CONVERGENCE AND COMPETITION: THE NEW REALITY

MARCH 28, 2011

8:15

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00

Welcoming Remarks from Insight Information

9:05

Opening Remarks from the Co-Chair

Duncan Stewart 
Director, Canada Research
Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Deloitte & Touche LLP

9:15

Improving Infrastructure and Service Capabilities: What Are Canada’s Unique Challenges and How We Rate Globally

Stuart Jack
Partner
Nordicity Group Ltd.

Drew McNaughton
Chief Technology Officer
Axia Netmedia Corporation

Jim Nikopoulos
Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel
TeraGo Networks Inc.

• Legacy systems vs. new – business and consumer markets
• What metrics should be used to judge improvement?
• New business models – open access networks (i.e. Alberta supernet)
  • case study in fostering competition
• Why is Canada behind in “true broadband” – fibre deployment
• Wireless rates and penetration compared with other countries
• Does universal access to services exist?
  • are rural areas in southern Canada adequately served?
  • challenges in remote northern areas
• Where are the next great challenges?
• What is the technology required to get into people’s homes to deliver the greatest range of programming and services?
• How important broadband is to economic developmentul
  • funding infrastructure; is PPP the solution?
• Can some infrastructure issues could be resolved by running broadband along existing infrastructure such as utility poles?

10:15

Networking Coffee Break

10:30

Virtualization and Mobility: The New Reality in Convergence

Don Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Mitel

11:00

Innovation: Pushing the Boundaries of Technology

Dr. John Denstedt
Professor and Chair
Department of Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
University of Western Ontario
Chief of Surgery, London Health Sciences Centre

Wally Kowal
President and Founder
Canadian Cloud Computing

• Cloud computing – the front lines of convergence
• Cloud computing defined
• The elements of cloud computing:
  • scalable, user-managed platforms; broadband access; smart devices; applications and content
• The progress of the cloud: Canada versus the world
  • business acceptance of the cloud; government initiatives; broadband access to the cloud; the competitive landscape
• Issues in cloud computing
  • security; risk management; supplier lock-in; cloud standards
• A new paradigm in surgical training – simulation and team based training
• Strategy and principles of globalization of continuing medical education in Surgery
• Telesurgery – fact or fiction?
• Advances in surgical technology and minimal access surgery
• Wireless communication and technology in health care

12:00

Networking Luncheon

12:45

Opportunities and Challenges in Encouraging Innovative Global Spectrum Management

Mindel De La Torre (tentative)
Chief, International Bureau
Federal Communications Commission

1:15

The Next Spectrum Auction: The Ground Rules

Moderator
Lorne Abugov
Barrister & Solicitor
Founder/Director, Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame

Dennis Beland
Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs, Telecommunications
Quebecor Media Inc.

Michael Kedar 
President
Mobilexchange Spectrum Inc.

Anthony Lacavera 
Chairman
Globalive Wireless

• What are the lessons learned from Canada’s 2008 AWS spectrum auction?
• What is at stake in the upcoming 700 MHz and 2.5 GHz auctions?
• Should governments maximize revenue or pursue other objectives?
• Public vs. private spectrum ownership (public safety, healthcare etc...)
• Is access to mobile spectrum exclusively through auctions, in sync with the National Digital Strategy for best ICT benefits for Canadians?
• Are special measures required to promote competition or new entry?
• What are the international best practices in auction design and policy?

2:30

Networking Refreshment Break

2:45

Convergence Re-visited: Implications for Competition in the Marketplace

Moderator
Phyllis Yaffe
Chair, Cineplex Entertainment
Chair, Ryerson Board of Governors
Board Member, Astral Media Inc.
Lead Director, Torstar
Member, Board of Directors, Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation
Former Chief Executive Officer
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.

Norm Bolen
President and Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Media Production Association

Stewart Lyons
Chief Operating Officer
Mobilicity

Ann Mainville-Neeson
Director, Broadcast Regulation
TELUS

Ken Stein
Senior Vice President, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs
Shaw Communications Inc.

Alyson Townsend
President and Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Cable Systems Alliance

• Is the CRTC mediation process an effective process for industry participants with less market power?
• Will the terms of access to broadcast content change?
• Will there be “exclusive” deals? What other problems do you foresee for the independent distributor?
• What can we expect from CRTC 2010 – the Review of the Regulatory Framework relation to vertical integration?
• What would you suggest should be the safeguards in place as a result of this growing trend of consolidation
• Marketplace challenges that come when a carrier has the power to direct their own content
• Leveraging content into increased subscriber take-up
• Access to the distribution market for independent content producers
• Has the fee-for-carriage issue disappeared?
• Where do the outliers and mavericks fit into the competitive landscape?
  • eg. Google/YouTube, Microsoft TV, Hulu, Netflix, Skype

4:00

Emerging Business Models for Content

Moderator
Michael J. O’Farrell
Head, Mobile Marketing Association Canada Council
Founder, The Mobile Institute

Trevor Doerksen
CEO and Co-Founder
Mobo Vivo Inc.

David Huszar 
President and General Manager, Corus Interactive and Integrated Solutions (CIIS)
Corus Entertainment

Ian Kelso
President and Chief Executive Officer
Interactive Ontario

Charlie Millar 
Director, Digital Business Development
Warner Music Canada

• Cross-platform strategies
• How to treat traditional and online content; is one an extension of the other or are they unique?
• Creating an ideal relationship with content producers
• Challenges and opportunities in developing and licensing content strategies for the new wireless marketplace
• Evolution of content for the wireless platform
• Partnering with producers, sports and artists to produce cross-platform branding
• Innovation with apps: strategies for marketing
• Social Media: how it can help or hurt marketing plans
• Beyond the app: creating new forms of content/entertainment

5:15

Conference Adjourns for the Day

MARCH 29, 2011

8:15

Continental Breakfast

9:00

Welcome from the Co-Chair

Kirsten Embree
Head, Communications Law Practice Group
Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP

9:15

Funding, Producing and Distributing Quality Canadian Programming

Stéphane Cardin
Vice President, Industry and Public Affairs
Canada Media Fund

Lisa Ann Clarkson
Senior Director, Business, Rights & Content Management
CBC English Services

Raina Wells
Director, Business Affairs and Research
Ontario Media Development Fund

• The role of the CMF in the current merged landscape
• In light of the new merged carrier/broadcast entities, is it in danger of shrinking?
• Impact of the Federal Court of Appeal decision regarding the status of ISPs
  • not considered broadcasters, so can’t be forced to contribute to the production fund for new media
• How can Canada compete for audience in the online world?
• How has government responded to the new realities?
• What does the future look like for quality Canadian content?
  • reality vs drama, economics of producing these in the traditional environment vs the online environment
• Canadian content online – what do Canadians want?
• How does the business deal work – relationship between rights and what a broadcaster pays for the content

10:30

Networking Coffee Break

10:45

The Evolution of the Advertising Market

Patrick Crowe
Co-Founder
Xenophile Media

Trevor Doerksen
CEO and Co-Founder
Mobo Vivo Inc.

• Do broadcasters still generate enough from traditional sources of advertising to fund quality programming?
• Traditional versus online ad revenue
• To what extent is online cannibalizing traditional sources?
• Can the practice of simultaneous substitution evolve with the marketplace?
• What broadcasters can monetize; trying to develop a market
• Branded entertainment
  • using social networking to achieve a specific goal

11:30

The Gaming Industry: New Horizons and Market Developments

Moderator
Susan Abramovitch
Partner
Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP

Sasha Boersma
Senior Business Manager, Interactive Media
marblemedia

Jason Della Rocca
Senior Consultant
Perimeter Partners

Jason Kee 
Director, Policy & Legal Affairs
Entertainment Software Association of Canada

• Overview of Canadian industry, market, demographics, etc.
• Fundamentals of business and revenue models employed the sector, including new and emerging models
• Challenges and opportunities, including financing
• Strategies for integrating gaming into the overall media mix and the opportunities for audience reach it represents

12:30

Networking Luncheon

1:45

The Foreign Ownership Question: Should it be Encouraged, or Not?

Moderator
Len Katz (tentative)
Vice-Chairman, Telecommunications
CRTC

Jay Thomson
Vice-President, Broadcasting Policy and Regulatory Affairs
Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA)

Ted Woodhead
Vice President, Telecom Policy and Regulatory
TELUS

• Will increased FDI increase current levels of infrastructure in Canada given billions of dollars currently invested?
• Can FDI liberalization maximize efficiency if restrictions remain on broadcast distributors that also carry communications traffic?
• Would asymetric liberalization restricted to carriers based on market share conflict with Canada’s trade obligations re open markets/MFN principles?
• Would liberalization of FDI increase/decrease rural investment
• How important is achieving global or North American scale in terms of market size in driving down prices?

3:15

Networking Refreshment Break

3:30

Where to from Here? Towards a National Digital Strategy

Bernard Courtois
President and Chief Executive Officer
Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC)

Solange Drouin
Vice-présidente aux affaires publiques et directrice générale
ADISQ

Jay Kerr-Wilson
Partner
Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP

David Neale
Vice President, User Experience and Special Projects
Research in Motion

Duncan Stewart 
Director, Canada Research
Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Deloitte & Touche LLP

Kevin Tuer 
Managing Director
Canadian Digital Media Network

• What’s next for the Canadian marketplace?
• Do we have a coherent national digital strategy that addresses the needs of Canadians?
• Copyright: status of Bill C-32; will it, did it (or should it) survive in the digital economy?
• Developing spectrum policies for converging industries
• What innovations are likely to be widely adopted? And in what time frame?
• The CRTC’s role in regulating new media broadcast undertakings and advancing Canada’s digital agenda

5:00

Executives from Telecommunications, Broadcasting, Entertainment and Digital Media Including:

CEOs, Presidents, Vice Presidents and Directors of Technology, Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Consumer/Business Solutions, Business and Legal Affairs, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Digital/Content Business Development, Programming Vice President and General Manager, Interactive, President, Television, VP of Licensing, Rights and Content Management, Senior VP Digital Development & Distribution.

Dear Colleague:

Over the past year many big shifts have taken place in the telecommunications and broadcast sectors. The mergers of Shaw with CanWest, and Bell with CTV have dramatically changed the landscape. Convergence is now a reality; and the word ‘telecommunications’ is in danger of becoming redundant and being replaced with the simpler ‘communications’. Competition in this sector was also ratcheted up several notches with the introduction of the iPhone4, the iPad and other tablets, the Blackberry Torch and Android phones, underscoring the intensity of the battle between players in the mobile arena as attention increasing shifts to those devices as a key part of the future industry. In 2011, for the first time in decades, PCs will represent less than 50% of the computing devices purchased globally.

As the tectonic shift continues towards an internet-based delivery system using ever-increasing amounts of broadband, nations are finding that keeping up with demand by building out the necessary infrastructure to serve their populations represents a formidable challenge. Canada is not alone in this, but is at risk of falling behind those nations that already have digital strategies in place and are acting on them.

Being next door to the U.S. has historically put Canada in a more challenging situation than that faced by other countries in maintaining our home grown cultural and entertainment enterprises; and the move toward internet delivery puts this entire sector – and the jobs it represents – at risk. A workable approach will need to be found, but it won’t be easy. How we respond to these challenges over the next few years will be critical in determining what direction this industry takes and even if it remains predominantly Canadian. There are myriad issues still evolving that need to be addressed and which have a direct impact on both of these sectors as they continue to converge. This conference, produced by Insight Information is a unique opportunity to take part in interactive discussions concerning the future of Canadian technology, communications, culture and entertainment. It’s one we’re sure you won’t want to miss.

Sincerely,

Duncan Stewart
Director, Canada Research
Technology, Media & Telecommunications
Deloitte & Touche LLP

Kirsten Embree 
Head, Communications Law Practice Group
Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP

CLE Accreditation
This program can be applied towards 4 of the 12 hours of annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) required by the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Please note that these CPD hours are not accredited for the New Member Requirement.

The Barreau du Québec automatically recognizes training activities held outside the province of Quebec and accredited by another Law Society which has adopted MCLE for its members. This program is thus approved by the Barreau du Québec for 4 hours.

MARKETING PARTNERS

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Register 3 delegates for the main conference at regular price at the same time and you’re entitled to register a fourth person from your organization at no charge. For other group discounts, please call 1-888-777-1707. All discounts must be redeemed when booking, discounts will not be valid or applied after this time.