Recommendation of 1.5 megabits considered too conservative by some

Is 1.5 Mbps fast enough to qualify as broadband? Not according to at least one company that lays fibre for a living. The VP of business development at Stream Intelligent Networks Corp says the National Broadband Task Force has been overly conservative in suggesting that 1.5 Mbps be the minimum symmetrical speed offered to rural and remote communities across Canada, as recommended in its final report released June 18. "It wouldn't be Stream's definition of broadband, I can tell you," Franco Lofranco tells Network Letter. "We don't even offer services that low, and we're a broadband company. Obviously you've got to look at who were the players on the task force and what their agendas were for making that definition of 1.5 megabits." Even the task force itself admitted that the definition of broadband is a moving target, and that 1.5 Mbps is a minimum expectation. "Leading up to 2004 and beyond, new applications such as peer-to-peer file interactions and video conferencing will increase individual user demand for symmetric bandwidth in the 4 to 6 Mbps range," the report notes. "Public and commercial facilities will require much higher bandwidth ranging from this minimum to several hundred times more bandwidth, depending on their size and user needs." The minimum standard doesn't faze others in industry. Bill St. Arnaud, senior director of advanced networks for CANARIE Inc, says what speeds are ultimately offered will be decided more by the market than by the government. "It's a non-issue. I've always argued that bandwidth is like arguing how many angels you can put on the head of a pin…," he says. "What is critical is to have an infrastructure or solution that gives the customer the choice. Not only in bandwidth, but in provider." The head of the first Canadian cableco to rollout telephony services agrees. "I think the task force was quite wise in saying 'here's a stake in the ground for now but what broadband is will change over time.' It's probably the minimum of what you might consider broadband at this point," suggests David Caldwell president of EastLink Telephone, which is deploying 5 megs for down-streaming and a one-meg return path. "In two or three years, that may be the minimum of what any kind of Internet access will be considered and broadband will likely continue to go up from that." The committee itself conceded the point, saying there are as many definitions of broadband as there are countries that have attempted a definition. The panel also allows for technological change. "For example, the capacity of the existing copper (telephone), coaxial (cable television) and satellite infrastructure is expected to continue to evolve," the report states, "driven by technology and market forces, to provide Internet access speeds comparable to, or even exceeding, the task force's definition of broadband. In the circumstances, our views are obviously rooted in today's understanding of technology and applications." The task force's 1.5 Mbps recommendation pales in comparison to what Alberta has committed to build. Announced late last year, Alberta's ambitious $356-million Supernet network is promising to deliver 10 Mbs to every community (NL, Nov. 6/00). A spokeswoman for the provincial Ministry of Innovation and Science says the federal terms will have to be flexible. "I think it's a debatable definition wherever they set it. Ours is certainly set a little bit differently but I think they're going to probably want to define that a little more clearly as they lay out an actual implementation," public affairs officer Kim Hunt told Network Letter. "Ours is defined at anywhere between 10 and 100 , depending on the facility. It's a unique case-by-case because in some cases we're looking at schools and in some cases we're looking at regional health authorities, with very different needs." It is just such heavy users that has Stream's Lofranco wondering how the task force arrived at its position. "They're talking in one breath about 1.5 meg and the other side they're talking about health care, providing between health facilities," he states. "Those files are huge. Those are 10 to 30 meg files. You need connectivity to bring those files through. How are you going to do that with a 1.5 meg connection?"

Recommendation of 1.5 megabits considered too conservative by some

News | 07/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

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