Making the Switch to Independent Media in Canada
We're asking Canadians to make the switch from Big Telecom to small/indie/local media & create a people-centered media system!
About You
About You
First Name
Reilly
Last Name
Yeo
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
OpenMedia.ca
Organization Website
Organization Country
Canada, BC
Country where this project is creating social impact
Canada, BC
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Innovation
Entry Form title
Making the Switch to Independent Media in Canada
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Idea (you're poised to launch)
How long have you been in operation?
Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon
THE NEED: Describe the need for your solution and the size/dynamic of the community (ies) you will engage
Currently, big Internet service providers (ISPs) are able to act as gatekeepers, controlling the Internet market while they strangle certain online services (a practice known as throttling) and gouge citizens with unethical billing practices (Canadians pay some of the highest prices for high-speed Internet access in the OECD). An oligopoly of 5 big companies control Internet access for 94% of customers. This leaves Canadians in an incredibly vulnerable position: at any time, these big 5 companies can decide to essentially “shut off” any service they dislike. An access-to-information request revealed that our communications regulator, the CRTC, is ignoring complaints that ISPs are doing just that - discriminating against certain online services. This is antithetical to a community-centered media model.
By engaging communities in Nelson, BC and Vancouver, BC, we will show what a community-centered Internet solution looks like in both a rural and an urban area.
THE SOLUTION: Please explain what your solution offers and how it is innovative. How will you put your solution into the hands of users or beneficiaries? Be specific!
We will pilot a project in Vancouver, BC, and Nelson, BC, in which Internet users are encouraged to switch from one of the big ISPs to smaller, more local solutions. Should there be no private competitor available (as is the case in about 20% of Canadian regions), we will encourage Canadians to spearhead the construction of their own municipal Internet infrastructure by making a “Build Your Own Internet” kit. We will build on the success of small ISPs and community networks in Canada and the US (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izYslyrm3oU) to introduce true choice into the Internet service market, and guarantee Canadians have access to open & affordable Internet.
We have over 33,000 supporters in Vancouver, as well as deep roots in a community of media makers; we have over 500 supporters in Nelson (a community under 10,000 people) and the surrounding area. Our national mailing list is over 500,000, one of the biggest in Canada. We would use the strength of our network to put our tools into the hands of Internet users. This will help demonstrate the demand/need for choice in the Internet market, and broaden the base of those finding alternatives to big telecom.
THE MODEL: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference through use of information technology and media
Our solution provides a wider user-base for small independent Internet service providers, which need to find a way to reach users and inform people that their services are available; it provides a guide for communities looking to come together and take control of their telecommunications infrastructure.
Our Make the Switch/Build Your Own Internet toolkit will empower communities to exercise choice when it comes to Internet service provision. Every Canadian should enjoy real choice and diverse options for Internet access; this will help lower prices, increase Internet speeds, and ensure non-discrimination against certain services (net neutrality) for everyone.
Ultimately, we imagine the tool scaling up nationally, and providing an interactive national broadband map for Canada. We also imagine it expanding to include other types of digital services and content, encouraging users to ‘make the switch’ not just from their big ISP but from their big media providers more generally, in the process becoming a supporter of more independent, community-oriented media.
THE MARKETPLACE: Who are your peers and competitors? What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
The size of OpenMedia.ca’s online community means we can overcome the Catch-22 where services need users first, but people need the service in order to become users. We can demonstrate that demand for these services exists, grow demand, and connect people to work together. Our peers are other community net initiatives & independent ISPs, whom we would hope to work with closely but who do not have national reach. Our competitors are big ISPs, who would likely use political pressure to try to change regulations and make the development of local and independent alternatives more difficult.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
FOUNDING STORY: We want to hear about your “Aha!” moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution’s potential to change the world.
Our “A-ha!” moment came earlier this year, when our Stop The Meter campaign went viral and we saw almost half-a-million Canadians finally take action against Big Telecom. We realized Canada is at a pivotal moment, where Canadians have become aware that Big Telecom isn’t serving their interests, and are willing to consider changing their communications system from an oligopoly to a more democratic, community-centered model. We see “Make the Switch” as a vital next step towards this model of a communications system that serves citizens first.
Specify both the depth and scale of your solution’s social impact to date
The social impact of Stop The Meter has been immense - because of pressure from Canadians, politicians intervened in big telecom’s attempt to shut down small Internet providers, insisting the regulator (the CRTC) reverse its decision. We were also invited into what would otherwise have been a closed-door CRTC process, and we generated over 100,000 public submissions into the regulatory proceeding, an increase over past proceedings by many orders of magnitude. We have demonstrated that Canadians understand the lack of democracy, accountability and transparency in the current policy-making and communications service provision processes in Canada. We have built a movement to reform the digital political economy in Canada.
What is your projected impact within the next 1-5 years? Is your idea replicable? If so, how?
Our projected impact within the next 1 to 5 years is bringing the percentage of Internet users choosing independent and/or local alternatives over Big Telecom up from 6% to 10%.
Our idea is definitely replicable - the “Make the Switch” tool would be an easily-navigable, crowd-sourced database of many different kinds of independent and/or local content and services. It will be built using an open-source model that would make it easily customizable for different communities, including those in other countries.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and mark growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
20,000 people signed up to “Make the Switch” either by switching providers or joining a local initiative to build alternatives.
Six-Month Tasks
Task 1
Build interactive database of alternatives in Vancouver and Nelson, with potential for crowdsourced additions.
Task 2
Build pledge tool to enable our supporters to pledge to “Make the Switch”.
Task 3
Write email to our supporters and launch a social media campaign to encourage them to sign and share the pledge.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
nteractive database covers entire country, and more than 50,000 Canadians have signed up to “Make the Switch.”
12-Month Tasks
Task 1
Ensure crowdsourcing function works well and is attracting input nationally. Design process to vet submissions.
Task 2
Engage in targeted local campaigns to ensure any un- or under-represented areas are built up in the database.
Task 3
Launch successful, collaborative communications strategy nationally to encourage Canadians to sign the pledge.
How many people have been impacted by your project?
More than 10,000
How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?
More than 10,000
Sustainability
Explain how your company, program, service or product is structured
Non-profit
What barriers have hindered the success of your project to date? How do you plan to overcome these and other challenges as you grow your solution?
Lack of funding for the creation of the database. We do not have the resources to do this in-house - funds are necessary to work with independent contractors to create the database, and ensure the crowdsourcing features are robust and simple to use.
How do you see the information-technology and media sectors shifting over the next decade? How will your solution adapt to and/or drive that changing environment?
IT and media sectors are shifting in two competing ways: concentration in the hands of big providers, and increasing numbers of local, smaller alternatives. We have to ensure that the latter trend is strong enough to compete with efforts to quash it (see http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/small-isps-lame... or http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/05/nc-gov-anti-muni-broadband/ ).
Failure is not always an option. If your solution fails to gain traction in the next two years, what other applications of the idea could you explore?
We can’t imagine this idea not gaining traction with our community of supporters, but should the idea of using this type of database for Internet service provision fail, we could easily re-purpose the database and use it to build maps of any kind of alternative media service (i.e. free public Internet hotspots; independent or public media; local media using new, innovative crowd-sourced journalism methods; communities of open media activists etc.)
Expand on your selections, explaining how you will sustain funding
We will sustain funding mainly through contributions from our supporters - once the tool is built and launched, and people can see its effectiveness, we feel confident that they will donate to keep it growing and expand the impact of the campaign. Other groups that benefit from the tools (particularly smaller ISPs) could be another key source of funding, though it is important to be independent of any single type of alternative model (i.e. we equally support independent private provision or public provision models, so long as they respond to the needs of the community).
Tell us about your partnerships
OpenMedia.ca operates as a network of member organizations, many of which contribute to our campaigns in-kind, in the capacity that makes the most sense for them. Independent publications such as The Tyee and Rabble.ca, for example, will help us spread the word about our campaign, its importance, and how their readership can get involved.
The full list of network members can be found at http://openmedia.ca/network
What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section?
We have a small but dedicated staff of 4 with expertise in community organizing, online campaign design, and media. In order to complete a project of this scale we’ll have to hire a developer on contract, who will have a reliable team of volunteer designers and developers to provide support, using their strong skill sets and experience working collaboratively to create engagement tools.
Changemakers is a collaborative and supportive space. Please specify any community resources you would need to grow and sustain your initiative. Select all that apply
Investment, Research or information, Collaboration or networking.
Specify any resources you might offer to support other initiatives. Select all that apply
Marketing or media, Collaboration or networking, Innovation or ideas.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren’t specified within the list
We’re happy to provide support for ideas that advance openness and affordability for Canada’s communications system. Our skills lie primarily in public engagement and coalition building, and we’re confident that these core competencies could give legs to projects that empower Canadians to communicate.
Summary
Define your company, program, service or product in 1-2 short sentences
We are piloting projects to get Canadians to “Make the Switch” away from big telecom companies that restrict online choice.
Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences
We're asking Canadians to make the switch from Big Telecom to small/indie/local media & create a people-centered media system!
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| A pro-Internet community member at the Stop The Meter National Day of Action | 185.47 KB |
| Print versions of the Stop The Meter petition | 594.71 KB |
| 6030971334_bd2b0d3605_b.jpg | 480.57 KB |
 | 36 weeks agoReilly Yeo updated this Competition Entry. |
| 36 weeks agoReilly Yeo submitted this idea. |
