New information, more reasons to protect the Internet in Canada

According to the OECD Communications Outlook 2011 report, broadband use in Canada is one of the highest among OECD members.

According to the OECD Communications Outlook 2011 report, broadband use in Canada is one of the highest among OECD members.

The OECD recently released new information regarding broadband use and costs among its 33 member countries, and judging from the results, Canada’s Internet strategy (or lack thereof) continues to disappoint Canadian Internet users. In the OECD survey of broadband usage, Canada placed severely low, ranking 28th out of 33 countries for costs of plans between 2.15 - 15 Mbps. For Canadians this is an extremely disheartening position, considering Canadian users are some of the highest generators of Internet traffic in the OECD, ranking second after trailblazer South Korea. In addition, Canada ranked 29th out of 33 countries for costs of plans between 15 – 30 Mbps, and placed 23rd out of 28 countries for plans above 45Mbps. The results continue to show that Canadians face unfair Internet prices and stagnant Internet policies that continue to hinder Canada’s role in the global digital economy.

The report shows that Canada’s digital policy continues to neglect issues of Internet accessibility and openness that affect all Canadians. For example, Internet data caps, or usage-based billing, continue to plague Canada’s Internet service market – and the report shows that Canada is one of only four countries (Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland) implementing universal internet caps to users. Internet usage will most likely continue to grow, and so Canada’s digital policy must, rather than inhibit growth, act to promote more accessible and globally competitive Internet prices.