1.
Touch-Tone service needs to stop being a paid for add-on for basic telephone services. It should be included in the basic telephone line and not result in a price increase. All Canadians should have access to high-speed Internet service. Access to long distance services should not result in the supplementary charge of "network access fee" that many long distance providers seem to add on. This make it look like some kind of governmental fee when it is simply a monthly subscription price. All Canadians should have access to basic privacy protection features and to 911 service.
2.
The CRTC needs to ensure that a majority of Canadians have access to a broadband Internet service, at a price similar to the pricing to the rest of Canada. The CRTC also needs to ensure that broadband providers' network respect net-neutrality. This includes forbidding traffic shaping that affect specific protocols. It must be up to the provider to releive the congestion by upgrading their capacity.
There also needs to be a better balance between the price that we are paying and the speed and transfer limits we get.
Many countries enjoy Internet access at a much higher speed, without any transfer limits and at a cheaper price then we do.
Currently Canada ranks 31st in terms of download speed and 49th in terms of upload speeds according to
http://www.speedtest.net3.
Cellphone service can be a good substitute if more competition is introduced in the market and if e911 becomes available in any service area. Landline offer a major safety net advantage in being linked to a specific address and allowing 911 dispatchers in knowing precisely where someone is calling from.
4.
They are substitutes only if a reasonable speed can be achieved. Current pricing from cellphone operators for 3G services is currently not competitive with landline access. If the pricing and transfer restrictions on 3G remains, then it has no hope of becoming a viable substitute.
5.
I currently use my Internet service to perform my work and to keep in touch with people that matter to me. This does include the sharing of video files with my family and friends.
