ROW Short Takes

Bell, Cisco bring public Wi-Fi to Montreal AirportBell Canada and Cisco Systems have teamed up to provide public Wi-Fi at the Montreal-Trudeau Airport. The wireless local area networking system is part of an end-to-end communications system that will not only offer public Wi-Fi to airline companies, travelers and Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) employees, but also IP telephony, digital signage and other related services. "Since our clients require more and more sophisticated communications services we are pleased to be working with Bell Canada to implement an integrated solution using state-of-the-art technologies," said James Cherry, ADM’s president and CEO. Vidéotron selects Rogers as wireless supplierVidéotron ltée has inked a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement with Rogers Wireless Inc. that will see the Quebec cable operator offer its subscribers a Vidéotron-branded mobile wireless service. The deal also allows Vidéotron to offer a quadruple play of TV, high-speed Internet, telephony and wireless services to its subscribers. Rogers also has a similar type of an agreement with Atlantic Canadian cableco EastLink. The wireless giant inherited wireless resale agreements with Sprint Canada Inc., now owned by Rogers Communications, and Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. when it acquired Microcell Telecommunications Inc. last year. Zi Corp. chosen for Motorola new 3G handsetsMotorola Inc. has selected to use Zi Corp.’s Decuma Japanese handwriting technology in its latest third-generation wireless handset, the FOMA M1000 smartphone. The handset currently on the market in Japan and being offered by NTT DoCoMo Inc. Co-developed by DoCoMo and Motorola, the FOMA M1000 is the world’s first handset to have wireless local area network technology, W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS dual-mode smartphone. The device is targeted an increasingly high percentage of the population that want connectivity on-the-go using one device. Rogers Communications testing contactless paymentOne of the country’s largest communications companies, Rogers Communications Inc. is testing a contactless payment system from Mint Technology Corp. The Mint PayPass MasterCard is a pre-paid card that can be used throughout Rogers’ Toronto headquarters and at other merchants that accept MasterCard. "A prepaid MasterCard holds great appeal for a number of market segments and the immediate response from Rogers Campus’ employees demonstrates that we are, without a doubt, filling a gap," Mint president Frank Maduri said in a news release. MasterCard Canada VP Nagesh Devata added, "MasterCard PayPass will make a significant impact on how merchants can handle payment and how consumers can choose to pay for purchases. It combines fast secure payment with proven technologies that are market-ready today." A recent study from Decima Research indicated that Canadian cell phone users are interested in using this type of contactless payment capability if it was integrated into a cell phone (RoW, August 25/05). Frank Maduri recently told Report on Wireless in an interview that the trend towards embedding the technology into cell phones is well underway and some of the handset manufacturers are preparing to introduce devices to the market (RoW, July 15/05). Digital Dispatch secures $1 million in contractsRichmond BC-based Digital Dispatch Systems Inc. has won contract worth more than $1 million in the recent past. The prize of the company’s most recent deals is an agreement with the Yellow Cab Company of D.C. Inc., the first for Digital Dispatch in Washington D.C. Yellow Cab has agreed to purchase more than 300 Vector 530 mobile data terminals, Pathfinder application and communications infrastructure. Vaughn Williams, president of Yellow Cabs, is happy to be the first cab company in the district to have computerized dispatching. "Along with faster response to customers, the ability to handle more calls with existing resources, and minimize idle miles on the road, we are also looking to provide compete customer satisfaction by offering in-vehicle credit card payment as well." John Taylor Wilson, Digital Dispatch’s VP of North American sales, says, "We are really excited to be the vendor of choice for Yellow Cab. Considering that the DC market is estimated to have over 700 vehicles, it is significant that we will be the first computerized mobile data dispatch provider to bring this technology to this market." Mitec finalizing product market strategy, sales increasingMontreal-based Mitec Telecom Inc. has realized a solid increase in sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2006, increasing 16% from $11.4 million to $13.3 million. Mitec’s interim president and CEO Keith Findlay says despite an increase in sales and a reduction in net loss, the company isn’t yet realizing its full potential. "At present, our leadership team is finalizing a market-product strategy, and we are thoroughly reviewing every aspect of our telecom and sitcom operations and are in the process of developing a coherent and far-reaching strategic business plan that will rigorously focus our activities and expertise in those areas where we see the greatest potential for growth, profitability and stakeholder value," he said in a news release. Bridgewater introduces new products for wireless carriersBridgewater Systems has unveiled two new products - the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) and the Dynamic Broadband Manager (DBM) - that are both aimed at wireless operators. The HSS is intended for 3G wireless carriers that want to deliver IP-based services, including fixed and mobile IP services. The DBM is a policy management solution that provides both wireless and wireline operators with the ability to deliver real-time policy enforcement and service provisioning. It, for example, allows carriers to upgrade big bandwidth users to higher-priced packages. Contec inks deal with KCTone in ChinaContec Innovations has secured a $400,000 software and services deal with King CenturyTone Technology Co. Ltd. (KCTone), a Beijing-based mobile wireless operator. KCTone will deploy Contec’s Hornet mobile service delivery platform to management and deliver "operator-branded mobile and web-based portal service offerings to a Chinese mobile network operator’s subscriber base." Consumers and enterprise customers are the target markets for the service, which is expected to be rolled out later in 2005. Spectrum Signal debuts new flexComm versionSpectrum Signal Processing Inc. has introduced at the Defense Systems and Equipment International tradeshow the latest version of its software-defined radio product line flexComm. The flexComm SDR-3002 IMRDP is the international version of its military communications rapid prototyping development platform. "Governments and defense contractors worldwide have been studying and developing SDR technology for years and now have a proven platform on which to advance their programs," Dan Simard, managing director of Spectrum Signal’s U.K. operations.

ROW Short Takes

News | 09/23/2005 4:00 am EDT

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