A new report says the focus of Canada’s telecommunications policy should shift from lowering consumer prices to creating better conditions for companies to invest in their networks at a time when traditional revenues are plateauing and capital costs are on the rise.
The paper from U.K.-based Global System for Mobile Communications calls for a “policy reset” that prioritizes affordable and predictable spectrum pricing, support for 5G and AI infrastructure such as data centres, and improved regulatory certainty.
It says mobile technologies and services generated 5.4 percent of Canada’s GDP last year, or roughly $120 billion of economic value—a figure expected to rise to $170 billion by 2030, thanks to growing adoption of technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things and AI….