RoW Update

Northwestel gets go-ahead for joint marketing of bundlesCanada’s northermost telco, Northwestel Inc., has been green-lit by the CRTC to jointly market its wireline services with those of its wireless affiliate Northwestel Mobility Inc. (Telecom Decision 2003-65). The decision is a result of a Part VII Application filed by Northwestel in February asking the commission to remove provisions that prevented the company from jointly marketing wireline and wireless services. This isn’t the first time the company sought to have the restrictions removed. It filed an application in March 1999 seeking a removal of the provisions. The CRTC denied the application in May 2000 (Order 2000-396) citing lack of competition in Northwestel’s market. Cell-Loc receives infusion of cash; converting to oil and gas companyCalgary-based Cell-Loc Inc. has received an infusion of cash by an investor group led by Grant Billing to recapitalize and reorganize the company. As part of the restructuring announced on September 25, Cell-Loc’s technology assets will be transferred to a subsidiary, dubbed Techco, while a new oil and gas exploration company will be formed operating under the Capital Energy moniker. Both companies will seek public listings on the TSX Venture Exchange.The investment group will provide $4.9 million to pay Cell-Loc’s existing liabilities, money that will also be used to recapitalize Techco and Capital Energy on a going forward basis. Existing Cell-Loc shareholders will not only retain ownership in Techco, but they will also obtain significant interest in Capital Energy. Following the restructuring, Techco will have no debt and will be funded with an estimated $2.5 million to implement its business plan. The current directors of Cell-Loc will form Techco’s new board of directors and existing senior management are also expected to make up the management team of the new technology company. Visto sues InfowaveCalifornia-based Visto Corp. has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Infowave Software Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Visto issued a news release on September 23 alleging the patent infringement against both Infowave and Seven Networks. “Specifically, Visto is alleging that Infowave is violating Visto patent no. 5,961,590, which relates to the system and method for synchronizing email,” the company notes in the news release. Visto is asking for preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting Infowave and Seven from continuing to misappropriate Visto’s intellectual property. Visto will also seek monetary damages as compensation for Infowave’s and Seven’s illegal actions. Infowave responded in a September 24 news release that it has yet to receive the complaint and can’t yet provide any comment. Toronto Police Service gets new fingerprint ID systemThe Toronto Police Service has purchased a new US$3.1-million automated fingerprint identification system, which will become fully operational in 2004. The police force for Canada’s largest city bought Motorola’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and LiveScan technologies, part of the company’s portfolio of integrated communications and information systems targeted at public safety and security markets. The Toronto Police Service has been a long-time user of Motorola’s AFIS technology beginning in 1993 when it deployed the Printrak system. The most recent system will replace the AFIS 2000 system installed in 1997. Spotwave inks agreement with U.S. CellularOttawa-based Spotwave Wireless Inc. has reached an agreement with U.S. Cellular to deploy its SpotCell adaptive repeater technology to provide in-building coverage, according to a September 24 news release sent to Report on Wireless by inmedia Public Relations. The news release is not available on the newswires. Deploying the SpotCell technology will extend the U.S. wireless operator’s coverage in building areas of up to 10,000 sq-m. Spotwave’s SpotCell repeaters offer low-cost, simple to deploy systems that are carrier-specific and don’t require ongoing maintenance or adjustments. INTERNATIONAL NEWSDecline in voice ARPU will be offset by increases in data and usageWireless operators in all parts of the world will mitigate declines in voice ARPU with the increased use in wireless data services and an overall increase in penetration, according to a new report from the Yankee Group. In a September 29 news release announcing the report Data ARPUs Save the Day for Wireless Operators, the research firm notes that “voice ARPU will continue to decline in real terms for all regions. Only the increase in data revenue will prevent total ARPU from falling as quickly, and only subscriber growth will prevent revenue from declining.”SMS ads could become big in U.S.Text messaging ads are poised to become a key marketing and promotional tool in the future as consumers become more accustomed to their phones’ features, and companies come to grips with the rewards of eliminating one of the last vestiges of ad-free space. That was the message at a conference in San Diego last week where proponents of SMS ads say that a substantial number of Americans will opt-in to the mobile ads and that they may even be willing to pay to receive promotional material and special events. FCC given one month to respond to LNP concernsThe U.S. Court of Appeals has given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 30 days to respond to concerns over local number portability (LNP) raised by the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA). The court also gave the CTIA a further 10 days to reply to the FCC’s response. The court also requested that both parties meet and discuss “whether the FCC’s action on LNP has been unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed,” an article on Wireless Week’s web site states. Americans want push-to-talk servicesNearly half (45%) of Americans who subscribe to wireless service from a provider other than Nextel say they want the push-to-talk feature in the next cell phone they buy, a recent study by market research firm Zelos Group finds. The study, which asked consumers to rank their top 10 preferred cell phone features, found that push-to-talk, walkie talkie-like service, ranked second among the most preferred features consumers wanted. Embedded digital cameras topped the list, while Bluetooth was tenth.

RoW Update

News | September 29, 2003

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