The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decima Reports.

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Comments from some parties participating in Telecom Public Notice 2006-12 – a proceeding discussing changes to forbearance criteria – have been submitted to the CRTC. Wightman Communications Ltd., whose edited comments are below, has raised concerns about the proposed changes and the local forbearance region (LFR) suggested.

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Nick Curry, CIO at MTS Allstream Inc., has been named this year’s top CIO by Canadian Business magazine. As CIO, he is responsible for all aspects of the company’s internal IT service operations, system applications and business process transformation functions. Curry has more than 25 years IT experience, and prior to joining MTS Allstream in 2001, he was CIO at the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba and Great-West Life – Canada Division.

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SMBs know the value of ICT, but won’t invest
A new study, Does ICT Matter to SMBs in Canada?, conducted by IDC Canada on behalf of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) found that while small and medium-sized business owners believe that investment in information and communications technology (ICT) will improve operational efficiency, they plan to make business investments elsewhere. "We set out to attempt to better understand why Canadian SMB owners are under-investing in ICT," said Doug Cooper, ITAC chair and country manager of Intel Canada, in a news release. "In particular, we wanted to understand what was displacing ICT as an investment strategy. It’s clear from the study that for many small and medium businesses, a key challenge is finding and retaining staff…Respondents also placed a stronger emphasis on non-ICT expenses and investments than they did on ICT.

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Telnet Communications has failed to convince the CRTC to lower rates for facilities provided to it and other digital subscriber line service providers (DSLSPs) by incumbent carriers such as Bell Canada for the provision of high-speed Internet services (Telecom Decision 2006-67).

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Now that Voice over IP has become an acceptable replacement to traditional landline telephony in both the enterprise and consumer markets, it’s time to start asking what’s next? Does VoIP have a purpose beyond replicating the circuit switched phone network?

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Some telcos have already started to undertake the costly endeavour of extending fibre optic cable into customers’ homes (FTTH) to catch up, bandwidth-wise, with the cablecos. But for the carriers who haven’t begun the rollout yet, Canarie Inc., an Ottawa-based Internet development organization, offers an alternative to years of subscription fees as a way of recouping the cost: have the consumers lay the fibre themselves.

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Telus Corp. has asked the CRTC to forbear from regulating its local services in the exchange of Fort McMurray, noting that competitors have captured at least 25% market share.

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Opposition members of Parliament on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology have succeeded in delaying the implementation of the proposed policy direction to the CRTC. At a meeting on October 26, committee members voted seven to four to adopt a motion that would see the committee further study the directive and report back to the House no later than March 1, 2007.

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