ROW Update

Wireless industry trumps CRTC revisiting of wireless number portabilityCanada’s major wireless operators have saved the CRTC the time and money of revisiting the thorny issue of wireless number portability (WNP), opting instead on their own to begin implementation of the service. Announced on April 21 by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), the next step will be to find a consultant that will work with all the carriers to determine an appropriate time frame for implementing the various elements required to offer WNP. Peter Barnes, president and CEO of the CWTA, tells Report on Wireless in an interview that the process will take much longer than the approximate six-month time frame of implementing and deploying inter-carrier text messaging. He says the issues are much more complex than cooperation on SMS, and require a coordinated effort among all players. Report on Wireless will have more in the WNP issue in an upcoming issue. MAINSPOT hopes to expand beyond providing hotspot connectivityUpstart Toronto-based hotspot operator MAINSPOT Inc. is using its recent foray into the hotspot market as the basis for bigger things to come, but the company’s president and founder is remaining mum about those future activities. Paul Min tells Report on Wireless that this is only a first step and that there are other things on the horizon given new technological developments such as WiMAX soon hitting the market. The company also inked an agreement with iPass Inc., a global provider of hotspot roaming services, this month that will allow iPass subscribers roam onto its network. An upcoming issue of Report on Wireless will feature an article on MAINSPOT and some of its future plans. MyMail from Rogers to be officially announced this weekRogers Wireless Inc. will officially announce this week that it is launching MyMail, a push-based mobile email service developed by Visto Corp. The service, which is a direct competitor to Research in Motion’s BlackBerry service, was to have been announced earlier this month, but an email from Neale-May & Partners says the announcement will come this week. The Visto-developed software operates in a similar way to that of RIM’s. It is installed behind the corporate firewall and pushes email out to devices connected to the corporate network. Visto’s software works with a wide range of devices from different manufacturers, while RIM’s works primarily with its own proprietary BlackBerry device. RIM has, however, rolled out BlackBerry Connect in Europe, which allows other devices to connect to the RIM backend system. It’s not known when the Waterloo ON company will announce BlackBerry Connect availability for North America, but the company has indicated in the past that it will make such an announcement. Wi-LAN and Fijitsu demonstrate WiMAX system on a chipWi-LAN Inc. and Fijitsu Microelectronics America demonstrated a WiMAX compliant system on a chip (SoC) technology at the seventh annual Broadband Wireless World show in Las Vega last week. The SoC will be used in Wi-LAN’s Libra MX broadband wireless equipment. The two companies have been working together since 2002 on this advanced broadband wireless technology, which promises significantly higher data throughput rates in a non-line-of-sight network architecture. “The development program with Fijitsu Microelectronics has created a very advanced broadband wireless-access device that will bring WiMAX broadband capabilities to a broad range of business and individual users,” Wi-LAN’s VP of marketing John Seliga said in a news release. Wavesat partners with nex-G Systems on WiMAX deploymentMontreal-based Wavesat Inc. and nex-G Systems have inked an agreement that will see nex-G incorporate Wavesat’s WiMAX chipset into its Horizon broadband wireless equipment operating in the 5.8 GHz range. Nex-G plans to conduct field trials of the equipment this summer with commercial deployment slated for later in the year. The Horizon platform can be used in a number of products from base stations to backhaul equipment to a variety of subscriber devices. Nex-G equipment can be used in a variety of applications including Voice over IP and video streaming. Tungsten E2 launched by palmOnePalmOne Inc. introduced the Tungsten E2 earlier this month, building on the popularity of its previous version, the Tungsten E, which has seen nearly 2 million units sold. The E2 comes equipped with a colour screen, more memory than its older cousin, and Bluetooth connectivity. Designed for the budget-conscious consumer or business user, the Tungsten E2 retails for $299 at most retailers. “With the versatile Tungsten E2, customers get more of what they want – Bluetooth, and a brighter, richer colour screen that brings calendar, contacts, documents, photos, and videos to life,” Michael Moskowitz, president and GM of palmOne Canada, said in a news release. COM DEV receives new orders from Space Systems/LoralCOM DEV International Ltd. has received new orders for its core switch and multiplexer products to be used on satellites currently being built by Space Systems/Loral. The products will be incorporated into satellites being built for the Intelsat Americas 9, EchoStar XI and Galaxy 18 programs. The contracts are valued at US$9 million.

ROW Update

News | April 25, 2005

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