ARPU trends aren’t the same as price trends
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
3h ago
For years now, I keep trying to explain why you can’t look at ARPU trends to determine trends in pricing. Conflating ARPU trends with pricing is one of those zombie fallacies – we can’t seem to kill it no matter how hard we try. But I am going to give it another go anyway. Last week, the government released its annual review of telecom prices [full report pdf, 1.8MB]. The report found that “prices for most wireless and home Internet services declined in 2023”. Notably, the media release observed that mobile prices in Japan and the USA were consistently higher than those prices paid in Canada ..read more
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Innovation, productivity, and competitiveness
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
5d ago
Earlier this week, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released a new report, Assessing Canadian Innovation, Productivity, and Competitiveness [pdf, 1.2MB; Executive Summary, 2.7MB]. The key takeaways identified in the report are: Canada lags peer competitors on key innovation indicators, particularly in the areas of research and development, intellectual property, and innovation outcomes. Canada’s productivity performance has been dismal. For comparison, American labour productivity growth was 160 percent faster than Canada’s from 2002 to 2020 — and America’s growth ..read more
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Failing to lead
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
1w ago
Canadian parliamentarians of all stripes are failing to lead. Over the past two months, Canadians have witnessed theatrics take the lead as corporate executives appeared in front of parliamentary committees. In early March, I wrote about “faux outrage” expressed by members of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU). These parliamentarians have have numerous occasions to ask questions and actually listen to answers from telecom industry professionals. Of course, that would require that the MPs do real research when preparing their report on “Accessibility and Affordability of W ..read more
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Social media harms
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
2w ago
The way social media harms our kids has been in the news lately. I am not talking about the Online Harms Act, which has been the subject of a number of my recent posts. I will also not be talking (at least not in this post) about the inappropriateness of the Governor General hosting a forum about Online Harms when a bill is being reviewed by Parliament. Four of the largest school boards in Canada launched a lawsuit against the owners of Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and TikTok. The suit accuses them of “negligently designing products that disrupt learning and rewire student behaviour while lea ..read more
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Building resilience in telecommunications
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
3w ago
Building resilience in telecommunications in Canada and Beyond. That is the topic for a workshop taking place in downtown Toronto on the afternoon of May 14, 2024. The event is hosted by the Ivey Business School. Over the past couple of years, I have written about network resilience a few times: Reliable and resilient networks (January 23, 2024) I observed that weather-related service disruptions will likely be a bigger factor in coming years. In a competitive environment, I asked what is the role of regulators in setting standards or objectives for reliable and resilient networks? Network re ..read more
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Sustainably competitive
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
3w ago
When looking at telecom services, regulators should focus on whether the market is sustainably competitive. That seems to be the message arising from merger reviews in Europe. After years of focus on the number of carriers, regulators are taking note of the impact of hypercompetitive markets on investment. UK service providers are unable to cover their cost of capital. As a result, operators are unable to fund network upgrades. Vodafone and Three UK intend to merge. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK is moving into the next phase of its review of the merger. In announcing it ..read more
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Prebunk misinformation
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
1M ago
Is it possible to prebunk misinformation? Is there a vaccine for fake news? A recent story on 60 Minutes caught my eye and steered me toward the Social Decision-Making Lab at Cambridge University. The director of the lab, Sander van der Linden, told 60 Minutes that misinformation – that which is outright false or incorrect – represents just a small amount of people’s overall media diet. “The much bigger part is what we would refer to as misleading information, half-truths, biased narratives, information that is presented out of context.” In collaboration with partners at Yale and George Mason ..read more
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Cellular and satellite convergence
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
1M ago
There are signs of accelerating progress in cellular and satellite convergence. A recent report from Scotiabank lead with an attention grabbing headline, “Mobile Carriers Poised to Create $1.0T in Equity in the Direct-to-Cell Revolution”. Last year, I wrote about the FCC taking steps to explore “innovative collaborations between satellite operators and wireless companies”. In February, the FCC issued a 160-page “Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” to establish what the agency called the world’s first regulatory framework for terrestrial to space inter-connectivity. The ..read more
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What’s the opposite of shrinkflation?
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
1M ago
Every grocery shopper has experienced shrinkflation. Headline prices for asparagus, previously quoted by the pound, are now often listed for 325g bundles – you end up with 25% less for the money. Boxes of cookies and snacks are smaller; cereal boxes shrank. Prices for items may appear to hold constant, but the packaging is smaller. The headline price disguises the fact you are getting less. Last month, I wrote “Statscan says cellphone prices are plunging – and they are”. In that post, I used a purely hypothetical apartment metaphor to describe how Canadians might choose to lower their monthly ..read more
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Censure, not censor
Mark Goldberg Blog
by Mark
1M ago
Alan Borovoy, Canada’s great civil rights lawyer, used to say we should censure, not censor, those who spew hate speech. He and I worked together on a committee many years ago. I would frequently give him a ride home afterwards which gave us opportunities to chat. His views continue to influence my perspectives on Bill C-63, Canada’s Online Harms Act. An editorial in the Toronto Star (written to mark his passing in 2015) should be mandatory reading for parliamentarians reviewing the Bill. Alan was the long time general cousel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The CCLA has called for ..read more
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