Canadians as well as the citizens and residents of many other countries take services such as roads, sewer/water, electrical power and phone service as basic rights.

Should broadband be in this category too? Especially given the country, the founding home of the telephone, has vast distances and complex geography that make extensive communications services a necessity?

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a consumer organization specializing in telecommunications services thinks it does. It has just released a report that calls for establishing broadband as a basic service for Canadians in the “same way that telephone service was established as a need for every citizen in the last century.” It wants government decision makers to create minimum standards for broadband service for all by making and creating a basic or universal broadband service requirement for Canada.

The report, titled “Is Broadband Basic Service”, describes the developments that have occurred in Europe and other countries worldwide that have made broadband service a basic right for citizens. It also sets out the models that have been evolved internationally to meet the goal and the principles that should be engaged in designing the delivery structure.

It points out that Finland and Spain have declared broadband a legal right while Australia, Japan and U.S. “have comprehensive policies to ensure that customers have access to broadband services.” Also the European Union has a detailed policy on the provision of broadband service for consumers.

The paper points to how the Internet has “revolutionized the way Canadians work, learn and play” i.e. e-commerce, education and entertainment” which is largely due to broadband connectivity.

“Unfortunately, access to broadband internet services is not uniform in Canada,” says the study. “Many consumers, particularly those in rural or remote areas, are not able harness the full potential of the internet. The ‘Digital Divide’, as this phenomenon is known, could have a very serious effect on Canadian consumers and the country as a whole.”

The paper points out that while Canada was considered a world leader in broadband availability by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) as early as 2003 its ranking amongst OECD members has dropped sharply to the bottom quartile of the list. The PIAC is concerned that Canadian consumers are not guaranteed access to broadband services the way consumers in many other countries are today.

The PIAC points to a Harvard Berkman Centre Report “Next Generation Connectivity” released in 2009 that said Canada ranks 21st for the lowest speeds and 23d for middling speeds and next to last in prices of high speeds “only the Slovak Republic has higher prices in that tier of service”. Canada does not appear in the rankings for prices of very high speeds, because there were no offerings of service speeds of 35Mbps or higher in Canada as of September 2008.

The PIAC paper says broadband as a right has important regulatory and historical precedents. It says universality has been promoted by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for basic telephone access. The CRTC appears to be leaning that way for broadband. The regulator published a report on February 2010 entitled “Navigating Convergence (News - Alert): Charting Canadian Communications Change and Regulatory Implications” that contained an appendix on universal broadband that outlined the whys for it including improved education, healthcare and business opportunities, enabling telecommuting and better access to government services. Broadband would also enhance access to news and information.

The PIAC document reports that the Canadian government’s Broadband Task Force in 2001 recommended an action plan that would have seen access to broadband in all Canadian communities by 2004. A Telecommunications Review Panel Report of 2006 urged the creation of a national strategy for adoption of ICTs (information and communications technologies, noting the effect of improved broadband connectivity as “a prime means of spreading the social and economic objectives of information technology”. It recommended that government "immediately commence a program to ensure that affordable and reliable broadband services are available in all regions of Canada, including urban, rural and remote areas, by 2010 at the latest.

The report concludes that “access to broadband has important economic, social and cultural ramifications for Canadians and without it, Canadian consumers risk falling behind in today’s increasingly online interconnected world.”

“Many consumers, particularly those in rural or remote areas, are not able to harness the full potential of the internet”, Michael Janigan, PIAC’s Executive Director stated, “Others may live in areas served by broadband providers, but lack the financial resources to obtain service.”