Analyst Profile
dotted lines
Analyst Photo
Lawrence Surtees
Research Vice President, Communications

Team: Canada Research
Canadian Telecom & Networks Team
Telecom and Networks
Telecommunications
Lawrence Surtees manages IDC Canada's communications research agenda and is IDC's lead analyst covering the Canadian telecom services sector, including the wireline, wireless and Internet segments, and the CRTC. Lawrence also works on related IDC consulting projects.

Widely regarded as one of Canada's foremost telecommunications experts and the global authority on Nortel Networks, he has covered the telecom sector for more than 28 years.

Prior to joining IDC Canada in Sept. 2000, Lawrence spent 17 years as a reporter at the The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto where the bulk of his tenure was spent on the Report on Business where he covered telecommunications and related high-technology companies. (He was also The Globe's medical reporter from 1988 to 1990.)

He has written more than 3,000 articles published in newspapers and magazines in Canada and the United States and has won numerous awards for his writing, including a National Newspaper Award in 1993. Lawrence began his journalism career in Ottawa in 1981 where he was editor of a weekly newsletter on communications policy and regulatory issues.

Lawrence has also served as an advisor on New Media technologies to the telecommunications committee of the Canadian Daily Newspaper Association's Board of Directors from 1994 to 1996.

A biographee in the Canadian Who's Who, Lawrence is also the author of two books on the Canadian telecommunications industry: Pa Bell, his history of BCE, was published in 1992; and Wire Wars, the inside story of the long-distance competition battle, was published in 1994. He is in frequent demand as an industry speaker, media commentator and university lecturer and holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Toronto and an M.A. in journalism from the University of Western Ontario.


IDC Links more

Players in Play: Several Canadian NSPs Court Buyers as Wireless Spectrum Auction Looms
Lawrence Surtees
Apr 2013 - Doc # lcCA24060213      IDC Link
The landscape of the C$42.7 billion Canadian telecommunication services market is poised for a shakeup as three Tier 2 players have recently confirmed they are seeking new buyers just as a new wireless spectrum auction is set to commence la ...
Ready or Not! Next Generation 9-1-1 Is Coming
Alison Brooks, Ph.D., Lawrence Surtees
Dec 2012 - Doc # lcCA23887212      IDC Link
On December 17, 2012, the CRTC announced its intent to examine the future of 911 services in Canada. The corresponding press release contains an abbreviated synopsis of the notification.The relevance of the consultation was expressed by the ...

Analyst Research more

Canadian Consumer Wireless, Internet, and Phone Services 2013–2017 Forecast
Tim Tang, Lawrence Surtees, Steve Yang, Thomas Dyer, Tony Olvet
May 2013 - Doc # CA3CIV13      Market Analysis
This IDC study examines wireless, Internet, and phone services for consumers and residential use in Canada. This should help product managers and marketers with business planning in the near and medium terms. Topics include consumer wire ...
purchase document
Canadian Telecom Services 2013–2017 Forecast: Telecom Inside Out
Lawrence Surtees, Thomas Dyer, Steve Yang, Tony Olvet, Tim Tang
May 2013 - Doc # CA5TM13      Market Analysis
This IDC study, based on IDC Canada's custom Telecom Market Model, presents our updated five-year telecom services forecast as well as summary-segmented forecasts by customer segment, company size, industry sector, and region. It ...
purchase document