NL Short Takes

TWU and TELUS head back to bargaining tableLabour strife in Alberta and British Columbia as a result of a two-month strike of TELUS Corp. unionized employees appears to be less dire as the company and the Telecommunications Workers Union have gone back to the bargaining table. In a September 26 news release, the two sides announced that small negotiating teams would start discussions the next day. "The parties have agreed to a communications embargo related to these talks. Further communications related to this latest attempt to reach a negotiated settlement will be forthcoming as appropriate," reads the news release. CUPE in British Columbia cuts ties with TELUSThe British Columbia division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees is getting prepared to hang up on TELUS Corp. as its service provider. The union has announced that it has started negotiations with other telecommunications service providers to replace the office’s Internet and mobile phone services. The move, admits the union, is a result of the labour impasse between TELUS and the Telecommunications Workers Union. "We can no longer have ourselves in a position where we, as a union, are being serviced by someone who is so anti-union," CUPE BC president Barry O’Neill said in a news release. "We can no longer tolerate the way that TELUS treats its own workers, and this is the best way to send out that message. We have tried downgrading services, dropping unnecessary products and urging our members not to open new accounts, but it’s clear that the only way to get TELUS CEO Darren Entwhistle’s attention is to cut the line completely." The proposition of losing the BC division of CUPE as a customer might have sparked a renewed interest in getting a deal done between the TWU and TELUS (see previous news brief). TeraSpan secures new fibre optic network contractsVancouver-based TeraSpan Networks has secured contracts valued at more than $600,000 for a variety of fibre optic networks, the company has announced. The subsidiary of Ignition Point Technologies Corp. has already deployed fibre optic networks in seven countries for a variety of businesses, governments and telecommunications service providers. "These networks represent more examples of organizations realizing the many benefits of owning their own dedicated fibre optic networks. Unlike virtual networks, TeraSpan provides a physically separate high-speed connection between sites," TeraSpan COO Lisa Payne said in a news release. Aastra partners with Gentek on VoIP servicesAastra Technologies Ltd. has announced a partnership with Gentek Marketing Inc., a provider of network security and VoIP products and solutions. The two companies plan to offer a broad range of telephony systems and applications. "Gentek is the type of innovative solution partner Aastra seeks because they deploy IP-based solutions with real and tangible value for the customers," Aastra’s VP of sales Bruce Cook says in a news release. Paul Tauberg, Gentek’s product manager, adds, "Aastra’s innovative technologies offer customers access to the most advanced IP telephony features while allowing for unparalleled ease of installation and configuration…We are very pleased to be able to offer Aastra VoIP products to our customers and expect a very positive response from the marketplace." ICT invest in Canadian business lags behind U.S. levelsCanadian companies’ investment in information and communications technologies (ICTs) lags by about 42% per employee behind levels of U.S. companies, according to interim findings of a new study. The study is being conducted by Andrew Sharpe, executive director of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards in Ottawa, for the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). Among the key findings that are current to 2003, average per employee investment in Canada was US$1,332 compared to US$3,137 for companies in the United States. AOL and IP Applications extend three-year agreementAOL Canada Inc. and IP Applications are extending their existing three-year agreement to include new customized business management solutions and support. Under terms of the agreement, IP applications will provide operational support system, applications and support to migrate and launch service to additional users. "This integration enables AOL Canada to offer outsourced co-branded or white-labeled Internet services to third parties in need of a fully featured Internet solution with managed network support," reads a news release. Steven Koles, AOL Canada, GM for Netscape and enhanced services, added, "IP Applications’ systems are completely scalable and enable large end-user migrations. We continue to work closely with IP Applications, leveraging our strengths with theirs, to more efficiently deploy new IP services to our customer base." Public-private partnership extends broadband in NFA public- and private-sector partnership between the government of Canada, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Persona Communications Corp. will extend the reach of broadband networks in the country’s eastern most province. The two levels of government have agreed to each invest $5 million towards the project, while Persona will chip in $19.9 million. The investment will bring broadband to 68 schools and 103 communities located in rural and remote regions of the province. Nimcat scooped up by PBX giant AvayaAvaya Inc. has paid $46 million in cash to acquire Ottawa-based Nimcat Networks, a developer of embedded peer-to-peer IP communications applications software. Avaya plans to integrate Nimcat’s nimX P2P IP software into its IP telephony systems. The integration, according to Avaya, could take up to 12 months after which the company will introduce a Nimcat-based product.

NL Short Takes

News | September 29, 2005

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