ROW Short Takes

Wireless to be key, Telus executive says, despite mergerTelus Corp.’s wireless operations will continue to be key for the company as it moves forward in the post George Cope era, according to Telus’ executive VP of business transformation and CIO Kevin Salvadori. In an interview with Report on Wireless, he said that business and operational practices from the wireless organization will be imported to the newly created consumer and business operating units. "What we certainly want to do with this is permeate best practices across Telus…For example our wireless division had the best churn rate of any wireless carrier in North America and we have the advent of more and more competition on the wireline side of our business, so we want to permeate some of our best practices on customer loyalty into our wireline business," he told RoW. Savladori notes that this same best practice sharing will also take place in the reverse with business processes moving from the former communications division into the newly created customer units. "I would say there’s some that we think we can do the other way as well that we’re going to translate from things that we’ve done on the efficiency side in our wireline business that we’re going to take into the wireless business as well. So hopefully, one plus one equals two and a half," he explained. The reorganization of the Communications and Mobility units into consumer and business segments came about five weeks after Telus Mobility chief executive George Cope opted to take the COO position at rival Bell Canada. Cope’s departure was announced on October 19, while the restructuring was made public on November 24. There will be very little negative impact on the former Mobility operations as a result of the merging of the two business units, noted Salvadori. "We have some people who have very strong depth in the wireless business," he said, adding that core members of the wireless team have more than 10 years experience in the wireless business. "So we’re very familiar with the highly competitive nature of that business, what you need to do in a product lifecycle perspective and we’re taking that mindset as we approach this merger. We are going to make sure first of all don’t lose the strong results and momentum in that business any changes we decide to make are positive for that business." Tranzeo names WirelessGuys as California distributorTranzeo Wireless Technologies Inc. has named WirelessGuys Inc., Moorpark CA, as an authorized distributor of Tranzeo’s fixed wireless broadband solutions. The Maple Ridge BC-based company noted in a news release that expanding the distributor base is "an integral part of our marketing plan going forward." WirelessGuys will have to sell nearly US$550,000 in Tranzeo products per year to maintain the right to distribute the products. Tranzeo’s wireless Ethernet bridges, access points and customer premise equipment operate in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz licence-exempt bands. SAMSys introduces new dock door RFID systemToronto-based SAMSys Technologies Inc. has introduced the RFID Portal Express System, a UHF RFID portal solution for dock door environments, which permits rapid deployment of RFID deployments to support supply chain, asset tracking and inventory management applications. "Our new RFID Portal Express System markets our latest initiative to simplify RFID enterprise deployments by enabling organizations to secure all components from a single source. With our MP9320 v2.8 reader at the heart of the system, we are offering a turnkey solution with the flexibility to use Gen 2 tags alongside legacy installations without replacing the entire tag infrastructure," SAMSys chair Cliff Horwitz said in a news release. Nokia Canada launches online storeNokia Canada is making it easier for Canadians to purchase gifts this holiday season with the introduction of the Nokia Online Store, a comprehensive online retail outlet offering the cell phone company’s myriad of products. "Consumers looking for cool, quality Nokia products don’t have to go further than their computer to find the latest Nokia handsets and mobile enhancements. A shopper can research the phone that is right for them, choose a matching accessory, then make the purchase – all within a few clicks of the mouse," Glen Graham, Nokia Canada’s director of channel development and sales. Broadband satellite coverage coming to North AmericaBroadband services over satellite from Inmarsat will be coming to North America in the second quarter of 2006. The broadband global area network (BGAN) service is already available in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Roadpost is offering the service as is Stratos Global Corp. The BGAN service, which is the culmination of four years work and about US$1.6 billion in investment, is expected to provide coverage to more than 85% of the Earth’s landmass by the middle of next year. SR Telecom delisted from NasdaqMontreal-based SR Telecom Inc. has announced that it is delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange as of December 2. The exchange determined that the company didn’t meet the US$10 million shareholders’ equity requirement or the minimum share price of US$1. The company continues to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. SmarTire wireless products to carry SmartWave brandSmarTire Systems Inc. has announced that all products developed under its wireless gateway architecture will carry the SmartWave brand. The Richmond BC-based company also indicated in a news release that it would initially release three versions of its tire pressure and monitoring systems to meet the needs of some of its fleet customers. "SmartWave products will enable the OEM’s customers to achieve a higher return on their investments in fleet vehicles and a higher level of safety for their drivers," SmarTire president and CEO Al Kozak said in a news release. One-third of US homes to drop traditional telephony by 2010A new report from Gartner indicates that about 30% of US homes will have dropped traditional circuit-switched telephony to exclusively use mobile wireless or Voice over IP. "The emergence of VoIP and the phenomenal rise of the mobile phone now represent the dial tone for the future," Gartner VP Ken Dulaney said in a news release. This prediction is one of six significant trends the research firm expects to take place in IT and telecommunications. Rural Alberta to get 3.5 GHz WiMAX network from NortelNortel Networks Corp. has been selected as the prime contractor to build a broadband wireless network based on the WiMAX specification in rural Alberta. The Alberta Special Areas Board (SAB) is collaborating with Netago Wireless to bring high-speed fixed wireless services operating in the 3.5 GHz band to residents and businesses living and operating in southeastern Alberta. Nortel’s VP of GM of WiMAX and wireless mesh networks, said in a news release, "Nortel’s fixed WiMAX solutions will help pave the way for long-term growth and economic development by providing scalable, robust and cost-effective wireless broadband services to residential and business customers across rural Alberta." As part of the agreement, Nortel will supply base stations, indoor and outdoor customer premise equipment and wireless backhaul equipment. The company will also provide installation and professional services. IEEE adopts draft standard for 802.11kThe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has adopted the draft standard for 802.11k and it will now serve as the baseline document for the final standard, the IEEE announced earlier this month. The amendments to the base 802.11 standard will allow for more accurate and efficient operation of wireless local area networks (WLANs) in governmental, residential, enterprise and metropolitan settings. "IEEE 802.11k will help optimize these radio environments so more devices can coexist even as it reduced wireless network traffic congestion," IEEE 802.11 working group chair Stuart Kerry said in a news release. Final approval of the 802.11k standard is targeted for January 2007.

ROW Short Takes

News | December 14, 2005

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