NL Short Takes

Northwestel supplemental funding process beginsThe CRTC has initiated in Telecom Public Notice 2004-6 a process to determine Northwestel Inc.’s 2004 and 2005 supplemental funding requirements. The process will also seek to assess the rollout of the company’s service improvement plan, and its recent quality of service results. In particular, the review will include an assessment of a) variances in the company’s capital plan, b) productivity measures, c) any changes to depreciation life characteristics, d) equal access expenditures, e) the rollout of the company’s service improvement plan, f) recent quality of service results, g) rollout of long distance competition, and h) major significant matters that may have a material impact on the company’s supplemental funding. In Telecom Decision 2004-64, amended by Telecom Decision 2004-64-1, the commission approved on a final basis 2003 supplemental funding of $9.6 million and set an interim rate for 2004 of $9.6 million. Comments are due on March 24, 2005. CRTC approves TELUS’ service improvement planThe CRTC has approved TELUS Communications Inc.’s proposed service improvement plan (SIP) for the regions served by its Quebec operations. The commission has also approved on an interim basis annual funding of $86,500 from the contribution fund and $4,000 from the deferral account. In its SIP proposal, TELUS submitted that it would invest approximately $600,000 over a three-year period to provide service to potentially 70 residences. In Telecom Decision 2004-78, the commission accepted TELUS’ arguments and approved the company’s SIP proposal. Telecommunications industry has best quarter in five yearsCanada’s telecommunications services industry had its most profitable quarter of the last five years between April and June this year, according to Statistics Canada. Operating profits for the second quarter ended June 30 amounted to $1.8 billion, a 26.1% gain from the second quarter a year earlier, the government agency said earlier this month. That represents a profit margin of 21.8 cents for every dollar of revenue, compared to 18.1 cents in 2003, according to the bureau. Statistics Canada noted that the improvement in operating profits was driven largely by ongoing efforts by service providers to contain operating expenses. It also stated that, although relatively modest, it was the most robust quarterly year-over-year increase since the fourth quarter of 2001 when revenues rose 7.2%. The wireless segment outperformed the wireline segment by a large margin. By the end of June this year, Statistics Canada notes that the wireless communications had 13.8 million subscribers, up 12% from the same period in 2003. Revenue per subscriber for the second quarter reached $169.40, up 6%. Operating profits for the wireless segment surged 87% to $663.4 million. In contrast, the client base for traditional wireline services has been steadily eroding, notes Statistics Canada. The number of network access lines declined 1.4% in the second quarter of 2004, the tenth consecutive year-over-year quarterly decline. Despite the absence of growth in revenues, the operating profits of the wireline segment rose 5.5% to $1.1 billion. Its profit margin improved 1% to 19.3%, according to Statistics Canada. Cogeco signs with F-Secure to provide Internet securityCogeco Cable has partnered with F-Secure Corp. to provide Cogeco customers with Internet security services, including anti-virus, personal firewall, parental control and anti-spam with anti-spyware. The Internet security services to be powered by F-Secure will be offered free of charge to all standard and pro-high-speed Internet customers from December 15. "This addition to Cogeco Cable’s offering positions Cogeco as the fastest and most secure Internet service in Canada," said Cogeco Cable VP of marketing and sales Ron Perrotta. Internet Lite customers can purchase the Internet security services for a monthly fee of $8. Elliptic Semiconductor launches new acceleration engineOttawa-based Elliptic Semiconductor has launched a new acceleration engine, the CLP-17, which has been designed to meet the elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) standards introduced by the U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology and the IEEE. The CLP-17 allows customers to select cryptographic performance ranging from the smallest engine at 1,900 ECC operations per second to a high-performance engine capable of performing up to 33,000 ECC operations per second. Elliptic says the CLP-17 drops smoothly into an integrated circuit design and provides an immediate ECC capability for public key or digital signature applications. Licence fees range from US$40,000 to US$100,000 depending on speed and the class of licence selected by the customer. Lockheed Martin awarded CP-140 Aurora aircraft contractKanata ON-based Lockheed Martin Canada has been awarded a $14.5 million contract to integrate and support a new electro-optical infrared (EOIR) surveillance capability for Canada’s fleet of CP-140 Aurora Maritime Patrol aircraft. Lockheed Martin will integrate and install the L-3 WESCAM MX-20 long-range surveillance camera on board five Aurora aircraft with options for ten more. Once outfitted, the aircraft will be able to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance operations in hostile regions, and will be used to detect illegal immigration, fishing and drug trafficking along Canadian coastal waters. It is the second phase of the program. Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract for the first phase of the program in 2003. Teleperformance chooses VoiceGenie’s NeXusPointVoiceGenie Technologies Inc.’s VoiceXML 2.0 platform, NeXusPoint, has been chosen by Teleperformance Interactive for a speech-driven customer automation program. The solution is expected to drive a series of progressive and voice-activated applications that will allow call centres to efficiently and reliably manage their customer communications programs and activities. In choosing NeXusPoint, Teleperformance noted that the application successfully met density requirements resulting in the reduction in hardware requirements for Teleperformance. Teleperformance was previously called Voice FX LLC. Total Telcom, WiBand to deliver Internet access to rural AlbertaEdmonton-based Total Telcom Inc. has partnered with WiBand Communications Corp. to deliver high-speed Internet and other network services to rural Alberta. As part of the joint venture, the two companies have formed QC-Networks Inc. to provide the final mile connectivity. The joint venture will use both fibre and wireless technologies to roll out service to rural areas. "The combination of wireless expertise of WiBand, with Total Telcom’s comprehensive knowledge of wired networks creates an entity that will move quickly to market and provide top-level service to our new subscribers," said Total Telcom president Robert Beaton. "It is our intention to focus geographically on communities surrounding our existing network first and build upon our presence across Alberta as a rural Internet Service Provider (ISP) introducing various communication and content services to SuperNet communities as an applications service provider." TELUS offers anti-spyware to customers out WestTELUS Corp. is offering its business and residential customers in Western Canada an anti-spyware program. The anti-spyware will help eliminate existing spyware loaded onto a computer, and remove new spyware as it appears. TELUS says the software is easy to load, simple to use, and is updated every three hours to help ensure the latest versions of spyware are eliminated. "This is another innovative solution designed to keep customers safe and secure while surfing the Internet," said Guy Beauchamp, president of TELUS’ consumer solutions. All of the company’s Internet security services, including anti-spyware, are available to customers for $3.39 a month each, or are included in the new TELUS full bundle for as little as $8.95 a month. The TELUS full bundle includes all components of Security Services 5.0 – anti-virus, firewall, parental control, and anti-spyware. 41 million page views to Mississauga’s new web siteA year after launching, Mississauga’s new web site has had 41.5 million page views. The city says the web site "continues to set the benchmark for online government services," in a November 24 media release. "It was just one year ago when the City of Mississauga made a bold commitment – promising to allow residents to conduct their business with the city electronically, on a 24/7 self-serve basis, without ever having to visit City Hall," said the city’s information and technology director Jack Lawrence. When its eCity web site was launched in November 2003, Mississauga became the first municipality in Ontario to offer a full range of services and functions electronically. For example, residents, businesses and visitors can access over 20 city services online, sign up and receive city email alerts such as by-laws, council and committee agendas and job opportunities; participate in discussion forums and online polling; subscribe to mailing lists; interact with city staff; complete online forms; and direct information to any wireless device. The number of page hits increased three-fold in the last year, the city states. Inter.net Canada chooses babyTEL for VoIP solutionMontreal-based Inter.net Canada and babyTEL are partnering in the launch of Inter.net Canada’s Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. VoIP will allow Inter.net Canada’s residential and business clients to communicate with their clients, friends and family more flexibly, more cost effectively, and with excellent quality, the companies stated in a November 23 media release. All the features available at extra costs with traditional telephone companies, such as call waiting, caller ID and voicemail, are included as standard with Inter.net Canada’s VoIP solution. There will also be such options as Voice-to-Email, which turns voicemail messages into sound files directly forwarded to the recipient’s email inbox. TELUS signs deal to acquire videoconferencing firm ADCOMTELUS Corp. announced November 16 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ADCOM Inc., the largest videoconferencing company in Canada, for less than $15 million. With the purchase, TELUS gains 84 ADCOM employees, and the company’s multi-site operations.

NL Short Takes

News | November 25, 2004

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