RoW Special Edition Update

Stream Intelligent Networks files for receivership, sources tell Report on Wireless Note: Officials in two Ontario municipalities, including Toronto deputy mayor Case Ootes, have told Report on Wireless that they were notified by email late last night of the company's current situation. It is not known, however, if those email notifications originated from Stream itself. PricewaterhouseCoopers has apparently been named the receiver, Report on Wireless has learned since our original article was posted. Though unconfirmed by the company, several sources today have indicated that metropolitan area network (MAN) provider Stream Intelligent Networks Corp. filed for receivership last week. The company, known for its STAR sewer fibre-laying technology, did not return telephone calls or emails today to either confirm or deny the information, and Report on Wireless has been unable to reach a live body from the company on the phone. According to one source, the company filed for receivership on February 22 and other Stream business partners have told Report on Wireless that they’ve heard the same news. The turn in fortunes for Stream is surprising since the company has often been held up as a success story in recent months and as a survivor of the telecom downturn. Last March, the company announced an undisclosed third round of funding from CDP Capital Communications. CDP was one of several high-profile investors in the company, including Working Ventures Canadian Funds Inc., Particof & Co. Ventures Inc., Paribas Affaires Industrielles and behemoth GE Capital. At press time, none of those financial partners was able to confirm or deny the rumour regarding Stream’s filing. At the same time as Stream won CDP financing, company president Steve Spooner spoke with Decima Publishing’s Network Letter and told editor Paul Park that Stream, even with financing and a string of customer wins, wasn’t immune from the current turmoil in the telecom sector. "You tend to see – in most industries, not just the telecom industry – when any significant player coughs the smaller players tend to catch a cold. I think we’ve certainly seen that. There’s been some high-profile failure. A lot of the major carriers have dampened earnings and growth expectations. That tends to put a chill on the sector and even a company that is doing well can find itself caught up in a malaise." Stream, if it has filed for receivership, joins a string of high-profile telecom failures over the past year, including Axxent, C1 Communications and Norigen. The Toronto-based company had shored up a healthy roster of partners and agreements over the past several months giving it access to four major cities in Ontario. The company had also secured exclusive Canadian rights to Sewer Telecommunication Access by Robot, a technology that enables the laying of fibre within a city’s existing storm and sanitation sewers (NL, Mar. 12/01). Most recently, Stream struck a deal with the City of Toronto to deploy carrier-grade fibre throughout the city’s sewer system. The firm had previously secured similar deals with the cities of Mississauga, Ottawa, and Richmond Hill. Access to a city’s sewer system was thought to give the company a major advantage over other fibre firms, as Stream’s method of fibre deployment negated the need to dig up streets. While the MAN provider relied heavily on laying fibre to become a carrier’s carrier, Stream holds a significant amount of wireless spectrum in the 38 GHz range. It won the lion’s share of airwaves in an auction a little more than two years ago (RoW, Nov. 29/99). The company battled hard against competitors such as AT&T Canada, the now-defunct Norigen Communications, Wispra Networks, and others, and ultimately came out on top (RoW, Nov. 15/99). The company secured at least one licence in all of the 59 serving areas. As well as being the surprise winner in the auction, Stream didn’t waste any time launching services. It was first to market with its high-frequency services less than six months after winning the licences using radios from Triton Network Systems of Orlando FL and other equipment from Giganet of Tel Aviv Israel (RoW, May 16/00). Stream established a point-to-point link between two large office towers in downtown Toronto. At that time, company executives told Report on Wireless that it planned to roll out 300 fibre and wireless POPs in four Canadian cities by the end of 2000. Cities identified for deployment were Vancouver, Calgary, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, and Ottawa-Kanata.

RoW Special Edition Update

News | February 26, 2002

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