infobahn session

CBC Prime Time News co-anchor Pamela Wallin nimbly moderated the packed infobahn carriers/content session at Symposium ’94, describing the debate as ‘in search of the collected hunch.’

Immediately this quest showed itself as being about as penetrable as an interactive video puzzle, with divergence on many levels.

While panelist Doug Dales, head of PS Production Services, maintained we’re barely on the infobahn on-ramp, Stentor Telecom Policy president/ceo Jocelyne Cote-O’Hara said we’ve only got about six months to get the show on the road before we’re overtaken by u.s. coalition forces.

Canadian Cable Television Association president and ceo Ken Stein, in a rare instance of accord with telco forces, also stressed the urgency of competing on the infobahn, which he would rather see take the form of ‘a galaxy.’

Stein said this is the future in terms of economic growth, citing entertainment as the number one export earner in the u.s., and he cautioned that with competition from companies like Time Warner and Bertelsman, ‘If you’re not thinking about driving on (the information highway) you’re already late.’ Stein said Canadians are well-positioned to enter this arena, but only if we take an external view.

Universal access and fair and equitable competition among carriers is all fine and well, but Dales argued that with the current convergence technology moving so quickly, and in so many different directions – cable, telephone, cd-rom or something else – producers are puzzled about who and what format to produce for.

O’Hara suggested following the Microsoft open system model – not closing off platform access. ‘That’s up to the government – that’s where standards come in.’ (ed. note: Earlier this year when discussing compatibility issues with u.s. companies involved in interactive tv testing there, the bottom line was there’s too much money at stake for anybody to be Mr. Nice Guy, producers will have to choose a horse, according to Thomas Jermoluk, president and coo of Silicon Graphics, at the Multimedia Show.)

Parke Davis, director of the Secretariat for the Information Highway Advisory Council, affably described progress on the policy front. The council is holding monthly meetings with industry representatives and will report recommendations to the government next May or June.

He added ‘government may have to intervene if no conclusions are reached.’ For those interested, the minutes are on Internet.

Cote-O’Hara cautioned that with the development pace and export potential south of the border breathing down Canada’s neck, there’s not much time left to get ready. The industry must co-operate to build compatibility, and that requires a moderator, said Cote-O’Hara.

Stein said that if Canadians want Cancon they must have control over the delivery system. ‘Let’s not be naive, Americans have billions of dollars invested in this technology.’

While Dales agreed the delivery system must be controlled, he pointed to Internet as an example that it’s truly becoming a world without boundaries. ‘It’s what goes on the wire, or air, that’s important,’ said Dales, adding that success lies in market-driven product.

On the topic of content, Wallin posed the burning questions: will we be able to preserve the notion of Canadian identity and can we afford to produce ‘quality’ in this market?

Stein pointed out that cable has already put its money on the table for Cancon (the five-year, $150 million to $300 million Production Fund, which he sees as an ongoing pot). He also put forward the notion that if it comes into the home it should be under the Broadcasting Act, otherwise you might as well get rid of the Act.

Cote-O’Hara noted that if the telcos are involved in a broadcast licence there will be further funds to support Cancon.

One wrinkle that’s left in the competitive-carrier-with-product-watchdogged-by-the-Broadcasting-Act scenario is financial viability: will the system collapse without some restrictions on numbers (an analyst in the u.s. predicts that less than one-third of the 75 new television services launching there next year will break even).

Perhaps a kid with a Gameboy could pilot through this morass.

Generally, if there was a consensus, it was that Canadians would prefer the chance to fail, rather than be denied the opportunity to succeed.