We've been saying for a long time that wireless is going to be the strong player for the last mile. FTTH is all very nice to dream about, but the reality of the geography favours having no cat in the way, and the latest results from StatsCan seem to agree with us.

The wireless industry's operating profits, used as an indicator of its financial performance, reached more than $1.1 billion in 2002. This was 19 times the level of only $60.2 million in 2001. Wireless operating revenues increased 14.9% to more than $7.6 billion.

The story in the wireline industry was sharply different. Operating profits fell 13.6% to nearly $3.9 billion, as revenues declined 3.1% to $24.0 billion.

[ Source: Telecommunications statistics 2002 ]