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This page has been designed to give an overview of the telecommunications infrastructure and its complexity in Canada. The Canadian Government is heavily involved is helping to ensure the continued success of the Telecommunications Industry through tax credits and deregulation. Its incentives to be a world leader in the Telecommunications Industry. It will be important to know the facts about the Canadian Telecommunications infrastructure both domestically and internationally. Therefore this analysis will cover topics such as mobile, cellular systems, Satellites, earth stations and teleports and the diffusion of private networks. 

Current Telecommunications News in Canada

Sprint (NYSE: FON, PCS), operator of the largest all-digital, all-PCS nationwide network in the U.S., and Bell Mobility, Canada's leading wireless service provider, announced an agreement in which both companies will collaborate to further advance CDMA2000 capabilities. The agreement between Bell Mobility and Sprint is expected to aid in the development and marketing of advanced CDMA handsets, applications and services. 

[TORONTO and OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Nov. 6 /PR Newswire/]

Communications Statistics in Canada 

Telephones - main lines in use: 18.5 million (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 4.207 million (1999)
Telephone systems: 
general assessment: excellent service provided by modern technology
domestic: domestic system with about 300 earth stations
international: 5 coaxial submarine cables; satellite and earth stations - 
5 Intelsat (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) and 2 Intersputnik
(Atlantic Ocean region)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 535, FM 53, shortwave 6 (1998)
Radios: 32.3 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 80 (plus many repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 21.5 million (1997)
Internet country code: .ca
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 760 (2000 est.)
Internet users: 14.44 million (2001)

[sources: The World Factbook 2002 ]

[source: International Telecommunications Union (ITU)]

Telephone Lines

Residential
Canada ranks 2nd behind the U.K. in residential telephone charges and Canadian households rank first in terms of residential telephone rates among the G-7 countries.

[source: International Telecommunications Union (ITU)]

Business
Canada ranks among the lowest business telephone charges than any other G-7 country.

Cellular Telephone

Cellular communications has grown exponentially from 1995 at 2,589.2 to 9,923.9 in 2001. The number of Cellular Mobile subscribers in 1995 was 25 per 100 inhabitants and has grown to 32 per 100 inhabitants in 2001.

[source: International Telecommunications Union (ITU)]

Television & Cable Communications

OECD estimates that among the G-7 countries, Canada will rank 1st in the percentage of households as cable television subscribers.

Information Technology

Internet Usage

Canadians are among the most connected to the Internet in the world. Canada ranks second in overall connectivity only behind the U.S.. Canada has been recognized at the top G-7 country in the share of its population that uses the internet. For 2002, Canada has a 53.5% of Internet users per 1,000 inhabitant Moreover, Canada is second only to the United States in the number of computers per 1,000 inhabitants.

Number of Host Servers per 1,000 Inhabitants

Canada ranks as the third, only behind the U.S. and Finland, in the number of internet host servers per 1,000 inhabitants.

Canada's technology infrastructure is very advanced and ranks second, only behind the U.S. of all G-7 countries and continues to rank above or very close to the U.S. in terms of the number of internet users and internet hosts per 1,000 inhabitants. The Canadian Government is committed to make Canada the most connected Government to its citizens by 2005 and make available high-speed broadband access to Canadians in all communities by 2005. The economic policies of the Canadian Government are focused on making Canada a world leader in the new global economy.

Private Sector

Canada does have strong government commitment to technology initiatives, but it also has many major key corporate players. Canada has been able to sustain as a world leader among the G-7 countries because it has the leading edge with respect to lower costs for electronics and telecommunications equipment manufacturing.

Key Corporate Sponsors & Specialty Areas

Telecommunications Equipment
Alcatel, Cisco, Ericsson, Lucent, Marconi, Motorola, Nortel Networks, Mitel Networks, and Simens have extensive activities in Canada

Wireless Solutions
Players committed to developing wireless solutions and Internet applications are Nortel, Research  in Motion, and Sierra Wireless.

Radio, Microwave & Satellite
MacDonald Dettwiler, Norsat, EMS Technologies, and Harris Corporation

Research Infrastructure
Communications Research Center and National Research Council

Niche Market

Canada ranks number one as the most cost-competitive country among G-7 nations, Austria and the Netherlands. Canada ranks number 2 in terms of overall connectedness by comparison of 10 countries.
                                          

Forward Looking

Canada has a vision of being the World's fastest, first all-optical national network (CA*net3). This has been referred to as the next generation network.

[source: KPMG's Competitive Alternatives: Comparing Business Costs in North American, Europe and Japan]