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The Urgency to Increase Connectivity

Recorded:October 29th, 2020

Sponsored by:

For millions of Canadians, high-speed Internet remains out of reach. In a world where the Internet has become fundamental to how we live, work and play, this puts too many Canadians at an economic and social disadvantage. In this session, Robert Backhouse will explore the challenges of increasing connectivity in rural and remote areas, and emphasize the need for government to accelerate its plan to connect all Canadians to broadband Internet by 2030.

Robert Backhouse BEng (Hons), MIT (Hons)
SVP & Chief Technology Officer
Huawei Technologies Canada Co., LTD

Robert has over 20 years international experience in the Information & Telecommunications Industry, consulting and working for operators and vendors. Robert joined Huawei in June 2009 and is responsible for the design and sales of technical solutions in Canada including wireless, broadband access, WDM, IT and services. He also leads the marketing team and has been involved in the planning, testing and deployment of 5G technologies within Canada.

Prior to joining Huawei, Robert worked as a consultant with Qualcomm in San Diego and with several other vendors and operators across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Robert has a Bachelor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Masters of Information Technology from Queensland University of Technology (Australia).

Mark Goldberg
Principal
Mark H Goldberg & Associates

Mark Goldberg is head of Mark H. Goldberg & Associates Inc., a telecommunications industry consulting practice specializing in assisting clients understanding of the implications of changes in competitive markets. Drawing on nearly 40 years of industry experience, for more than 20 years the firm has assisted clients in Canada and around the world in all sectors of the industry: new entrants and incumbents, end users, manufacturers and software suppliers, government regulators and industry associations. In the course of corporate careers, he gained the perspective and led changes from many perspectives: telecommunications service providers, regulation, research and development, equipment architectures and large customer networks. Mr. Goldberg was Vice President Network Services for Sprint Canada, responsible for the planning, engineering, administration and operations of its national network. At Unitel Communications, he developed the network interconnection architectures for the introduction of telecommunications competition in Canada and testified on competitive network architectures before the CRTC in proceedings that led to its landmark decisions related to long distance and local competition. He continues to advise governments in Canada and overseas on a variety of issues. Mr. Goldberg has lectured at the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto. He is the co-founder of GST Conferences, a telecommunications industry training and conference company and the producer of the annual Canadian Telecom Summit held in June of each year. GST Conferences has produced training courses used by regulators for new employees and commissioners. He is quoted often in such newspapers as the National Post and Globe and Mail. His OpEds have appeared in the National Post and Hill Times.