NL Short Takes

Bell enhances business services in Eastern QuebecBell Canada is adding local telephone and high-speed Internet services to its suite of offerings for businesses in Eastern Quebec. Starting in January 2005, Bell business customers will have the new service available to them. Bell will invest $10 million over three years to build, deploy and operate the necessary infrastructure. The new services will be available to customers in St-Georges de Beauce, Ste-Marie de Beauce, Rimouski and Baie-Comeau PQ. The services will be offered through five different resellers. Commission sides with cablecos on modem requirementsCable companies have won their case at the CRTC to require that third-party Internet access providers (TPIAs) using their networks can be required to use DOCSIS 1.1-certified modems that have been verified by Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs), and that those modems meet 10 individual criteria related to their technical performance and monitoring functions (Telecom Decision 2004-37). But, in a move one expert suggests is unprecedented for the commission, cablecos will now be required to do secondary-level testing on proposed modems without charge once a year. Rather than testing TPIA-submitted gear that has never been launched on a particular system on a cost-recovery basis, the regulator has decreed that first and second testing costs must be borne by the cablecos as long as those tests aren’t failed more than twice. The cable companies have 30 days from the June 4 decision date to file tariffs related to testing costs. Further, a modem can only fail second-level testing on the basis of any of the 10 criteria listed in the decision. Failure will also require the cablecos to create a written report on why the modem didn’t pass, but the cableco will not be responsible for troubleshooting the equipment. CRTC lists ‘04/’05 telecom feesThe CRTC has announced in Public Notice 2004-3 issued June 7 that it estimates its total costs for regulating the telecommunications industry will be $22.73 million. The number was revised down from $23.523 million on the basis of overpayments last year by the carriers, and following a downward revision in reported operating revenues by some carriers. HBC retains Sprint Canada to provide telecom servicesHudson’s Bay Company has signed Sprint Canada Inc. to a four-year contract to continue to provide voice, data and Internet services to all Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitter stores across the country. The contract this time around sees a new twist: Sprint will provide IP services that will let HBC introduce high-bandwidth applications into its stores, and to connect all its sites through Sprint’s virtual private network. A media release notes that some of HBC’s stores use DSL connections, while others connect via frame relay. MTS acquisition closes after court denies Bell claimsManitoba Telecom Services Inc.’s (MTS) proposed acquisition of Allstream Inc. closed on June 4 after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice denied on June 3 a motion for injunction filed by Bell Canada that threatened to derail the deal. Bell had claimed that the deal broke a subscription agreement, and a distribution and intellectual property agreement between MTS and Bell. Though it did not get its injunction, Bell will continue to seek damages as a result of the deal, and has advised MTS that it will add a claim for unjust enrichment. Further, Bell has launched a $150-million legal proceeding against Allstream for conspiracy and inducing MTS to break its obligations to Bell. Total Telecom to design fibre optic network in AlbertaTotal Telecom Inc. subsidiary Total Telecom Canada Corp. has been retained by an undisclosed party, identified only as a "national service provider", to design a fibre optic network within Lloyminster AB and to the east in Saskatchewan. The company is not announcing the total value for the deal pending a potential new contract to complete construction of the network following the engineering process. The engineering work began in late May and will continue through the end of July. TELUS gets environmental nodTELUS Corp. has been recognized by Corporate Knights as the 2004 Best Environmental Corporate Citizen in the Knights’ third annual ranking of Canada’s best 50 corporate citizens. CATA to ITAC: Canada holding its own in M&A activitiesA recent report sponsored by the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) and penned by Doyletech Corp. has prompted the CATA Alliance to state that Canada is in no danger of losing its best high-tech companies to foreign acquisition. The study, Building World-Class Technology Companies, made the case that foreigners are buying Canadian companies at an early stage. To counter, CATA pointed to its own research on the balance of M&A payments, which it says shows Canadian software companies have acquired more foreign companies than the other way around. In a media release, CATA’s national director, public affairs, David Paterson points to companies such as Cognos, which purchased four companies in the five years covered by CATA’s stats, GEAC, which purchased 10, Open Text, which purchased nine, and CGI group, which purchased 14, as examples of Canadian success stories. The release goes on to note that even when Canadian companies are bought by non-Canadians, their founders often go on to create new, bigger firms here. The statistics collected by CATA show that, in software, in 2003, Canadians acquired 15 foreign companies worth $462.4 million, acquired 15 Canadian companies worth $431.7 million, and that 15 Canadian companies worth $438.8 million were acquired by foreigners in that year. Colba.Net continues acquisition streak with purchase from CGIColba.Net Inc., a privately-held, Montreal-based ISP, has purchased several Internet access assets from CGI Group Inc. to continue its streak of recent acquisitions. The assets purchased from CGI consist mainly of broadband Internet provisioning infrastructure and related services targeted to enterprise clients. Colba.Net will now be able to offer server management, server hosting and broadband connectivity. Also included in the deal are several proprietary networking products such as IP4Me which unifies invoicing, point-of-sale contact and allows customers to use VPNs. Colba.net is also buying a substantial customer base that includes Sprint Canada, Mitsui/Toyota, QIT, Nesbitt Burns, as well as the transfer of six employees. The new division will be named Enter-Net, which was the name of the Internet company originally acquired by Cognicase in 2000. Yak to test VoIP service for cable Internet subscribersYak Communications Inc. has launched a market test of its WorldCity Voice over IP (VoIP) services for subscribers to high-speed Internet cable services. The product is expected to be commercially released with full features including caller ID, call blocking, call forwarding, three-way calling, voice mail, and 911 service. A media release issued by the company June 1 indicates the bundled services including local, long distance and basic features are expected to sell for $24.99 to $34.99, all in. "We had previously tested in Phase 1 our products on high-speed DSL networks and have now completed testing our products on high-speed cable networks. We currently have consumers making inbound and outbound calls using both IP phones and regular telephones, with operational connectivity between high-speed cable, IP and PSTN networks, and it works well. We look forward to our commercial rollout in September and we increasingly believe that the market opportunities for our products and services are extremely large both in Canada and U.S.A., as well as internationally," Yak president and CEO Charles Zwebner is quoted as saying in the same media release. NHC deals with unauthorized listing on German marketNHC Communications Inc. says it had no knowledge that it was listed along with several public companies on the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange by the German brokerage firm Berliner Freiverkehr. In a May 28 media release, NHC notes: "Press releases issued by numerous public companies and other media sources indicate that the unauthorized listing of the company’s common shares on the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange may be part of a broader scheme perpetrated by certain brokers base in the United States and abroad who sought to manipulate markets in an effort to force share prices down and than take advantage of short positions." The company’s shares have since been de-listed. BCE sees Teleglobe unsecured creditors lawsuit launched in U.S.A lawsuit was filed on May 26 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware against BCE Inc. and 10 former directors and officers of Teleglobe Inc. by unsecured creditors in the Teleglobe sale.

NL Short Takes

News | June 8, 2004

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