Canada, we need your help! Dropped calls, blocked content,1 Netflix and YouTube constantly starting-and-stopping,2 painfully slow downloads, price-gouging3 – this is the reality we face everyday. We’re increasingly falling behind our global counterparts. But we have a unique chance to fix all of this right now. The government is about to collect a Digital Endowment of $5.27 billion from the sale of our public spectrum assets.4,5 Tell Industry Minister James Moore to spend our endowment on independent, affordable, world-class Internet services for all Canadians before it’s too late. Click here to send petition to government: https://openmedia.ca/endowment?src=156126 Let’s face it - Canada’s Internet has never been more crucial: We’ve plummeted as a digital leader -- moving from 2nd place in 2001 to 16th place in 2014 on broadband access.6 On the key metric of upload speeds, Canada now ranks 53rd in the world!7 We pay some of the highest prices in the industrialized world and Big Telecom just raised their rates even further.8 What’s worse is that while the Internet is becoming increasingly essential for daily life, high-speed Internet remains unavailable to huge numbers of Canadians.9 The government is collecting our $5.27 billion10 Digital Endowment a week from today 11 so we need to act now. Tell Minister Moore: “Do the right thing. Make Canada a digital leader again by investing our money back into our networks to connect our communities.” The last time they came into this much public cash, they put it straight into government coffers. But we won’t make this mistake again. Tell Minister Moore: Dont squander our Digital Endowment. Moore is feeling the heat over his promise to lower prices and improve choice12. Let’s send him a message so he knows how he can regain our trust. Act Now: https://openmedia.ca/endowment?src=156126 Footnotes [1] Why is Bell blocking Canadians from watching The Daily Show online? https://openmedia.ca/blog/why-bell-blocking-canadians-watching-daily-show-online [2] Is Rogers throttling Netflix? Source: Reddit [3] Wireless carriers hike prices across Canada. Source: CBC [4], [10] Vidéotron wins wireless licences outside Quebec in 700MHz auction. Source: CBC [5], [11] Final amount of spectrum licenses must be paid to government by April 2, 2014. Source: Industry Canada. [6] New report: Canada falling further behind global counterparts on Internet access. Source. [7] Why internet upload speed in Canada lags behind world average. Source: CBC News. [8] Wireless price-hikes! OK who’s running the show here: Big Telecom or the government? Source: https://openmedia.ca/blog/wireless-price-hikes-ok-who%E2%80%99s-running-show-here-big-telecom-or-government [9] “Broadband availability varies significantly between rural and urban areas: 100% in cities, and 85% in rural areas Source: https://openmedia.ca/blog/new-report-canada-falling-further-behind-global-counterparts-internet-access [12] Will Harper and James Moore keep their promise to lower cell phone prices? Source: https://openmedia.ca/blog/will-harper-and-james-moore-keep-their-promise-lower-cell-phone-prices
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 16:23:29 +0000
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