RoW Short Takes

Ericsson Canada gets $21-million grantThe Canadian subsidiary of Swedish telecom equipment maker, Ericsson, has landed a $21.5-million grant from a Quebec provincial government agency Ericsson Canada Inc. received the money from Investissment Québec and will use to it create more jobs at its Montreal-area design facility. The company has already been the beneficiary of a job-creation grant from the Quebec government when it received $4.5 million in 1999. WaveRider sells more gear into Middle EastToronto-based WaveRider Communications Inc. has sold several hundred wireless bridges to a telecommunications system integrator in Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates. Crystal Information Technology plans to deploy WaveRider’s NCL1170 wireless bridge/routers throughout the Middle East as part of a contract with a major oil company. Crystal has been using WaveRider equipment since 1999 and has to date installed more than 325 NCL systems. COM DEV signs long-term deal with BoeingThe space division of COM DEV International Ltd. has signed a long-term supply agreement with Boeing Satellite Systems. COM DEV will provide waveguide switches. The company expects to gain up to $6.8 million in revenue annually from the three-year agreement. An initial $1.2-million order has been placed to support the engineering and initial production phase. In other COM DEV news, the company completed the sales of parts of its wireless division to Mitec Telecom last month. The deal was worth approximately $23 million. MDSI lands deal with California utility Mobile Data Solutions Inc. (MDSI) has signed a contract to provide its Advantex r7 mobile workforce management system to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The software will allow the utility to manage approximately 200 field service workers throughout metropolitan Los Angeles. In related MDSI news, the Public Service Company of New Mexico has signed an agreement with the company to upgrade to its Advantex r7 system. Wireless Matrix gets business from HoneywellCalgary-based Wireless Matrix has now become the exclusive supplier of satellite communications for Honeywell’s automation and control solutions business. The satellite equipment will be used in Honeywell’s field automation service technology (FAST) initiative in both Canada and the United States. Honeywell will purchase 275 of Wireless Matrix’ mobile base stations. NSI chosen for pipeline operation in ChinaNSI Global Inc., Montreal, has been selected to provide a satellite communications network for a major pipeline operation in China. Metso Automation SCADA Solutions Ltd., Calgary, which has operations in China, awarded NSI the $1.8-million contract. The turnkey project includes control centres in Chengdu, Huayang and Chonqing as well as substations and remote terminal units. The contract was awarded as a World Bank bid under the criteria of enhancing the safety, reliability, operational efficiency and environmental management of the gas transmission and distribution system. Wi-LAN receives $9-million order for equipmentCalgary-based Wi-LAN Inc. has received a more than $9-million purchase order from Wi-Comm United Communications, a key supplier of Wi-LAN products to the Chinese marketplace. The order is for the company’s BWS 3500 system, which operates in the licensed 3.5 GHz band. In other Wi-LAN news, the company’s Vine Internet Protocol (VIP) 110-24 Ethernet bridge has been certified by the Federal Communications Commission, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and Industry Canada. The company can now begin global shipments of the product. Rogers surpasses 3-million mark in subscribersRogers Wireless Communications Inc. has surpassed the 3-million mark in the number of wireless subscribers. Nadir Mohamed, Rogers’ president and CEO, said that this is a major milestone for the company. In the fourth quarter of 2001, Rogers added more than 180,000 new customers marking a 13% increase over figures from the previous year’s quarter. Primal Technologies signs contract in MissouriToronto-based Primal Technologies Inc. has inked an agreement to provide its Primal Service Node to Chariton Valley LD Corp. The PSN1125 will provide voice mail and future pre-paid capabilities serving communities in North Central Missouri. The node is well suited for IVR applications and has the capacity to handle 12 T1s or E1s, has storage of 21G x 2 and is NEBS complaint. Voice Mobility enhances partnership with InnovatiaVoice Mobility International Inc., Vancouver, has enhanced its second and third year of the existing LivingLAB agreement with Innovatia, a subsidiary of Aliant Inc. The renegotiated agreement allows for Voice Mobility to pay the original one-year amount of $1.74 million over three years. The revised arrangement also allows Voice Mobility to shift from a fee-for-service model to one based on variable payments. Under the new model, payments will be made based on successful deployment of its enhanced messaging software. SiGEM strengthens UK sales channel through agreementOttawa-based SiGEM Inc. has strengthened its sales efforts in the U.K. and Ireland through a resale agreement with Broadband Technology. That company will exclusively represent SiGEM’s line of GPS and telematics products, including OEM receivers, antennas and wireless tracking devices. By mid-December, Broadband Technology had purchased $3.5 million worth of products from SiGEM. Spectrum Signal incorporates new software into flexCommSpectrum Signal Processing Inc. has incorporated quicWave waveform development software into its flexComm high channel density receiver (HCDR) product line. The new software provides building blocks to enable the creation of optimized waveforms and modems for software defined radio applications such as military communications, signal intelligence, commercial wireless and wireless test and measurement. Spectrum Signal will now make available wideband and narrowband downconverter FPGA cores for software defined radio giving the company a leg up on its competition. Certicom signs three dealsCerticom has signed three licensing agreements that expand the use of the company’s wireless e-business security products. The companies will use Certicom’s Trustpoint public-key infrastructure technology in both wired and wireless environments. Deals were inked with Funk Software, HiddenMind and Cysive. Airborne, Buzztime join forcesAirborne Entertainment and Buzztime Entertainment have signed a strategic alliance to bring BUZZTIME, a multi-player, real-time trivia quiz show, to ALLTELL’s mobile data customers. In February, Cingular will also begin offering the service to its customers in the United States. L3 to be acquired by eTVVancouver-based L3 Technology is negotiating a reverse takeover with eTV Technology, a publicly traded company on the CDNX. Upon completion of the agreement, L3 will then move into the public markets. Microcell completes reorganizationMicrocell Telecommunications has completed a previously announced restructuring, resulting in the layoff of 180 employees. The move follows an earlier staff reduction of 194 last fall. Both moves are to reduce expenditures. Bell enables wireless ticketingBell Mobility has partnered with Ticketmaster Canada to provide wireless access to ticket purchasing. Bell subscribers will be able to purchase tickets for various events through the company’s wireless web browser.

RoW Short Takes

News | January 22, 2002

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