ICT's potential in Canada's Arctic (Oana Spinu, session 5)

Director of Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation Oana Spinu talks about information and communications technology gaps and needs in the Canadian Arctic.

An accompanying video of the session in which this presentation was given can be found on the Arctic Futures Symposium VIMEO channel https://vimeo.com/147663907 . Ms. Spinu's presentation starts at 1:09:24.

Transcript

1. ICT’s potential in Canada’s Arctic November 18, 2015 Arctic Futures Symposium Oana Spinu, Executive Director oana@nunavut-broadband.ca
2. Outline § Brief introduction to NBDC § Telecommunications policy & the Canadian Arctic § A closer look at telecommunications in Nunavut § Nunavut demographics § Historic funding approach and its consequences § Broadband & education § Moving forward
3. NBDC: Community champion § The Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation (NBDC) is a vendor and technology neutral, non-profit organization § Community champion: from 2002 to 2016, NBDC will have managed over $66 million in federal investments and matching private sector funds dedicated to broadband
4. NBDC: Consumer advocate § Representing Nunavut consumer interests at CRTC proceedings: the current review of basic telecommunications services, the satellite transport inquiry, and the review of NorthwesTel’s modernization plan § Vendor independent speedtest § 2012 Nunavut Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Summit § Nunavut fibre feasibility study § Nunavut broadband socioeconomic impact assessment
5. Information gap? § Existing work § 2010 – Plan for a Digital Canada (Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications) § 2011 – Arctic Communication Infrastructure Assessment Report - A Matter of Survival: Arctic Communications Infrastructure in the 21st Century (Imatuk) § 2013 – Northern Connectivity: Ensuring Quality Communications (Nordicity & The Conference Board of Canada) § 2013 – Mapping the Long-term options for Canada’s North: Telecommunications and Broadband Connectivity (The Conference Board of Canada) § 2014 – Northern Connections: Broadband and Canada's Digital Divide (Public Policy Forum) § In progress § 2015-2016 – CRTC review of basic telecommunication services § 2015 – Arctic Council’s Task Force on Telecommunications Infrastructure in the Arctic
6. Plan for a Digital Canada § Inclusive approach: Universal = 100% of the population § Reinvest profits from spectrum auctions in rural and remote broadband § Focus on what Canadians need to access essential digital services, not on a particular speed or technology
7. ACIA Report § Report was commissioned as a response to the communications system failures experienced during a 2009 military exercise § Largely from the perspective of government users and their needs § First comprehensive assessment, unequivocally demonstrated that Arctic communications infrastructure is inadequate to meet current let alone future needs
8. ACIA Report § Identified key challenges: § Economically challenging region to serve § Existing funding models are not meeting the rapid pace of technological change § No comprehensive Arctic communications infrastructure strategy § Recommendations include: § Arctic-specific strategy § service parity (North-South and within the North)
9. Meanwhile… § CRTC Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291: The Commission considers that the deployment of broadband Internet access services, including deployment in rural and remote areas, should continue to rely on market forces and targeted government funding, an approach which encourages private and public partnerships. Accordingly, the Commission concludes that it would not be appropriate at this time to establish a funding mechanism to subsidize the deployment of broadband Internet access services. …Commission establishes target speeds of 5 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. These speeds should be available to all Canadians, through a variety of technologies, by the end of 2015.
10. Northern Connectivity § Goal was “to identify measurable technical and financial solutions to ensure quality communication services” § Target speeds for different user groups, 9Mbps/1.5Mbps for “Arctic household” § Presented four options ranging in cost from $622.7 million to $2.178 billion (CAD) § With and without redundancy § Different backhaul technologies: satellite, microwave and fibre
11. Northern Connectivity § Economic benefits of meeting minimum targets
12. Meanwhile… § CRTC Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2013-711 The Commission also considers that, without its intervention, the digital divide within Northwestel’s territory (i.e.terrestrially versus satellite-served communities) will likely not be resolved. … the Commission is of the view that it will not be possible for Northwestel alone to deliver the telecommunications services needed by Canadians across the company’s vast operating territory. Accordingly, the Commission will launch in 2014 1) an inquiry on satellite transport services offered in Canada, and 2) a proceeding in which, among other things, it intends to establish a mechanism to fund infrastructure investment in transport facilities in Northwestel’s operating territory. This mechanism would complement other investments from the private sector and governments, including public- private partnerships.
13. Conference Board § First report to examine the significant digital divide between aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities in the North
14. Conference Board § First report to consider consumer needs on par with government needs, and other northern stakeholders
15. Conference Board § Key findings and recommendations: § Northern stakeholders should investigate options for shared network infrastructure and shared information technology (IT) services in high-cost areas. Infrastructure models that place too much stress on the obligations of incumbent carriers, or too much hope in the salutary effects of nascent competition, can stall innovation. Shared—open access—infrastructure can help distribute the cost of deploying next-generation backhaul, and promote fair and transparent pricing. § Aboriginal participation in network development and IT services deserves encouragement and support.
16. Meanwhile… § February 2014 - Federal Budget announced Connecting Canadians Program § 5Mbps downstream and 45GB monthly cap minimum for projects in the rest of Canada § Northern Component has 3Mbps downstream and 20GB monthly cap target for projects § April 2014 - Digital Canada 150 released § Sets goal for 98% of Canadians to have access to a minimum download speeds of 5Mbps by 2017
17. Federal investments § Over the period 2009-2016, total subsidies provided for conventional voice services are 2.5 times the funding for broadband services
18. The digital divide will widen Data sources: Ookla Net Index (for actual Canadian download speeds, projected speeds based on growth from Jan. 2104 to June 2015), CRTC Communication Monitoring reports for 2009-2014 (for actual GB uploaded and downloaded by Canadian consumer), Cisco (2015) The Zettabyte Era—Trends and Analysis (for Canadian data traffic growth projections), Broadband Canada program definition (for actual Nunavut speed and data cap), Connecting Canadians program definition (for projected Nunavut speed and data cap)
19. Nunavut § Satellite-served, no road links to rest of Canada § Vast area, challenging geography § Small, young, predominantly Inuit population § Low education attainment § High annual economic growth, high level of income inequality § “Nowhere else in Canada is an education more relevant to a person’s employment and financial wellbeing than in Nunavut.” (2013 Nunavut Economic Outlook)
20. Broadband & Education § UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression: “access to the Internet will progressively be a key element of the right to education.” § “Homework gap” in Nunavut § 42 schools, 4000 students and their teachers share 16.5MHz (essentially 16.5Mbps) § Low income families less likely to have Internet access at home
21. Broadband & Education That’s a problem because one-half of all jobs now require some level of digital skills. By the end of the decade, that number will be 77 percent. School-aged kids without broadband access at home are not only unable to complete their homework, they enter the job market with a serious handicap. And that loss is more than individual. It’s a loss to our collective human capital and shared economic future that we need to address. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, 2015
22. Broadband & Education § Cisco’s Connected North pilot project: delivering immersive and interactive education though HD telepresence in 5 schools in Nunavut § 86% of students participated during Connected North virtual sessions § Enhanced learning experience § Enhanced teaching experience “In Iqaluit alone, students are missing on average 41 days of school each year and 75% of Inuit children drop out of high school…Connected North is a crucial step in rectifying the situation. Since its adoption, the program has been met with great enthusiasm among the students and new levels of engagement and attendance.” Donald Peters, Principal of Aqsarniit Middle School Source: Cisco Canada
23. Moving Forward § Hybrid network: satellite alone will not meet Nunavut’s long-term needs § Most probable way to bring fibre to the North is through government intervention/open access policies § Broadband adoption requires more than just service availability: § funding for low income households § funding for schools, public libraries and other community anchor institutions § digital literacy initiatives
24. Moving Forward § Important to have evidence- based policy but it is equally important to move from fact- finding to action § Possibilities for regional cooperation in Inuit Nunangat § Local (Inuit) involvement in network ownership and governance Source: Government of Canada