NL Short Takes

AT&T Canada restructuring gets creditor approvalThe restructuring plan proposed by AT&T Canada Corp. has been given the green light by bondholders and other creditors. The group, which represented 99% of the total value of affected claims, voted 91% in favour of the proposal. Sprint flies away with Air Canada LD, toll service contractSprint Canada Inc. has signed a three-year agreement with Air Canada to supply LD, toll free service and advanced billing management services to the airline. Time iCR, a strategic partner of the CLEC, will provide an enhanced voice recognition product as part of the deal. 360networks extends contract with German firm360networks Corp. is expanding its North American contract with T-Systems Inc. The North American subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom’s IT and networks services division will lease additional 2.5 Gbps optical wavelengths and collocation capacity. Primus Canada reports better fourth quarterNet revenue for Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. in Q4 was $64.6 million, a 2.5% jump from the previous quarter. Residential revenue increased 7% due to a larger LD and high-speed Internet base, although this was offset by reductions in revenue from lower margin carrier customers and business clients. Ottawa region plans high-speed connectivityCity planners in Ottawa are vowing to roll out broadband backbone to all areas of the region within five years. Rob Mackay, city manager of business initiatives, estimates 24,000 units in rural communities cannot access the Internet through high-speed connectivity. Northwestel customers lose service for several daysPeople in Repulse Bay NU were without local or LD service for three days, after blizzards knocked out the system. Northwestel had to fly in new parts to repair the damaged equipment. EastLink ordered to hand over customer informationHalifax cableco EastLink has been ordered to turn over customer information to Medicis Pharmaceuticals. Someone using an EastLink email address sent a message defaming employees of the Arizona drug company. Telus Québec creates judicial web site for Quebec barTelus Québec is one of five partners working on the creation of a new Internet portal, called Juriportail, covering judicial matters in the province. Also involved are three divisions of the Quebec Bar Association and the Centre d’access à l’information juridique. DSL continues to roll out across prairie provincesManitoba Telecom Services Inc. is rolling out its DSL service to the communities of Wawanesa, Rivers, St. François Xavier, Sanford and Douglas. SaskTel is now making high-speed Internet available to Coleville, Lashburn, Quill Lake and Gull Lake. Peer 1 Network provides Internet connectivity to RISQVancouver’s Peer 1 Network is providing high performance Internet connectivity to Quebec education network RISQ—le Réseau d’informations scientifiques du Québec. RISQ will be able to provide more than 100 institutions in the MUSH sector with additional bandwidth. Cogsdale teams with Montage to sell Microsoft CRM productCharlottetown software firm Cogsdale Corp. has joined with AT&T Canada subsidiary Montage-DMC to market Microsoft’s CRM product. This is the first time Montage has distributed Microsoft software in the business sector. Core Networks unveils end-to-end product with JungoCore Networks of Halifax has joined with Jungo Software Technologies of San Jose CA to introduce the CableHome software. The product permits multiple system operators to manage advanced networking services over DOCSIS networks. Call centres open in Ontario, British Columbia in AprilWest Corp. is hiring 800 people to work at a call centre in Central Saanich BC that will field calls for AT&T Corp. of the United States. It should begin operations in April, the same month ecommerce company MCCI Inc. opens a 150-member contact centre in Belleville ON. FCC gives more power to states in telecom rulesThe Federal Communications Commission has given states greater powers to enforce competition rules in telephony. The American regulator says states will decide if RBOCs—the so-called "Baby Bells"—have to open up their networks to new entrants. BellSouth blocks vice-chair’s move to SprintBellSouth has been granted a temporary restraining order keeping vice-chair of domestic operations Gary Forsee from moving over to Sprint Inc. Forsee, a former Sprint executive, has been offered the position of CEO at the rival telco. Bidders dropping out in race for Japan TelecomTokyo Electric Power is the most recent company to announce it is no longer interested in Japan Telecom Holdings Co. Vodafone Group, the owner of Japan’s number three telco, is asking 300 billion yen (about $3.8 billion) for the company (NL, Feb. 10/03). IP telephony will hit US$15 billion by 2007, survey saysThe global IP telephony market should hit US$15.14 billion by 2007. The IDC report comes out just as the European Commission is calling for much more rapid deployment of broadband on the continent. Telcos plan to fight EC competition regulationsBT Group, France Télécom and Deutsche Telekom are fighting transEuropean regulations that are designed to encourage competition. The European Commission has also started proceedings to decrease state control on Dutch ILEC KPN. Oftel upholds complaint against British TelecomThe director general of Oftel, David Edmonds, has found British Telecom in breach of the conditions of its licence. The ILEC did not publish information about a discount it made available to a business customer, leading to the complaint from CLEC Vanco UK. Fresh Values a little too fresh for Chicago womanWhen Patricia Francey dialed the phone number for Dominick’s Fresh Values store, she was forwarded to a line offering "an exciting new way to go live and one-on-one with hot, horny girls." A spokeswoman for the Chicago supermarket said the toll-free number had been cancelled in 2001 and that Francey was obviously using an out-of-date promotional card.

NL Short Takes

News | February 24, 2003

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

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us