Provision and regulation
As part of a range of national initiatives to support the expanded use of "new information technologies," both government and private sector agencies have made commitments to enhance the communications infrastructure to support what is generally termed "broadband access." Since the Canadian communications infrastructure is a complex set of systems entailing networks of land lines that carry phone and cable signals, satellite transmissions, voice and broadcast signals, high powered transmitters, and short wave, this endeavor represents a complex interconnection of both private and public sector agencies. One of the major players, Stentor, the alliance of major Canadian telephone companies, has announced that it plans to spend $8-10 billion to provide broadband access to 80% to 90% of businesses and homes by 2005.

According to a report prepared for the Information Highway Advisory Council, 95% of Canadians have telephone service but as of August, 1994, about 275,000 households had only party line service.⁶ The only region where all subscribers have private lines is Saskatchewan, where SaskTel now provides single line service to all its customers;⁷ Manitoba Tel planned to convert all party lines to single lines by 1996.⁸ Those that want to use a computer for communication and exchange of information must have access to a private telephone line.

In some regions of the country there is no basic telephone access and in others there is no access that would enable the use of a computer for communication or transfer of information. And while 80% of the country may eventually obtain broadband access, it is worthwhile to examine which regions will obtain access first, and to find out about the 20% that will be left out.

The federal government articulates communications policy and the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (the CRTC) sets up the rules and regulations to carry out this policy. Until the fairly recent past, the general direction of policy was to address Canada's vast geography by distributing throughout the system as a whole some of the costs of communication to more remote regions. However, with the advent of deregulation and of new communications providers, especially long distance services, there has been a shift both in policy and in regulation towards more "cost recovery" on each kind of service. This means that the cost of communication is likely to be higher in more remote or less populated areas, and that the cost of local service will increase since telephone companies argue that revenues from long distance have subsidized local service.

It is more than likely that those who live in urban areas are going to have access to the broadband systems first because their larger populations can provide a return on investment. Those in more remote or less populated areas will receive this service much later or not at all, or at a cost far greater than that paid by urban residents. As one example, BC Tel quotes charges for the broadband system known as ISDN as follows: for those within 4 km of a BC Tel central office, $55 monthly charge and a $60 one time installation charge; for those beyond 4 km of a BC Tel office, a $75 monthly charge and a $100 one time installation charge.⁹ This compares to a current monthly basic phone rate of about $16 to $22.

While these developments are proposed as a means of providing greater access to new technologies, the impact may in fact be to limit access if this enhanced service is not universally available or affordable. Educational providers must face this question as they consider the use of various technologies and the learners they intend to reach.