"TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO, the CCTA board tasked Dean MacDonald, a small working group and I to develop a vision that would become the basis on which to build our public policy priorities," Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association president and CEO Michael Hennessy said in a note to association members sent out Wednesday.
What follows below is the rest of that final memo to members of an association which will soon be wound down.
In response, the working group and the CCTA team described a vision of an integrated broadband future where consumer choice regulated the market and public policy encouraged investment in broadband and supported facilities-based competition.
This vision became the mantra we used in all our briefings, reports and submissions on behalf of the members’ agendas. Before we forget and try hard to reinvent the wheel, this vision is worth repeating. So here it is from CCTA, one more time:
When Canada’s cable companies look into the future, we see an integrated broadband cable platform capable of delivering:
• Super-fast “big broadband” Internet that provides consumers with real-time access to DVD-quality video and CD-quality sound originating from anywhere in the world.
• Sophisticated video experiences from more than 200 available channels of wide-screen, cinema-quality television, and thousands of virtual connections on demand in almost any language.
• A full-service communications alternative that adds video and mobile functionality to the home telephone and allows consumers to reach out, communicate and actually see friends and relatives located in other cities.
This was a great story to tell because as soon as we told it, your investment, innovation and response to customer service made the future even brighter. CCTA became a respected team in Ottawa and the “go-to-association” for broadband policy advice because your companies made the vision a reality.
We are proud to have had the opportunity to be a small part of the cable success story. From a public policy perspective, the table is set to achieve key objectives like choice, packaging flexibility and facilities-based competition. As long as we never forget that we succeed when we quit talking about our problems and talk to the benefits that we can and will deliver to Canadians.
As CCSA gets together at the end of the month, here is an important point to note: Cogeco and CCSA members represent the communities that elected the Harper Government. That provides the opportunity to create a powerful voice for the broadband agenda outside the big metropolitan centres, as long as it is a voice for all stakeholders.
So back to the vision. Back in 2003, we set out the benefits of this broadband future for Canadians:
• Consumers will enjoy greater choice of entertainment and increased access to Canadian and international sources of news and public affairs.
• Communities will gain increased access to government and social services, tele-health and online education, as well as a vital source of local expression through community channels and online portals.
• Canadian content creators and independent producers will benefit from abundant channel capacity for new digital services or new interactive applications.
• Commercial businesses will gain access to a gateway that will bring regional economic growth, e-commerce and global markets to small and large communities across Canada.
The industry has a great future and a great story to tell as we enter the on demand world. As we said last year:
The new advanced and personalized services we offer our customers today only hint at the power of digital broadband. Entertainment, information and communications services can be personalized down to the preferences of individual households or designed to provide new tools for regional and community development. At the heart of this revolution is customized service and tailor-made applications for home or business, all on demand.
My six years at CCTA were awesome. Not only was it an honour to pitch for the cable industry, it was a privilege to be surrounded by a group of the smartest gang of professionals I’ve ever met. They are a resource that should not be squandered.
Thanks for making me part of the tribe.
Michael Hennessy
President, CCTA
