NL Short Takes

CANARIE announces CA*net 4 network funding programCANARIE Inc. has released details of its CANARIE Intelligent Infrastructure Program (CIIP), a new program that is designed to promote scientific and educational collaboration in the development of innovative network applications that exploit the advanced capabilities of CA*net 4. The intent of the program is to help Canadian industry create a strong competitive position in the development of applications and strategies as they relate to supply chain management or process control systems that take advantage of broadband networks. Emergis acquires health claims business from NDCMontreal-based Emergis Inc. has acquired the Canadian health claims business of NDCHealth Corp., an Atlanta company. Emergis has also reached an agreement to acquire NDC’s Canadian pharmacy systems business. The company will pay approximately $17.5 million in cash for both businesses. The pharmacy systems transaction is expected to close before the end of March. "The claims processing business is a significant addition to our drug and dental specialized network operations, bringing in important new clients to us. The pharmacy systems business brings in major pharmacy chains as clients, and expands our presence in pharmacy solutions across Canada," Emergis, president and CEO, François Côté said in a news release. ADB to provide platform for European healthcare provider ADB Systems International has been selected to provide the technology platform for a major electronic procurement initiative of the National Health Service (NHS), Europe’s largest provider of healthcare services. ADB’s technology will be used to create a collaborative procurement environment that will connect eight hospitals and medical facilities with their suppliers. "Moving forward with the deployment of the procurement hub model represents a significant expansion of our efforts with HPC (Healthcare Purchasing Consortium) and the NHS, and paves the way for working increasingly together with a leading professional services firm that is actively involved in this initiative," ADB CEO Jeff Lymburner said in a news release. EMC launches enterprise content management platformInformation storage and management company EMC Corp. has introduced EMC Documentation, an enterprise content management platform designed to reduce the complexity of previously available products. The EMC Documentation helps customers transition from traditional content services that individually address the creation, management, delivery and archiving of content to a new unified architecture. The "unified stack" includes process and repository services to provide increased functionality and flexibility in collaboration, automation and security. "EMC has answered the call with an all-accessible, highly scalable infrastructure for unstructured information – a unified repository and set of services that is completely accessible by the masses of applications, desktops and systems spread across an enterprise. This capability makes possible entirely new levels of powerful content management," EMC executive VP Dave DeWalt said in a news release. HBF Group wins another deal for E911 systemHBF Group Inc. has won another deal to provide its enhanced Voice over IP 911 system, dubbed i-911. Volo Communications has chosen HBF Group’s i-911 solution so that it can offer its customers in Canada and the United States E911 functionality in a VoIP environment. A key feature of the i-911 system is its ability to deliver call-back number and location information through a web-based XML document. This enables, the company says, public safety answering points (PSAPs) to see a valid address at the same time a VoIP call is delivered to the PSAP centre. "HBF’s ability to provide service throughput the United States and Canada was a key factor in choosing them to provide 911 services in North America. I-911’s advanced technology delivers the scalability we need in a cost-effective manner," Volo president and CEO Shawn Lewis said in a news release. Voice Mobility to supply messaging to telco in NAAvaya has advised Vancouver-based Voice Mobility International Inc. (VMI) that it has inked an agreement to provide messaging to a North American telco. VMI is the messaging technology provider for the jointly developed messaging offering. Broadband reach expanded in New BrunswickRural New Brunswick will soon be able to get broadband access to the Internet, following agreements between the government of Canada, the provincial government and Aliant Inc. The agreements, totaling $44.6 million, will facilitate the deployment of broadband to more than 100,000 residences and more than 24,000 other sites including businesses and schools as well as 15 First Nations communities. The project involves the deployment of broadband equipment and upgrades in 336 existing wire centres at strategic locations in the province. BorderWare joins Voice over IP security allianceBorderWare Technologies Inc., Toronto, has joined the Voice over Internet Security Alliance (VOIPSA). The group is comprised of VoIP vendors, providers, security researchers and others with the aim of improving public awareness of issues and best practices for security and VoIP. BorderWare will chair the security requirements committee within the alliance, which is charged with defining security requirements across the full spectrum of VoIP environments. The company sells perimeter and application-specific firewalls for SIP and email. Glentel, Hartco buy Phone Booth from CabtelBurnaby BC-based Glentel Inc. and Hartco Corp. have agreed to jointly purchase all issued and outstanding shares of Cabtel Corp. Cabtel operates 49 The Telephone Booth stores, as well as La Cabine Téléphonique in Quebec. The transaction is expected to close by May 31, subject to the usual conditions. Glentel currently operates 86 WirelessWave stores in B.C., Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. In a subsequent March 24 announcement, the company said it will raise a portion of the undisclosed cash requirement for the purchase by way of equity financing. "Glentel has a significant amount of cash on hand and currently has no bank debt; however, it is our intent to go to the markets for additional equity financing in order to satisfy a portion of the cash requirement for the recently announced acquisition," said Thomas Skidmore, Glentel’s president and CEO in a media release. Cisco Systems expands reach in cable IP networksCisco Systems Inc. has expanded its reach in the provision of broadband cable IP next-generation networks (IP-NGN). Cable companies are increasingly offering bundles of services to drive revenue and improve capital and operation expenses and to accomplish this many are migrating to Cisco-based IP infrastructure. "The Cisco IP-NGN architecture enables cable operators to create additional consumer value and en enhanced competitive position by increasing innovation, enabling feature integration, and accelerating time to market of its service offerings," reads a news release. Qwest ups bid to US$8.45 billion for MCIQwest Communications International Inc. isn’t giving up on its bid to acquire MCI Inc., upping its previous bid by US$500 million. The offer from Qwest is about US$1.8 billion more than the bid for MCI made by Verizon Communications. MCI had previously turned down an offer from Qwest citing the company’s weaker financial position. In the latest development in the fight for control of MCI, Qwest issued an ultimatum on March 28, giving MCI until midnight on April 5 to respond to the offer. Multiservice switch market rebounds in 2004Worldwide sales of multiservice switches jumped 9% in 2004 to top the US$2.3 billion- mark, according to figures from research firm In-Stat. Services providers made up the bulk of sales accounting for about 90% of total sales. The research firm notes that 2004 was a turnaround year in the multiservice switch market as service providers spent to replenish capacity, add capacity for broadband aggregation and offer new services. In-Stat forecasts that there will be a 7% increase in sales in 2005 and will generate a compound annual growth rate of about 6% over the next fives. Nortel Networks Corp. held the leading position in sales for the fourth consecutive year, attaining a market share of 34% of total multiservice switch sales. MetaSolv chosen by Bell for MIPT offeringMetaSolv Software Inc.’s Voice over IP billing system has been selected by Bell Canada to be part of its managed IP telephony (MIPT) service for business customers. MIPT enables multimedia services and VoIP calls. MetaSolv says it can help service providers like Bell minimize costly modifications to existing billing systems. "For leading operators such as Bell Canada, the MetaSolv mediation solution delivers real business value by providing a single convergent mediation system for all voice, data and application services," David Sharpley, senior VP of market and product management at MetaSolv said in a news release. S&P downgrades long-term rating of VerizonStandard and Poor’s Rating Services has placed the long-term ratings of Verizon Communications and affiliates on CreditWatch with negative implications. The ratings downgrade was issued following Verizon’s US$6.75 billion bid for MCI Inc. More information regarding potential ratings implications on Verizon is contained in a S&P report, entitled Credit FAQ: Verizon Communications Inc. Avaya prepares Germany for 2006 FIFA World CupPreparations are well underway in Germany to make sure the 12 cities across the country that will host 2006 FIFA World Cup friendlies are capable of handling a flood of voice and data information, Avaya has announced. Six offices are already completed and the remaining six will be completed over the next month. All 12 offices will be connected via a single ATM wide area network with the converged communications system being based on Avaya’s communication manager. Stadiums in each of the cities will also be connected to the network using Avaya gear. The company has a trusted relationship with soccer’s governing body, having provided gear communications equipment for 2002 FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2003.

NL Short Takes

News | March 31, 2005

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