line telephony, consumer and business Internet and related services across its island home.

TNZ was first formed more than 25 years ago as a division of the New Zealand Post Office; it was eventually privatized and it is now a publicly-traded company with a strong cash flow, rising stock price and regular dividend payments.

Closer to home, SaskTel is a provincially owned Crown Corporation; not only does it provide telecom services for Saskatchewan residents, the company offers software development and consulting services around the world.

In its most recent financial report, SaskTel revenues increased a couple of percentage points over the previous years, as more and more customers sign up for new wireless services, increased data packages, and new IPTV offerings.

“If Industry Canada Minister James Moore doesn’t trust a union leader’s opinion on setting up a Crown Corporation he can call conservative Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall to ask him about the many benefits of a public telecommunications operator,” says Coles.

Canadian policy-makers like Moore and Treasury Board head Tony Clement have an opportunity to create a more competitive Canadian information and communications infrastructure: one that supports continued technological innovation, one that delivers a capable and competitive cell and smartphone ecosystem, one that protects its citizens from the machinations of foreign jurisdictions, one that is ultimately accountable to the Canadian public.

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submitted by Lee Rickwood