Issue #10 - March 15th, 2024

It's Friday again, and I made it to Issue #10!

This Friday, March 15th, is the Ides of March.

In the Roman calendar, the Ides of March was actually a festive day dedicated to the god Mars, who was not only the god of war but also an agricultural guardian. The Romans celebrated by holding military parades, making offerings to Mars, and even letting their hair down with drinking and revelry. Most of us know it as the date in 44BC when Julius Caesar was assassinated - stabbed 23 times by a group of conspirators, including his friend Brutus. What are friends for?

Caesar had been warned about the Ides of March by a seer named Spurinna, who cautioned him that harm would come to him no later than the Ides of March. Caesar, being the confident chap he was, brushed off the warning.

Shakespeare immortalized this event in his play "Julius Caesar," coining the famous line "Beware the Ides of March," which has since become a popular phrase associated with foreboding and impending doom.

Beware of people named Brutus holding stabby things.

In this Issue, in the spirit of Shakespeare:

• To WISP, or not to WISP. That is the question
• All that glisters is not TikTok
• All the world's a stage, and we are all merely players, with 100/20 broadband
• Eclipse, eclipse. Wherefore art thou eclipse?
• A man can die but once, but AI robocallers and OpenAI robots will live forever
• The WiFi doethen't work too well, methinks
• A horse! A horse! My kingdom for more horsepower!

Remember to repost, share, like, and comment (good and bad).

Enjoy Issue #10!

In My Humble Opinion

Should WISPs get out of Fibre's way?

I have no horse in any race here. I think there is a time and a place for every technology, and at the same time, I think there are times when square pegs are jammed into round holes because (1) it can be done, (2) someone wants to prove it can be done and (3) it's fun to do, especially if you can prove the naysayers wrong.

When I initially wrote this article, the FCC had not yet issued a statement on its new definition of "Broadband" Internet speeds. In Canada, the Universal Service Objective remains at 50/10, while yesterday, the FCC announced a move from the 25/3 standard to the new mandate of 100/20, with a long-term stretch goal of 1000/500. All service objectives are listed as Mbps downstream/Mbps upstream.

So, with that context, let's chat about WISPs.

One of the benefits that WISPs have traditionally espoused is their ability to launch service quickly, delivering Internet service without the need to lash fibre to strands or plow anything into the ground - they just need to erect and climb towers, use rooftops, or other structures sufficient to provide areas of coverage for LoS and NLoS (LIne of Sight and Non Line of Sight) services.

WISPs use various technologies to deliver wireless services, including unlicensed spectrum in the 5Ghz and 6Ghz bands, licensed CBRS spectrum (in the US), and emerging millimetre-wave technologies. Each has its abilities and limitations regarding speed, reach, the need for a direct line of sight between the receiver and the transmitter, with every solution being affected in some way by environmental factors, like rain, snow, and fog.

For example, I hear a lot about a wireless infrastructure company named Tarana. I'm told they have great technology and overall great products, with no reason to think otherwise. They talk about using "Next Gen" technology to offer higher-speed services to subscribers, and so on. They support high bandwidth services, albeit some in the CBRS band (not available in Canada), and of course, diminishing based on line of sight distance from the transmitter.

Note: In the US, the 3GHz CBRS band is available to WISPs in addition to the 5GHz and 6GHz unlicensed spectrum. CRBS doesn't exist in Canada. Similar services are set to be offered in the Non-Competitive License (NCL) band next year (see Issue #2 for a complete discussion).

The CBRS band, being licensed (for the most part) and private, offers a number of advantages over typical WiFi in the 5Ghz and 6Ghz bands. Meanwhile, the recent ISED and FCC adoption of AFC (Automatic Frequency Coordination) allows 6GHz devices to operate using standard power for outdoor applications while continuing to operate at lower power indoors. This means that WISPs will be able to take advantage of lower-cost unlicensed solutions to provide their customers with additional service offerings.

Where am I going with all of this? In Canada, many of the WISP implementations today offer services that meet or exceed the Universal Service Objective as defined by the CRTC - a whopping 50Mbps download and 10Mbps upload. Based on what I understand about the availability of new wireless technology solutions, such as those from Tarana, I'm sure many WISPs can - and do - exceed the USO, claiming to be able to offer services in the 100's of Mbps, with some offering sub-gig services over short line of sight distances.

But what about meeting new service standards over time? As discussed above, the FCC has moved to 100/20 with a goal of 1000/500. Canada can't be too far behind.

Insofar as the initial business case for wireless may yield a stronger ROI, what does it look like over time as technology upgrades are required to keep pace with user demand or service standards, and how does that compare with the business case for investing in fibre and lighting it with enough capacity for the next 8-10 years? I'm sure there are many readers who have the answer well in hand.

Here's the thing—physics is physics, and there's nothing anyone can do about that. The fact is that fixed wireless technology is not generational—it will never be able to satisfy the capacity requirements over time that are provided by fiber.

Where conditions are ripe for both wireless and fibre, and public funds are being used to subsidize new builds, the answer should be fibre every time,

Insofar as newer wireless technologies support higher-bandwidth solutions, high-bandwidth and generational capacity aren't the same thing.

Earlier this week, Fierce Telecom published an article entitled "Are WISPs ‘gaming’ the FCC maps for a BEAD advantage?". The article discussed an issue in the US whereby WISPs are preventing new entrants from securing BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment) funding due to a "gaming" of the system. In some cases, WISPs advertise that they offer the required 100/20 service standard to subscribers in an existing serving area, thereby blocking that area from being eligible for the grant. The problem is that they don't have to prove they offer the advertised speeds. The problem for the subscriber is that they miss an opportunity for a different class of service and experience.

No process is perfect, no maps or data sets are perfect, and no one has an absolute 100% accurate accounting of what, where, who, and what type of services are being offered.

North of the border, there are examples of grants funding new builds that inadvertently overbuild areas where perhaps the Universal Service Standard of 50/10 was already being met by a wireless provider or another fixed wireline provider. In the case of a WISP overbuild with fibre, I would imagine those WISPs are considering how to compete - and whether or not to continue investing in competitive wireless infrastructure.

And that's really the question. As a WISP, do you "fight the fibre" and perhaps the process? Do you find another path forward, or do you call it a day? Consumers will ultimately drive an outcome, I would assume,

Should WISPs be preemptive and start to trench in and invest in building fibre within their communities (assuming these are communities where either can be built)? All of this new wireless technology can't be inexpensive. WISPs already own the customer and have a reputation in the community. What does the business case look like to keep them?

Or should WISPs and fibre providers find a way to coexist somehow?

And finally, what about the satellite broadband providers? Their fate is somewhat the same if it's just a matter of time before fibre comes to town, where fibre can come to town.

The "Internet journey" at my rural/remote property is a perfect example.

I tried a near-line-of-sight fixed wireless service. It worked until leaves grew in on surrounding trees, and at the best of times, the service was inconsistent and unreliable. I tried DSL. Garbage. I tried an LTE hub type of service. Expensive and low bandwidth. I hopped on the Starlink bandwagon as soon as I could. It worked very, very well and continues to evolve. (Note: Satellite-based areas were never tagged as meeting any universal service objective metric and in the US, were excluded from receiving grant funding)

And then something happened. Fibre came knocking, and I answered. I switched to a more reliable, faster and inexpensive option.

I did what I think anyone would do.

As always, I welcome your comments, feedback - and in this case, your corrections ;)

Technology

What is Surveillance Capitalism, and who is TikTok really a threat to?

I stumbled across the concept of Surveillance Capitalism (watch the explainer video) this week in the midst of all the ongoings in the US House of Representatives vote on a bill to force ByteDance to divest of TikTok or be banned in the United States and likely Canada.

I call TikTok a time machine; it can remove hours from your life without you even knowing it. It's like magic.

Surveillance capitalism is basically the idea that companies like Facebook, Google and TikTok are making money by spying on us online and turning our personal data into a commodity - that people are the means of production for "data exhaust," which is the core element feeding the analytics engine. Users become the raw materials to mine prediction products. Surprised? Likely not.

They follow our every move on the internet, track what we click, what we like, and even what we say, all to create these detailed profiles of us that they can sell data to advertisers or - more importantly - use the data to manipulate our behaviour to meet their expectations.

It's a bit scary in that these companies know more about us than some of our closest friends do, but it's not just about the money. There are some real concerns about privacy and the power these companies have over us. If they know everything about us, they can use that information to influence what we see, what we buy, and even how we think.

What happens when all this personal data falls into the wrong hands? It could be used to discriminate against certain groups, manipulate elections, or even blackmail people (like that's ever happened..)

So that's part of the concern in the US - that all the data is going to China and it will be used against the US public. Others would have you believe that Facebook and Google want TikTok gone so as to retain all the spoils of surveillance capitalism to themselves. TiKTok's separation from ByteDance doesn't necessarily solve either problem.

As an aside, Instagram recently overtook TikTok as the world’s most downloaded app. I'm sure Universal Music Group's decision to pull their music library from TikTok last month fuelled the change, in part. Meta saw the opportunity to capitalize on TikTok's misfortunes.

More data for Meta.

Canada Broadband and Things

FCC Increases Broadband Speed Benchmark

The Commission’s Report, issued pursuant to section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, raises the Commission’s benchmark for high-speed fixed broadband to download speeds of 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of 20 megabits per second – a four-fold increase from the 25/3 Mbps benchmark set by the Commission in 2015.

The Report concludes that advanced telecommunications capability is not being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion based on the total number of Americans, Americans in rural areas, and people living on Tribal lands who lack access to such capability, and the fact that these gaps in deployment are not closing rapidly enough.

The Report also sets a 1 Gbps/500 Mbps long-term goal for broadband speeds to give stakeholders a collective goal towards which to strive – a better, faster, more robust system of communication for American consumers.

Read the full report

My Take: Good for the FCC. It's about time. Of course, the 20Mbps upstream ensures the inclusion of the DOCSIS-based providers for now. The stretch to 1G/500 will either force technology adoption or will be the goal once the technology across multiple platforms supports it.

Hey Canada, it's time to upgrade the USO from 50/10!

Broadband Is Too Costly Or Not Available For Many. So California Is Building Its Own Public Network

Construction is underway on a new “middle-mile” network that would make it easier and less expensive for service providers to connect to disadvantaged rural, tribal and minority urban neighbourhoods. In many cases, those companies have been reluctant to provide service because it’s not seen as profitable.

While 91% of households have internet service, an estimated 3.5 million Californians remain disconnected.

Officials say that by providing competition to commercial providers, the state's network could also help bring down internet prices for everyone.

Read the article here

My Take: The population of California is similar to that of the whole of Canada. This would be like building a mid-mile network nationally to capture the remaining 3.5 million unconnected Canadians. Open access, and all, on the transport network.

Some Ontario Funding Announcements:

Governments of Canada and Ontario invest over $11.4 million to bring high-speed Internet access to more than 2,600 Indigenous households in Ontario

Today, the Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, together with the Honourable Kinga Surma, Ontario’s Minister of Infrastructure, announced?over $11.4?million in combined federal and provincial funding for First Nations Cable to bring high-speed Internet access to more than 2,600?Indigenous households in Six Nations of the Grand River.

Read the full article

Dibaajimowin to bring Fibre Optic Internet Services to First Nations and townships

Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh and Grand Council Treaty #3 are pleased to announce the release of high speed fibre optic broadband internet services in the first four Treaty #3 First Nations to be served by the Dibaajimowin Project. Residents and businesses in Naicatchewenin First Nation, Wauzhushk Onigum Nation, Couchiching First Nation and Wabauskang First Nation now have access to high-speed internet through the option of ordering gold standard fibre optic internet services.

Read the full article

Space

UK, Canadian, and French Space Command Officials Push the Importance of Space Security

“We are entering an era of hybrid warfare,” Adam said. “Adversaries will test the limits of our resolve. We need more agile, flexible quicker solutions. We need to outpace our challengers. We need to know where are the weak links. However, we will not be fighting alone, as we have a number of partners alongside us. There are a myriad of threats from cyber to threats impacting orbital operations.”

Read the article here

My take: One day, there will be an incredible fireworks display that everyone can watch.

A chronology of the April 8 total solar eclipse

"The usual number of eclipses in a year is four; in a few years there can be 5, 6, and even 7. The year 2024 is the usual 4-eclipse kind. What underlies this is that there are two "eclipse seasons" each year.?

Each of them contains two (sometimes three) eclipses: one solar, one lunar, and sometimes another one of either type. The eclipse seasons are actually less than six months apart, by about 19-days, so they keep falling back that much earlier each year.?

Last year they fell in April/May and October; this year they have shifted in the calendar to March/April and September/October. Next year they will have shifted back again, so that one will come in March, the second in September."

"The umbra will also visit the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, bringing a 1 minute 52 second totality to Ontario's port city of Hamilton (pop. 569,000) (ed- 568,999 since James De Rosa moved) at 3:18:10 p.m. E.D.T., but sadly, less than two minutes later at 3:19:53 p.m. E.D.T. it will pass just 6 miles (9 km) to the south of Canada's most populous city, Toronto (pop. 2,794,000). At maximum, the moon will cover all but one-tenth of a percent of the disk of the sun, likely — as will also be the case for Cincinnati and Columbus — causing a strange dusky twilight to descend over the city for a few minutes.?"

Read the full article

My Take: Wow. The above is just a fraction of what's in this article, although all that really matters is the part about Toronto and that I should head to Hamilton if I want to see anything.

Believe it or not, these Ontario schools have cancelled classes for the total solar eclipse because instead of using it as an excellent learning opportunity, they decided to.. never mind.

Anyway, I have my viewing accoutrement ready. Do you?

AI

They're coming for all of us sooner than you think

Figure, an AI Robotics company building the world's first commercially viable autonomous humanoid robot, has implemented OpenAI's technology to allow its robots to have full conversations with people. "OpenAI's models provide high-level visual and language intelligence while Figure's neural networks deliver fast, low-level dexterous robot actions. This X post contains a video showing a person talking to a Figure robot and getting it to perform tasks, explaining the reasoning behind the tasks, and self-assessing how the tasks went."

Click on the image to see the terrifying Twitter post.

Air.AI - This is also pretty amazing and scary at the same time.

Not sure if the business is legit or not. Online reviews on Reddit and other sources of truth seem to suggest the technology is real, but perhaps there may be other issues, especially around AI outbound calling. Either way, watch the video below.

"Introducing the world's first ever AI that can have full on 10-40 minute long phone calls that sound like a REAL human, with infinite memory, perfect recall, and can autonomously take actions across 5,000 plus applications. It can do the entire job of a full time agent without having to be trained, managed or motivated. It just works 24/7/365."

For more information, see their web site

And In Other News

Google's newest office has AI designers toiling in a Wi-Fi desert

SAN FRANCISCO, March 7 (Reuters) - Google has been touting the myriad innovations in the first building wholly designed and built by the web giant, even moving workers in to focus on its highest-profile project: generative artificial intelligence. But, some say they wish the innovations had included decent Wi-Fi.

Its recliner-laden collaborative workspaces do not work well for teams carting around laptops, since workers must plug into ethernet cables at their desks to get consistent internet service. Some make do by using their phones as hotspots.

The company promoted the new building and surrounding campus in a 229-page glossy book highlighting its cutting-edge features, such as "Googley interiors" and "an environment where everyone has the tools they need to be successful."

But, a Google spokeswoman acknowledged, "we’ve had Wi-Fi connectivity issues in Bay View." She said Google "made several improvements to address the issue," and the company hoped to have a fix in coming weeks.

Read the whole Ethernet-cable story

My Take: I'm surprised they didn't see this solution right under their noses

Hackers stole 100,000 of her Aeroplan points. She wants to warn others about how they did it

"Buried in that pile of emails was a warning from Aeroplan, Air Canada's loyalty program. It was alerting her?that changes had been made to her account. When she checked, more than 100,000 Aeroplan points had disappeared.

Someone had already booked a?flight from Malaysia to Abu Dhabi, and she?had only about 12,000 points left."

Read the full article.

My take: Umm, if someone stole points from me and booked a flight with those points, wouldn't the authorities know exactly who the perpetrator of the crime was? Crime solved?

Podcast Recommendation

Gavin Roth chats with fellow sports and sponsorship marketing leaders about the industry from a brand, property and agency perspective. Each episode delivers a mix of insights and inspiration.

About the host: Gavin has spent 30 years in sponsorship marketing, sports marketing and media and is regarded as one of Canada's leading partnership architects. He trains/coaches partnership executives at Canada's leading sponsorship properties, and hosts the Influencers of Sponsorship Marketing Podcast, shining a light on the Canadian sports and sponsorship marketing industry.

You can listen here

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

Gran Turismo - NetFlix

I must admit, it wasn't high on my list of movies to watch, but I was up very early on Saturday morning and was looking for some mindless entertainment. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised - and intrigued by this true story.

It's the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a British teenager whose life takes a wild turn from playing the Gran Turismo video game to becoming a professional racing car driver.

I would say the necessary spectacular accident scene in Gran Turismo (See 1:22) comes as a close 2nd to the epic and very explicit scene in the movie "Ferrari" (see 1:45, below)

No, I'm not advocating or promoting people getting annihilated by cars. I'm commenting on the cinematic experience.

Perhaps I just ruined both movies for you ;)

Anyway, In a nutshell, "Gran Turismo" is more than just a movie about racing. It's an inspiring tale of how following your passion can lead to incredible places, the importance of perseverance, and the power of believing in yourself. Blah, blah.

It's about racing and car crashes, which I'm convinced is really the only reason some people watch auto racing because that's all they talk about.

And with that, I'll leave this very suspect data point with you. Don't shoot the messenger ;)

Events

The Canadian Rural and Remote Broadband Community Conference - Registration is now OPEN

The CRRBC conference series continues into 2024 with two announced dates and locations. Mark your calendars and register early!

"Beyond Connectivity: Building Prosperity in Rural Communities".

"Let's shape the future together through engaging discussions on community economic development, workforce development, regulatory policies and the latest in technologies. Explore the limitless possibilities of broadband access in rural and Indigenous communities—from boosting tourism and advancing remote healthcare to fostering digital literacy, exploring data sovereignty, and laying the groundwork for Smart Communities. Your presence can make a difference! Mark your calendar now for a transformative dialogue that paves the way for a connected and thriving rural future.?"

• May 27-29th, Casino Rama, Orillia, ON
• November 3-5th, Delta Grand Okanagan, Kelowna, BC

Canadian Innovation Week

It seemed appropriate, given some of the content this week!

"Get ready to spark inspiration, celebrate achievements, and drive forward the future of innovation!

This year, we invite you to join us in a nationwide celebration of creativity, innovation, and the incredible potential within our communities.Whether you're an innovator, entrepreneur, educator, or simply someone passionate about the future, #CIW24 offers a platform to showcase your ideas, connect with like-minded individuals, and be part of a movement that’s shaping Canada’s tomorrow."

@cdn_innovation on Twitter

@canadianinnovationspace on Instagram

canadianinnovationspace on Facebook

Until Next Time

Comments here are my own and do not represent the opinions, views or thoughts of any person, company or organization that I may be associated with.

Feedback, comments and ideas are welcomed. Message me on LinkedIn or contact me at [email protected]