Léo Houle has been appointed as Chief Talent Officer for BCE Inc, a new position. He previously worked at Alcan Inc and Algroup Ltd.

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Vidéotron Télécom sells off assets
Vidéotron Télécom has sold its maintenance contracts and inventory to NEC Canada Inc and to Incotel Networks. The company’s takeover by Quebecor Media Inc was recently approved by the CRTC.

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An Ottawa company is reaping the benefits of the telecom meltdown with a software product that helps carriers reduce operating costs by taking a more managed approach to their networks. Linmor Technologies Inc bucked the industry trend late last month when it announced a 14 per cent increase in fourth quarter revenue, and annual revenues of nearly $3 million – a 13 per cent jump over fiscal 2000 revenue. That marks the highest annual revenue in the company’s seven-year history.

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Canadians are the world’s heaviest users of the Internet, spending about an hour more online than the second place ranked United States, a new study finds. According to Media Metrix Canada’s Total Canada at Home Web Use Report, users here logged on for an average of 932 minutes per month during April, while Americans trailed at 876 minutes.

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Telesat Canada has failed to convince the CRTC that it should be exempted from paying into the local phone subsidy fund because the majority of its customers are broadcasters (NL, March 12/01). Last Thursday, the commission rejected a joint appeal by Telesat and its subsidiary TMI Communications Inc, which signals the latest in a series of unsuccessful attempts by carriers to tinker with the new subsidy regime.

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Canada’s small independent telcos aren’t finding any allies among their larger brethren in their battle to change the CRTC’s new subsidy regime for local phone service (NL, Apr. 23/01). Bell Canada, SaskTel and Rogers Wireless Inc oppose what they call an attempt by the independents to get preferential treatment under the new rules (Decision 2000-745), which came into effect in January.

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Any economic gains projected for the Canadian economy will be offset by losses in the electronics and telecom sectors, with Quebec feeling the greatest impact, a new report finds. The National Bank of Canada’s Economic and Financial Outlook Summer 2001 credits low interest rates and tax cuts for a projected 2.8 per cent upswing in the Canadian economy.

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The federal government’s science-based departments and agencies have up with at least $12.5 billion (and reportedly as high as $20 billion) in requests as part of an Industry Canada-led process to develop a national vision and strategy on innovation. The pending Innovation White Paper is considered a key pillar in that process.

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Industry minister Brian Tobin says the telecom sector is justified in asking for a review of the foreign ownership rules since the government expects it to incur most of the costs and risks associated with broadband deployment to rural areas. Speaking to reporters following his speech at the Canadian Cable Television Association in Toronto last week, Tobin clearly indicated that his government will act on a pending recommendation from the National Broadband Task Force to "urgently review" ownership limits on telecom companies and broadcast distributors.

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