An Ottawa startup is touting technical and cost advantages over the competition as it enters the burgeoning market for in-building wireless communications. Executives at SpotWave Wireless Inc say the debut of their first product last week marks a new generation of products designed to eliminate coverage gaps in office buildings and elsewhere. The company, which launched last May with just over $3 million in Canadian VC financing, is making its sales pitch to cost-conscious carriers struggling to reduce churn and expand their customer base.

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now.

A Burnaby BC company is launching a new software-defined radio (SDR) platform that could make it easier for multiple countries to coordinate their military operations. Spectrum Signal Processing Inc’s new flexComm radio is being developed in partnership with the Canadian government. Last month, the company received a $500,000 grant from the Defence Industrial Research Program (DIRP) to add ultra-wide band capability to its flexComm SDR architecture.

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now.

Industry Canada will soon announce proposed changes to a small section of the Radiocommunication Act that will affect the use of cell phone jammers in this country, Report on Wireless has learned. The recommended changes have only just been proposed and it is still unclear where the modifications will take place and what they will entail.

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now.

Government officials, key industry players and members of the National Broadband Task Force are hinting that Ottawa’s financial commitment to bring high-speed Internet access to every Canadian community by 2004 will be significantly less than previously thought. Some have suggested that the government could commit as little as $200 million, far below the previously anticipated level of $1.5 billion. The total public/private sector bill for the rollout of broadband technologies to every Canadian community could reach $4.75 billion (RoW, July 9/01).

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now.

Rollout of broadband to be scaled back
The Canadian government will not be implementing all of the recommendations of the National Broadband Task Force, Network Letter has learned. Industry Minister Brian Tobin has reportedly stated “security concerns” are forcing the feds to scale back their plans.

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now.