NL Short Takes

Jean Monty hints that BCE may reduce price for TeleglobeTelecom giant BCE Inc says it is holding talks with the independent committee of the Teleglobe Inc board of directors to discuss the offering price for outstanding shares. Offhand remarks by BCE CEO Jean Monty in New York about seeking a lower price led to a run on Teleglobe and BCE shares on the stock market. BCE originally offered $9.6 billion for the rest of Teleglobe.Teleglobe announces lower revenues and losses for Q1Teleglobe Inc has reported a loss of $47.8 million for the first quarter of 2000, versus income of $26.5 million a year earlier. Revenues were down 15 per cent in Q1 2000 as compared with Q1 1999.Call-Net and 360networks talking about fibre saleVancouver-based 360networks Inc may buy back some of the fibre-optic network it sold to Call-Net Enterprises Inc. Neither company released many details, but such a sale could bring the cash-strapped CLEC more than $200 million. Earlier in the week, the Sprint parent unloaded a Toronto office property for $85.4 million to Bentall Corp of Vancouver and Deutsche Bank Canada.Cannect opens operations centre in VancouverCLEC Cannect Communications Inc has opened its network operation centre in Vancouver. The company is offering telephony services to small and medium businesses in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa.New legislation tabled in SenateThe federal government has tabled Bill S-26, an act to repeal the BC Tel act, in the Senate. The housekeeping move will finalize the merger of Telus Communications and Telus Communications British Columbia into one entity. Also in the Senate, Sheila Finestone has tabled S-24 to amend the Broadcasting Act, which will permit public interest groups to claim costs when appearing before the CRTC in broadcasting proceedings. Such groups can currently only be reimbursed when intervening in telecom sessions. If passed, the change will likely result in more consumer groups interventions in broadcast proceedings.Telus expands Internet services with financial sitesWestern telco Telus has introduced a personalized streaming financial portfolio tracker on its MyBC.com and Alberta.com portals. The system will permit 10 different Canadian and American stocks to be listed and will be updated regularly, with a 15-minute market delay.Fighting over walking fingersErstwhile Stentor stablemates Bell Canada and Telus are battling over copyright. Bell ActiMedia is moving into the Vancouver market with the publication of Yellow Pages directories in December. Telus concedes Bell owns the name, which it formerly used, but says it still has the legal right to use the walking fingers logo. ActiMedia disagrees and lawyers are being consulted.BCI offers to convert Canbras debt into equityBell Canada International has offered to turn $74.5 million in debt from Canbras Communications Corp into common shares, worth $11.17 each. Canbras offers data, Internet and cable services in Sao Paulo and the Brazilian state of Parana and also acts as a telephony reseller.EastLink invests $6 million in PEIEastLink, a Halifax-based cable and telephone company, is spending $6 million to upgrade its facilities in Prince Edward Island. The new system will increase bandwidth, transform the network to a two-way system to handle Internet access and provide digital capability over the broadband network. EastLink Telephone was launched in Nova Scotia last November and expects to enter the PEI market shortly.Regional builds Ethernet network for Ontario schoolsRegional Cablesystems Inc of Sudbury ON has built a gigabit Ethernet wide area network for two northern Ontario school boards. Both the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and Le Conseil scolarie catholique de Nouvel-Ontario had outgrown previous WAN capacity. The network will support high-speed Internet, on-demand learning, and broadcast quality video conferencing. The network represents an increase of at least 125 times over the school's current level of connectivity.NHC Communications submits application to FCCMontreal-based NHC Communications Inc has applied to have its VCCS solution designated as a carrier-neutral resolution to the shared line testing problem in the United States. The submission to the Federal Communications Commission is in response to FCC Order 99-355 of last year.FCC proposes speeding up approvals for submarine cableThe Federal Communications Commission has adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking that should fast track applications for submarine cable system licences. The commission expects the changes should open up competition in the cable installation industry.PixStream provides telcos with video contentPixStream Inc of Waterloo ON has signed an agreement with Federal Hill Communications of Los Angeles to sell digital video-on-demand content to telcos. Telecom firms will be able to offer services over existing networks.InfoInterActive sells service to California companyInfoInterActive Inc of Bedford NS has sold its Internet Call Manager and Whoisit services to eVoice Inc. The Menlo Park CA company provides Internet-enable voice services.TARA selects Kinnetics packageThe Telecom Applications Research Alliance (TARA) of Halifax has chosen the Kinnetics management appliance as a part of its network management infrastructure. Kinnetics is manufactured by Loran Technologies Inc of Ottawa.Web-to-phone calls permit free LD throughout Canada and USHouston-based WowRing.com has introduced a "web-to-phone" portal that will permit Internet users throughout the world to make free long-distance calls into Canada and the United States. The system, which is using AT&T's bandwidth, will be supported through advertising.Cabletel wins EastLink contractCabletel Communications Corp of Markham ON has won a $2.5-million contract from EastLink Cable Systems of Halifax to rebuild and upgrade its network. The contract calls for the delivery of RF amplifiers, fiber optic transmission and reception devices and signal routers.Mediatrix signs agreement with Australian resellerMediatrix Telecom Inc of Sherbrooke QC has named Adacel Technologies Ltd of Melbourne Australia as its distributor in the nation. Adacel will sell the Mediatrix line of voice over IP telephony products on the Pacific continent.CRTC seeks input on DALThe CRTC has issued Telecom Public Notice 2000-82, seeking comments on contribution-eligible direct access line traffic provided by affiliates of LD providers. Submissions will be tabled throughout the summer, ending in September.Storm buys CrossKeys equipment, becomes resellerCrossKeys Systems Corp of Kanata ON has sold its Dyband software to Storm Internet Services, an Ottawa-based ISP. The company has also agreed to become a reseller for CrossKeys.Sigma introduces new productToronto-based Sigma Systems Group launched ServiceBroker 5.0 in early June. The system is a service provisioning and activation solution for broadband cable, residential broadband and next-generation service providers. Sigma is a provider of OSS and BSS solutions.

NL Short Takes

News | June 19, 2000

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