NL Editorial

The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.

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NL Short Takes

Newtel spends $40 million to upgrade in rural areas
NewTel Communications is investing $40 million to upgrade technology in 310 Newfoundland communities. The company's network engineering and operations team will provide 112 of the firm's exchanges with digital systems connected to NewTel's fibre optic network. NewTel plans to upgrade 71 exchanges serving 228 communities this year, with another 41 upgrades in 82 communities being performed next year. The telco expects the improvements will increase network capacity, eliminate network congestion, and allow the provision of new services, including local dial access to the Internet. The new program, called Network 2000, is part of an ongoing project by NewTel, a subsidiary of Aliant. Last year NewTel invested $6.5 million in its modernization plan, upgrading the network in 19 locations. The telco has also been active in Labrador, implementing the first part of a $20 million digital telecom network link last year.

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NL People

AT&T Canada Inc has added a couple of prominent names to its staff. Mark Ethier, the new senior VP of business sales, joins the telco from Telus, where he was senior VP of sales. Emilio Taddio, most recently with Destia Communications and before that Fonorola, is the new senior VP wholesale.

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U of T to establish $20-million law centre for telecom, e-comm and IT

Ontario's six law schools are receiving $20 million and an influx of talent to improve the quality of research and education for law students who want to practice in the burgeoning fields of high tech and intellectual property. The University of Toronto's law faculty – which is taking the lead on this initiative – also hopes the new Centre for Innovation and Policy will bring a stronger academic perspective to policy questions dealing with telecommunications, e-commerce and other pillars of the new economy.

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CRTC reorganizes telecom branch; streamlines structure for efficiency

The CRTC has reorganized its telecom directorate into six core groups and one converged section. The federal regulator expects the new system, which went into effect on February 1, will be more efficient as well as streamlined.

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Leading industry thinkers challenge gov’t’s foreign ownership limits

Canada's top telecom lawyers and academics say it's time the federal government dropped its longstanding restrictions against foreign ownership of telecommunications companies, arguing that even the government itself cannot produce any rationale for their continued existence. Underlying their concern is a fear that Canada's telephone and cable industries will become dominated by one or two vertically integrated mega companies, unless foreign investors and foreign competitors are given freer access to our domestic market.

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CRTC turning down review and vary appeal; Bell free to charge 75 cents for DA calls

The CRTC will be denying, by the narrowest margin possible, a review and vary application regarding Bell Canada's plan to charge for local and long distance directory assistance even if no information is provided. The regulator has yet to release its decision publicly, but Network Letter has learned that the commission has voted 7-6 against an appeal by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) to review and vary Telecom Order 99-741, which allows Bell to begin charging 75 cents every time it responds to a DA query.

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Bell Canada asks FCC to be removed from American list of dominant carriers

Bell Canada may control most of the local and long distance service in six provinces but it still wants the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington to take it off the list of foreign dominant carriers. In a petition filed in November, the huge Canadian telco maintained that "Bell Canada does not possess 50 percent market share in the international transport of intercity markets in Canada".

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