The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.

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Traditional wireline services under pressure: In-Stat
New research from market research firm In-Stat says that traditional wireline voice services are coming under increasing pressure from other services such as mobile wireless and Voice over IP. In-Stat indicates that wireless will hit a major milestone in 2005 when mobile wireless revenue surpasses that of traditional wireline services. It projects that cellular services will generate 51% of all voice services in the United States by the end of this year. "In-Stat also feels that cellular services will become even more competitive once they incorporate VoIP over Wi-Fi connections into cellular handsets. This will allow cellular subscribers to communicate using VoIP when their handset is in range of a Wi-Fi access point," reads a market alert from the company. The high-tech research firm also notes that total end-user revenue from both the consumer and business telecom segments will exceed US$215 billion by the end of last year. Other key findings are that cable operators are increasingly becoming strong competitors to switched wireline services; and that CLECs and other alternative services continue to force traditional players to lower prices just to keep their customer bases.

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Critical Telecom has appointed Nancy McCartney as president and CEO. The announcement made on January 25 marks the beginning of a new focus for the company, which will be to scale Critical Telecom’s resources to meet expected global demand for its new generation of consumer broadband networks. McCartney brings more than 25 years experience in the telecommunications industry to the upstart. She has held senior positions with Ciena, Akara Corp. and Newbridge Networks. Prior to joining the company, McCartney was VP of supply chain management at Ciena where she was responsible for operations integration of Akara into Ciena. Most recently, she was VP of operations for Critical Telecom.

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Bell Canada receives support for Article 11 changes
Bell Canada’s proposal to allow for other methods of collecting express consent from consumers has received overwhelming support from other major industry players. Canada’s largest incumbent telephone company filed a Part VII application in November 2004 asking the CRTC to approve other forms of express consent as long as they require a positive affirmation on the part of the customer and that a record of that consent is retained for as long as it may be relied upon. Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI) writes in its December 20 comments supporting Bell’s application that the four methods currently allowed under commission rules should only be seen as examples. "It is that positive affirmation that protects the customer and ensures they have knowingly and intentionally provided consent," reads RCI’s comments. MTS Allstream also agrees with Bells’ suggestions. "MTS Allstream submits that this Part VII application should be approved in the interest of efficiency and cost-effectiveness for Canadian carriers, and in the interest of convenience and expeditiousness for customers," the company writes.

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