[Advisors] Fwd: [Directors] some background -- community broadband advocacy

[Marita Moll]

As background to the proposed online discussion, I am repeating here 
part of the discussion on this issue that appeared on the advisors list 
in late January.

Marita

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [Advisors] TC -- moving ahead in 2015
Date: 	Wed, 21 Jan 2015 22:28:51 -0700
From: 	James Van Leeuwen <jvl at ventus.ca>
To: 	Peter Frampton <pframpton at lefca.org>
CC: 	Marita Moll <mmoll at ca.inter.net>, TC Advisors <advisors at tc.ca>



I've spent most of the last year at the working face of Canada's nascent 
community broadband 'movement'.

Interest is growing rapidly, and there is now a sufficiently strong 
footprint of initiative across Canada to get the attention of senior 
government and the regulator.

Regional initiatives are making the biggest waves, especially the SWIFT 
network initiative in southwestern Ontario:


That said, there is still a serious lack of advocacy for community 
broadband in Canada, compared to the United States:

www.bbcmag.com <http://www.bbcmag.com>
www.ftthcouncil.org <http://www.ftthcouncil.org>
www.muninetworks.org <http://www.muninetworks.org>
www.ruraltelecon.org <http://www.ruraltelecon.org>
www.ntca.org <http://www.ntca.org>
www.ilsr.org <http://www.ilsr.org>

An American firm, Magellan Advisers, just won the bid to conduct a 
broadband feasibility study for Strathcona County, a rural local 
government here in Alberta in immediate proximity to Edmonton.

Several Canadian firms responded to the RFP, including a colleague I've 
been partnering with on a regional broadband strategy for the Alberta 
SouthWest Regional Economic Development Alliance.

My colleague previously developed the business case, business model and 
business plan for the FTTH deployment in Olds, and now sits on the 
governance board of Olds Fibre Ltd. (a.k.a. O-Net, www.o-net.ca 
<http://www.o-net.ca>).

He was unquestionably the most qualified bidder for the specified scope 
of work, and also had the advantage of actually living in Strathcona 
County - he was highly accessible.

We think he was overlooked because the U.S. has a much stronger 
footprint in community broadband, and Magellan is the heaviest hitter in 
the U.S. service sector for community broadband.

Magellan doesn't know a damned thing about Canada, but nobody ever got 
fired for hiring a strong brand name.

I expect this will be costly for Strathcona County, and I don't mean 
higher mobilization costs.


If Canadian firms are to compete effectively in the emerging 
community/municipal broadband market, they will need advocacy as well.

There is a pressing need for an agency to provide exposure, advocacy and 
guidance for community broadband in Canada, for the benefit of smaller 
communities first and foremost, but also for the growing service sector 
that communities and regional collaborations will require in order to 
establish and advance initiatives most effectively.

I had hoped that iCANADA would evolve into this agency, but the lure of 
branding and consulting dollars seems to have pulled the initiative 
strongly towards the supply side of Canada's tech and telecom industries 
(incumbents).

iCANADA now appears to be a Canadian extension of the Intelligent 
Community Forum, which is based in New York City 
(www.intelligentcommunity.org <http://www.intelligentcommunity.org>).

The ICF is naturally biased towards the interests of larger urban 
centers, which are already far better served with broadband and also 
with advocacy (votes), thank you very much.

For smaller communities across North America, the Intelligent Community 
brand is generally a marketing liability.


Efforts are now underway to frame an initiative that would effectively 
advance the interests of Canadian communities large AND small.

I'm presently on the outside looking in, but I will jump at the 
opportunity to get involved as the initiative unfolds.

As a policy shop with a Canadian focus, TC could bring relevant and 
immediate capacity to this proposed agency.

You can see where I'm headed with this, but I'm already getting ahead of 
myself.

For now, the only opportunity may be for TC to become involved in the 
framing discussion.

If the TC Board and membership are amenable, I would like to explore 
this possibility and report back.

JvL




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