SR Telecom Inc.’s interim CEO has retained the services of William Aziz until December 31, 2006. Aziz is managing partner of BlueTree Advisors and was initially named chief restructuring officer of the Montreal-based company in April 2005. As well, Paul Griswold has been named vice-chair and secretary of the board of directors effective immediately. Griswold was named to the board in August 2005.

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VIA Rail inks Wi-Fi deployment deal with Parsons
VIA Rail has signed Parsons Corp. to a five-year deal that will see the engineering and program management firm deploy Wi-Fi in all VIA 1 and Comfort class cars, as well as 22 stations and all seven Panorama lounges in the Windsor-Quebec City corridor. The service is primarily targeted at business people and students, but opens the door for the implementation of other applications. "As the first commercial fleet deployment of on-train Wi-Fi in North America, this value-added service aimed at primarily business travelers and students will provide access to email and the Internet, and create opportunities for private applications like e-ticketing and could even provide operational information through electronic logbooks and engine telemetry," VIA Rail VP of marketing Steve Del Bosco said in a news release. Five trains and four lounges are already outfitted with Wi-Fi access.

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Rogers Communications Inc. says its new wireless data-collection system decreases paperwork for field services pros, and could improve its presence in the small-and mid-sized business (SMB) market. One observer says SMBs seek this type of productivity enhancement.

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The Wireless Innovation Network of British Columbia (WINBC) is applauding the Depart-ment of Finance’s proposal to create CAN-Trade, an initiative aimed at spurring international trade for the country’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CAN-Trade would invest $485 million over the next five years to stimulate trade with emerging mar-kets such as China, India and Brazil.

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New mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the United States aren’t following the traditional model of offering voice service on pre-paid pricing plans, a recent web cast was told. Increasingly, MVNOs are looking to content and post-paid pricing as two keys to their growth strategies going forward.

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Industry Canada plans to issue a call for applications to develop several satellite orbital locations, but it is not yet known when the department will proceed with an announcement. The news comes after the spectrum regulator publicly announced November 8 the closing of a call for applications regarding a number of broadcasting orbital slots using the 17 GHz broadcasting-satellite services (BSS) band.

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