Report to/Rapport
au :
Corporate Services
and Economic Development Committee
Comité des services organisationnels et du
développement économique
and Council/et au Conseil
07 June 2002/
le 7 juin 2002
Submitted by/Soumis par : Ned Lathrop, General Manager/Directeur
général
Development Services Department
/ Services d’aménagement
Contact/Personne-ressource
: Robin Mackay, Manager, Business
Initiatives / Gestionnaire, Initiatives d’affaires
580-2424 ext
22632, rob.mackay@ottawa.ca
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Ref N°: ACS2002-DEV-BUS-0006 |
SUBJECT: DEVELOPMENT OF BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY PLAN
FOR OTTAWA
OBJET: ÉLABORATION D’UN PLAN DE CONNECTIVITÉ À LARGE BANDE POUR OTTAWA
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend Council approve:
1. The
vision and strategy for broadband connectivity as outlined in this report;
2. That Telecom Ottawa lead the implementation
of the above-noted vision;
3. That the Business Development Branch
request Telecom Ottawa to prepare a Broadband Connectivity Plan to identify the
implementation strategy for the City; and
4. That the Business Development Branch review the Broadband Connectivity Plan, initiate public consultation on the plan, and submit for Council's approval as part of the Charting a Course process.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des services organisationnels et
du développement économique recommande au Conseil municipal d’approuver :
1. la vision et la stratégie relatives à la connectivité à large
bande, tel qu’il est décrit dans le présent rapport;
2. que Telecom Ottawa dirige la mise en œuvre de la vision
susmentionnée;
3. que la Direction du développement des affaires demande à Telecom
Ottawa d’élaborer un plan de connectivité à large bande en vue de dégager une
stratégie de mise en œuvre pour la Ville;
4. que la Direction du développement des
affaires examine le plan de connectivité à large bande, lance une consultation
publique à cet égard et soumette le plan à l’approbation du Conseil dans le
cadre de Tracer l’itinéraire.
BACKGROUND
This report discusses the need for the preparation of a strategic plan for the deployment of broadband telecommunication infrastructure across Ottawa. Community input to date on this matter has supported the case for the City to take a leadership role in the development of a Broadband Connectivity Plan that will address the connectivity needs of both the urban and rural areas of the community. This step would allow Ottawa, by the early part of 2003, to take its place as one of the first cities in North America to have such a plan for the strategic deployment of broadband connectivity.
DEFINITION OF BROADBAND
Broadband refers to the high-speed transfer of information using technologies such as telephone wires (e.g. Bell’s “Sympatico High Speed Edition”), wireless transmission between fixed transmitters and receivers (e.g. Storm Internet Service), fibre optic cabling, satellite services and co-axial cable transmission (e.g. Rogers high speed service). Accessing the Internet by way of a telephone dial-up service through a modem is not considered to be broadband.
Data rich applications such as full motion video require more telecommunication capacity (bits of information per second) or bandwidth than a low bandwidth application such as email. Using current technologies, a transmission rate of 1.5 megabits per second (1.5 million bits of information per second) is often considered to be the minimum speed for acceptable broadband applications. In the future broadband applications will require a much higher minimum transmission speed.
THE ECONOMIC GENERATORS REPORT COMPLETED IN THE YEAR 2000
Two years ago the former Regional Government, with the assistance of the ICF Group out of San Jose, California completed a strategic plan for Ottawa’s export economy. Several business clusters that were generating wealth for the region by selling abroad such as photonics, telecommunication, tourism, etc. were identified through this exercise. To strengthen these clusters and help improve their performance, the strategic plan, commonly referred to as the “Generators Report” proposed several key initiatives that would support these export industries and in turn have positive spin-off effects for the rest of the region’s economy.
One of the key initiatives put forward by the consultant was referred to as “Ottawa Connects: A far reaching Telecommunication Initiative for the 21st Century”. While the ICF Group recognized that broadband networks were being developed particularly in urban Ottawa, the consultant suggested that through this initiative, the RMOC could go beyond the basics and accelerate the building of an advanced broadband network across the entire Region for the 21st Century.
According to the ICF Group, a state of the art telecommunication infrastructure could be likened to the basic road and highway infrastructure built in the early years of the 20th Century. Electronic connectivity of people, enterprises and institutions would likely have the same stimulating effect on innovation and economic development, as did the basic transportation networks built nearly 100 years ago.
The Ottawa Partnership (TOP) endorsed the Generators Report and this initiative and late last year took an important first step (i.e. a workshop to develop a broadband vision for Ottawa) in implementing the recommendation.
FOCUS ON BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE
TOP has acknowledged that if the community wants to become one of the most connected cities in the world and encourage smart growth, then leadership in the planning, coordination and utilization of broadband infrastructures will be necessary. To encourage this to happen a three-pronged approach is necessary:
1. Development of online services – set an example of efficient and effective use of online applications and services by making City information and a wide range of transactions accessible online;
2. Facilitation of universal access – address the digital divide* by ensuring that all the constituents of the City have access to the Internet by way of broadband infrastructure;
3. Deployment of broadband infrastructure – ensure that telecommunication networks that will be capable of handling the high bandwidth requirements of emerging and future applications are available at reasonable rates throughout all of Ottawa.
* In this context, the digital divide refers to the social gap between
those who have access to the Internet and those in the community who for
various reasons do not.
To address the first two activities, The Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) and other groups, including the City’s Corporate Services Department, are currently developing online services for businesses and residents in Ottawa as well as e-democracy applications through a city/federally funded program known as “Sm@rtCapital”.
Through a second city/federally-supported program, OCRI and the City have partnered to equip 155 schools, libraries and community centres across Ottawa with computers and Internet access that have been made available at no cost to the users. To date, about two-thirds of these locations, known as “Sm@rtSites”, have been brought on-line and have broadband access.
On the matter of deploying broadband infrastructure throughout the community, staff as well as the key stakeholders in the community who have been consulted to date on this matter, argue that a proactive effort lead by the City will be required. If action is not taken, several areas of the community and key stakeholders will remain without affordable broadband access and the benefits of this type of connectivity.
A COMMUNITY VISION
To address the need for universal, low cost broadband connectivity, TOP on October 23, 2001 brought together a diverse cross-section of community leaders, including education, health, cultural, government, and business representatives, to define a vision and high-level strategies for the deployment of broadband connectivity throughout Ottawa. By the end of the exercise, the community representatives were strongly aligned around a set of principles that form the basis of the following vision statement:
Ottawa will be a world leader in the provision of affordable, high quality, equitable broadband access to all its citizens. Ottawa’s new broadband network will form an integral part of the infrastructure of the City and will be rapidly deployed, competitive, cost effective, scaleable for future growth and compatible with existing and emerging provincial and national high-speed networks.
STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE THE VISION
Once the participants arrived at a vision statement they felt comfortable with, they then set about establishing a series of high level strategies that if adopted would achieve the vision for broadband connectivity. The proposed strategies were separated into two categories: foundation strategies and enabling strategies. Foundation strategies are the basic principles that govern the recommended approach, while enabling strategies are specific actions to be taken to support the implementation effort and enable effective progress to be made. As in the building of a structure, the foundation must be laid before the supports can be put in place, thus the enabling strategies must build on the foundation strategies.
Foundation Strategies adopted by TOP:
1. The City, supported by TOP and champions from multiple sectors, should take the lead for the implementation of the vision for broadband. Municipal government is the only central body capable of pulling together all the interests and resources to make the vision a reality. It will also be important for the City to lead by example with the provision of high quality broadband applications for municipal services.
2. Broadband connectivity is an integral part of the City’s infrastructure and must be planned for in the same way that roads, natural gas, hydro and other essential services are planned.
3. Partnerships need to be formed between different levels of government, industry and the community in order to strengthen the business case for the provision of broadband infrastructure and competitive services to all parts of the City.
Enabling Strategies:
1. Public awareness: that a public awareness plan be developed and carried out to articulate to individuals and the community the value and importance of broadband connectivity throughout Ottawa. Another key part of the plan should be celebrating our successes.
2. Benchmarking: that further research be done to identify workable models for ownership, partnership, costing, policy development and to learn from the pioneers in these areas.
3. Look beyond Ottawa: that the needs of communities adjacent to Ottawa be taken into consideration, and that wherever possible the demand from those communities be aggregated and leveraged to attract a diversity of services and competitive pricing.
4. Leverage current infrastructure: conduct an inventory of Ottawa’s current communications infrastructure in order to find ways to more effectively utilize existing capacity. Existing user needs can also be aggregated to enhance the purchasing power of broadband infrastructure and services, by having Telecom Ottawa prepare an implementation strategy and deploy broadband infrastructure (the mandate of this group is described later in the report).
TOP has recommended that Council formally adopt the vision statement and strategies and commission the preparation of a connectivity plan, including the identification of implementation agent(s).
DISCUSSION
WHY BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE IS IMPORTANT FOR OTTAWA
Deploying state of the art telecommunication infrastructure that can support the next generation of high-bandwidth applications throughout all of Ottawa will help to:
· expand the City’s innovation economy by connecting businesses, organizations and people with ideas efficiently and cost effectively;
· enable companies to build, test and bring to market new high-bandwidth applications and services. These companies in turn will attract knowledge-based workers to the City and create new sources of wealth;
· improve quality of life through access to innovative online healthcare, education, government and commercial services;
· reduce daily commuter traffic by promoting teleworking via broadband from the home; and,
· bridge the “digital divide” between urban and rural Ottawa and foster economic development outside the urban core.
A recent statement by Kirk Mandy, Vice-Chairman of Zarlink Corporation and a member of TOP, captures the importance of broadband infrastructure well:
The speed of global telecommunication improvements dictates that we must continue to improve broadband access in order to remain competitive with other innovation centres. In 1943, Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM, believed there was a world market for perhaps five computers. We must ensure that we do not slip into this kind of short-term thinking; our future depends upon our embracing the new communications standard – broadband.
THE URGENCY
Ottawa is faced with increasing competition from other major North American centres—many of which are already implementing broadband strategies to attract businesses and knowledge-based workers to their communities. Access to broadband networks is becoming a key site location decision for businesses and workers who want to stay connected at home and abroad. By not facilitating this new infrastructure, the City risks losing jobs and assessment to other jurisdictions who are currently planning for and building broadband networks.
The economic benefit of broadband to the City of Ottawa is estimated to be $1.5 billion at 50% market penetration over the next 15 years and greater as the number of users increases (source: CANARIE Inc. 2001).
Governments, institutions and businesses are pursuing strategies to deliver services more efficiently using the Internet. In addition, once broadband networks become accessible to a critical mass of businesses, institutions and individual consumers, it is reasonable to expect an accelerated rate of development of innovative broadband applications and services by all sectors.
The impact of these new or enhanced services range from new product opportunities and increased convenience to essential cost-savings and productivity improvements as the handling of transactions are simplified by online means. In the case of e-learning, telehealth and remote medical monitoring in particular, broadband connectivity will become indispensable especially for those outside the urban core. As shown in Figure 1, as more services become available in key areas such as e-business, e-learning, telehealth and entertainment, the demand for bandwidth will increase and so will the requirement for broadband infrastructure.
Figure 1: Estimated Bandwidth Requirements for Selected Users
Although not all who are within areas currently served by high-speed networks have chosen to subscribe and pay the access fees, the demand for broadband connectivity is increasing, and those who are outside of the existing service areas are forced to do without. Volunteer groups that represent these constituents such as the Ottawa Rural Communications Network (ORCnet) are now requesting that City Council take a leadership role in setting a connectivity agenda for rural Ottawa.
CURRENT STATUS OF BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY IN OTTAWA
Ottawa has the highest percentage of households having access to the Internet in Canada, and the urban area has one of the highest concentrations of commercial high-speed Internet access offered by telecommunication carriers. However, serious gaps in broadband connectivity do exist for public sector institutions and the City.
In some cases, even those who have high-speed connectivity provided by existing carriers are looking to expand or improve the services they receive but are facing obstacles. An example is the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) – the Ottawa area’s largest school district, with 156 schools currently on a Wide Area Network. The OCDSB has a need to improve connectivity to its schools for administrative purposes as well as to implement several innovative e-learning initiatives under development, but the costs of doing so within the services provided by their current carrier are prohibitive. The OCDSB has already indicated their strong interest in working with the City to achieve a higher level of broadband connectivity.
In addition, much of Ottawa’s vast rural area is without broadband access of any kind. For example, as of April 2002, Richmond, the Village of Osgoode, Carlsbad Springs and Vars are all without high-speed Internet access through any carrier.
WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING
In January 2000, a national task force was commissioned to prepare a strategy for bringing broadband infrastructure to all communities, urban and rural in Canada by the year 2004. The Federal government is now evaluating the proposal. Many cities and countries around the world are also planning or already implementing broadband networks. The following list is by no means exhaustive, but provides some interesting models to consider:
Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario
A few years ago, community leaders in the Leeds and Grenville area south of Ottawa became frustrated with the lack of broadband connectivity and the reluctance of the tele-communication carriers to do anything about it. This group decided to take matters into their own hands and design and implement a community network – serving businesses first and residents next – with broadband access throughout the area. The initiative, known as Upper Canada Networks (UCNet), relied on a demand aggregation model to build a viable business case for connectivity in rural areas. UCNet also established partnerships to Kingston and Ottawa resulting in tangible benefits that would otherwise not have been achieved. UCNet uses wireless technology to provide high-speed connectivity throughout the communities of Kemptville, Prescott, Brockville and Smiths Falls at costs on the order of one-tenth of those quoted by telecommunication carriers.
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago's CivicNet is an example of how broadband infrastructure can be deployed cost-effectively through collaboration and municipal government leadership. CivicNet is a public-private partnership designed to bring broadband to every neighbourhood in Chicago via fibre optic cabling. By leveraging the infrastructure and telecommunication budgets of the City, Chicago can now attract very competitive pricing from the telecommunication carriers and deploy a vast fibre optic network.
Stockholm, Sweden
In the City of Stockholm, a municipal company called Stokab built an optical fibre network to serve the entire city in less than two years. Over 30 companies – such as telephone, wireless, cable and Internet service providers, as well as private enterprises – now use their own equipment to connect to this fibre optic infrastructure to provide a variety of competitive services throughout the city. (Source: Advanstar Communications 1999)
Ireland
The Irish government has recently announced that it will invest 300 million euros to build 50,000 kilometers of high-speed, fiber-optic Internet access rings around 123 of its cities. The fibre rings are to be funded 90 percent by the Irish government and 10 percent by local authorities, and to be owned and operated by a public/private partnership company that would offer all newcomers access to the network. Given the government investment in infrastructure, the intent is that the network operator will not have to recoup capital costs and would instead offer low-priced access to companies, including existing telephone companies, that want to offer services to businesses or consumers. Although it is too early to assess the effectiveness of this strategy, the Irish government’s approach has the potential of swiftly moving broadband connectivity into communities where there is no attractive business case for the private sector.
Morrisburg, Ontario
After losing a major employer due to the high cost of local high-speed telecommunication services (T1 lines), Morrisburg took action to ensure that it would be better positioned to recruit and retain businesses in the future. This city is now deploying a 25 km fibre optic cable network to connect all of their schools, libraries, hospital, and businesses. Pending the availability of funding, Morrisburg also wishes to extend fibre optic cabling to all the homes in this area.
Montreal, Quebec
The City of Montreal has taken the lead role in constructing empty conduits that will be leased to carriers who are interested in extending fibre cable bundles to customers. Using this approach, the City has been able to avoid unnecessary road cuts and trenching, and more importantly has created an ongoing revenue stream for the City’s constituents.
Manitoba
Manitoba has recently announced that it plans to establish broadband links to northern hospitals and government buildings. The project is expected to facilitate bringing high-speed Internet to remote and northern communities. The planned infrastructure capacity of 100 Mb will enable the use of applications such as videoconferencing for medical purposes. The work has been tendered to Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.
WHAT THE CITY OF OTTAWA IS DOING
A number of on-going activities are underway to improve connectivity in Ottawa. Telecom Ottawa and the Business Development Branch, as well as agencies funded by the City, are involved in several connectivity projects described as follows:
Ottawa Rural Communications Network (ORCnet)
Staff are currently supporting this group of rural volunteers who are interested in bringing broadband services into rural Ottawa. Staff are in discussion with carriers and community representatives and are evaluating proposals for leveraging the City’s own telecom needs to further the reach of broadband in the rural area.
As an example, space on an underutilized tower owned by the City in the North Gower area was leased to a private sector carrier who is now providing broadband services to residents within an 8-kilometer radius. To attract a last-mile carrier[1] to this rural village, demand was aggregated from commercial businesses and rural residents in this area by a member of ORCnet.
Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION)
ORION is a fibre optic network to be developed by the province to link up 21 research and development centers across Ontario. Eligible organizations that can connect to this network include universities, hospitals, research institutions, etc. who require large amounts of secure, dedicated bandwidth to undertake research and collaborative projects.
Staff have agreed to establish in the basement of City Hall a point of presence (POP) or convergence point for this provincial network. City and Telecom Ottawa staff will be responsible for provisioning the POP, including the development of a small utility room where sophisticated switching gear and routers will be installed on behalf of the research centers who will connect to ORION via this POP. It is expected that a much larger fibre optic network (Canarie) owned by the federal government will be connecting to this convergence point as well. In addition several Ottawa-based Internet service providers may use the POP to keep local Internet traffic in Ottawa, thereby reducing the cost of Internet connectivity.
Matching funds from the province for the development of this POP as well as an access fee will offset most of the upfront costs. By allowing this facility to be installed in City Hall, the City has demonstrated leadership and a willingness to support these important institutions and their innovation agendas.
Ottawa Regional Area Network (ORAN)
Staff are currently in discussion with OCRI and a broad cross section of the public sector community on the concept of establishing a regional area network in Ottawa. ORAN would be a neutral not-for-profit organization that will have the mandate of securing affordable broadband connectivity in Ottawa and promote the development of new technologies in the City. Preferential treatment would also be given to local suppliers who would sell products and services directly to ORAN. Telecom Ottawa has been identified as the carrier of choice for ORAN.
ORAN will work with other local network initiatives such as ORCnet and the Internet service providers in the City as well as research networks such as ORION to establish common working relationships. This group will also become a sponsoring organization that can pursue various provincial and national funding programs on behalf of Ottawa. Due to the nature of how some of these programs are structured, program funding may not be available to the City unless a group like ORAN is in place.
Telecom Ottawa
Telecom Ottawa is a broadband data utility that
provides networking bandwidth to businesses and public-sector organizations in
the Ottawa region. The company is a
subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa holding Inc., which is wholly owned by the City of
Ottawa. Telecom Ottawa has developed a business plan, which outlines a strategy
for a community broadband network. In utility fashion, this backbone data
network will service the entire city, including both downtown and rural areas. The plan incorporates pricing that is the
same regardless of distance, with guaranteed service, quality and
availability. The company will operate
as a carrier’s carrier, providing broadband network access to companies such as
Bell Canada, AT&T Canada, Rogers and local ISPs in areas where those
companies may not be able to justify the capital expenditures. Services to large enterprises will also be
provided, making Ottawa a more attractive community for businesses requiring
broadband connectivity. Telecom Ottawa’s vision is to ensure that affordable
broadband services will be available to all citizens of Ottawa.
School Boards
Currently, the City’s school boards do not have the broadband connectivity they need and will not be allowed to connect to ORION as they are not research institutions. Telecom Ottawa is now in discussion with the school boards regarding the provision of affordable broadband infrastructure for their schools and facilities throughout Ottawa. Given the competitive pricing of Telecom Ottawa and the possibility of the City’s corporate data connectivity requirements being addressed at the same time, connectivity charges to the schools boards will likely be lowered throughout Ottawa.
Fibre Optic Cabling to the Home (FTTH Initiative)
Jurisdictions around the world are either evaluating or developing fibre optical networks that connect not only commercial enterprises but also the housing stock of a community. Viewed as the most scalable, reliable technology capable of handling an infinite amount of broadband traffic, fibre optic cabling is the technology of the future for urban areas. The broadband connectivity plan will weigh the advantages and disadvantages of conditioning the development industry at the point of subdivision and site plan approval, with a requirement to install fibre optic cabling in all new homes and businesses.
THE
BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY PLAN
While there are many activities underway to
improve broadband connectivity in the City, a number of these efforts are, for
the most part occurring in isolation of each other and as a reaction to outside
pressures. It is important that action be taken to coordinate these efforts and
identify new activities through a strategic plan that will improve the reach of
broadband connectivity throughout the City.
As with the ORCnet and UCNet examples mentioned above, there is evidence to show that without a coordinated effort and a strong partner like Telecom Ottawa, some parts of the City would remain without broadband access in the long term, while others (including publicly funded institutions) would pay more than necessary for broadband services.
Over the last number of
months, Telecom Ottawa has been preparing a detailed implementation plan to
bring a broadband network to the entire city.
As part of the process, Telecom Ottawa has examined the demographics,
rural requirements, MUSH sector site locations, backbone routing and overall
system costs. The company has also
prepared an implementation timeline for installing the network. By sharing this
information with the City, this information can be used both tactically and
strategically.
By preparing an implementation strategy and deploying a broadband infrastructure the City will be able to leap ahead of other jurisdictions with low cost, universal connectivity.
The broadband plan will look at ways in which low cost connectivity can be brought to neighbouring communities, such as Cornwall, Upper Canada Networks (Kemptville, Prescott, Brockville and Smiths Falls), Lanark, and Gatineau, who are also actively engaged in planning or deploying broadband networks. Collaboration and partnerships beyond Ottawa’s city limits can bring about a win-win scenario for all stakeholders.
From a broader perspective, leadership in the preparation and deployment of a broadband plan will help anchor the City’s profile as a knowledge-based community with a determined interest in strengthening its economic foundations. This in turn will benefit the City’s export companies who are required to compete in a global market place. Ottawa’s advanced broadband infrastructure will also become a strong marketing tool that will position the City as a leader in telecommunications. As well, by utilizing Telecom Ottawa, the City will be leveraging work already completed by a City-owned asset.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
The preparation of a broadband connectivity plan to be implemented by Telecom Ottawa will significantly improve the reach of broadband infrastructure into the rural area of Ottawa. By initially building a backbone of connectivity to schools, community centers, etc. in the rural area, Telecom Ottawa will have enabled the last-mile carriers to significantly improve their service offering to all businesses and residents in the rural area.
CONSULTATION
Prior to proposing to Council that a broadband connectivity plan be created by Telecom Ottawa, staff completed a number of consultation sessions with the community. At these sessions feedback was requested on the vision statement and strategies supported by TOP and on the concept of the City leading a broadband connectivity effort and having an implementation plan prepared. Some of these sessions were held as part of the Charting a Course effort while others involved specific focus group sessions with key stakeholders such as the telecommunication carriers, developers, business group representatives and the MUSH (municipality, universities, schools and hospitals) representatives.
Specific feedback received to date is summarized below:
· The ICF flagship initiative (Ottawa Connects) was supported by TOP and a large number of business representatives who participated in the Economic Generators initiative.
· The October 2001 workshop help by TOP on a broadband vision and strategy yielded consensus and unanimous support for action led by the City from a wide cross-section of community leaders, including business, developers, education, healthcare, and rural communities.
· The ten open house meetings held in February regarding Charting a Course demonstrated general support from the community at large for the broadband vision and strategy.
· The open house session in January of this year organized by ORCnet in North Gower drew over 400 visitors to learn more about broadband services in rural Ottawa. As a demonstration of demand, one quarter of those in attendance immediately signed up to be involved in the next steps in acquiring service to their homes.
· Interviews conducted with key stakeholders in March, including telecom carriers (Rogers and Bell), home builders and developers, business associations, and a school board, also confirmed general support for the broadband vision and most elements of the proposed strategy – see further details below.
Local business organizations were very supportive of the Vision Statement and proposed strategies, and felt that the City should take the lead – although the support of TOP was seen to be critical for success. This group felt that broadband connectivity was very important in selling the City and that quality of life for most newcomers to Ottawa would include connectivity at home and at work.
In addition to the consultation that occurred with the MUSH sector at the October 2001 workshop hosted by TOP, feedback has also been received from the City’s largest school board - The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. This board utilizes a carrier wide area network to connect to its 156 schools. Like the local business organizations, the school board is supportive of the vision statement and proposed strategies. Discussions are now underway between Telecom Ottawa and the school boards to address their needs.
The homebuilders and developers, although supportive of the vision statement, were opposed to the idea that the City needed to become more proactive in planning and deploying additional broadband infrastructure. At present their experience is that home purchasers are not requesting enhanced broadband infrastructure and would not be willing to pay for it. This group argued that the current broadband service offerings from Bell, Rogers, etc. were adequate and that more research and consultation will be needed before the City considered requiring additional infrastructure such as fibre optic cabling or wireless connectivity solutions.
Interviews were also conducted with representatives of two major carriers – Bell and Rogers. Both companies had some concerns about aspects of the vision statement and strategies, but acknowledged that there are “pockets” in Ottawa where broadband is not available and where efforts from the City’s telecom arm could be useful. As with the builders, the carriers’ major concern was with the call for a greater central planning of broadband connectivity. Treating broadband infrastructure similar to water and hydro was seen to be too speculative.
Again, given that carriers are driven by the need to generate immediate revenues and recover capital expenditures as quickly as possible, it is understandable that they would be concerned about any potential need for increased investments. The carriers’ were not opposed to the principles underlying the vision statement, but were concerned that it did not take into account the capabilities of the existing broadband network, which need to be recognized.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Telecom Ottawa will resource the preparation of the broadband connectivity plan.
ATTACHMENTS
Document 1- A Vision for Broadband Connectivity in Ottawa (on file with City Clerk and distributed separately)
DISPOSITION
Telecom Ottawa will prepare and implement the strategic plan for the deployment of broadband infrastructure. This plan will implement the City’s broadband vision and provide within a reasonable timeframe low cost connectivity to all residents and businesses throughout the urban and rural parts of the City.