NL Short Takes

Shaw Communications pulls out of cable associationCiting difficulty on coming to "industry-wide consensus on various issues," Shaw Communications has withdrawn its membership to the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association (CCTA), effective December 6. The company noted in a news release that "it is becoming increasingly clear that the member companies of the CCTA have divergent interests and differing strategic objectives." Shaw said that it believes it will be "better served by pursuing its own strategies and developing its own objectives without the added burden of seeking industry consensus." In response, the CCTA noted that it is business as usual. "We regret Shaw’s resignation, but as an industry we still intend to work to promote our broadband agenda, including facilities-based competition in telephony and increased choice for consumers," CCTA chair of the board Dean MacDonald said in a news release. The cable association added in its news release that the CCTA "remains committed to working with all stakeholders on key priorities. These include the promotion of cable companies as a competitive alternative to monopoly telephone providers." Other than what was noted in Shaw Communications’ news release, it is difficult to determine the exact points of contention the company had with the cable association. Some have speculated that Shaw is on the verge of inking a wireless reseller deal, commonly referred to as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement, with Bell Mobility. This would break the "family pact" of the country’s cable companies. EastLink and Vidéotron ltée have already inked wireless resale or MVNO agreements with the country’s largest wireless operator Rogers Wireless. It is also widely believed that Cogeco Cable Inc. will also sign an MVNO agreement with Rogers, but Cogeco head Louis Audet has maintained the company is focusing on its Voice over IP offering first and foremost and then will consider a wireless offering down the road. Consumers complaining about Sympatico service problemsAccording to media reports, Bell Canada’s Sympatico high-speed Internet service has been experiencing service problems in recent weeks. Complaints about Sympatico’s erratic download speeds and email delivery delays are being detailed at broadbandreports.com. A Bell spokesperson says the company has not experienced any specific problems recently. The company experienced significant backlash late last year and early this year when Bell Mobility billing problems caused real headaches for the company’s subscribers. CIPPIC questions politicians on key public interest issuesThe Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) believes there are high-priority issues the country’s politicians aren’t talking about during this election campaign. Other than healthcare, the environment, the sponsorship scandal and fiscal management, issues such as copyright reform, lawful intercept, telecommunications policy reform, new spam legislation, and others deserve an equally high billing, according to CIPPIC. The public interest clinic is asking the political parties questions on these issues and will post the answers on its website. "We’re hoping to get a good response at least from the major parties," Philippa Lawson, executive director and general counsel for CIPPIC said in a news release. "These are all important, timely issues that the government will be dealing with one or another in 2006, so we think it’s important that the parties disclose now how they plan to address each issue." CIPPIC’s questions with accompanying background information are available at www.cippic.ca. "We want to provide a focal point for Canadians to find out how the different parties would approach each issue, before voting. We also hope that this initiative will cause other parties to think more about some of the lower-profile, but still important, issues that will be facing the new government." Bell Canada partners with March for video surveillance solutionsBell Canada and March Networks have inked an agreement to co-develop, market and sell digital video surveillance applications in the Canada market. Announced on December 6, the two companies will target all three major business segments – small, medium and large enterprises – and provide them with Internet-based video surveillance solutions, leveraging the core strengths of both companies. "The power of digital video services over today’s sophisticated networks is a killer application for today’s progressive businesses," Terry Matthews, chair of March Networks and Wesley Clover said in a news release. Bell’s president of small and medium business Karen Sheriff said, "As the Canadian virtual chief information officer, Bell now offers business customers of all sizes a digital video surveillance solution that integrates IT and telecom in a simple, affordable and highly reliable manner that is setting a new standard for business surveillance in Canada." March continues to gain traction in the United StatesMarch Networks continues to secure customers south of the border. The company announced late last month that it had inked an agreement with Hamilton Pacific, a division of Securitas Security Systems USA, to offer video surveillance solutions to financial and retail customers in the United States. "The partnership between March Networks and Hamilton Pacific will allow customers to benefit from the leading edge digital video solutions from March Networks and the world-class deployment and maintenance expertise of Hamilton Pacific, thus ensuring that every customer interaction results in complete satisfaction," reads a November 29 news release. Mitel secures contract with Courier ExpressMitel is providing an IP communications solution to Courier Express, one of the largest couriers in the Southeastern United States, the two companies announced late last month. Mitel, an Ottawa-based company, will provide its 3300 IP Communications Platform (ICP), which will be combined with ProCurve Networking from Hewlett-Packard, to enable Courier Express to bridge six regional offices and home-based sale staff on a single, seamless network. Referring to the standalone systems, Courier Express president Jim Messerely said, "Those systems didn’t allow us to function well in a multi-site operation. The Mitel IP solution gives us the ability to work as if we were in a single location and has significantly improved our business effectiveness." Mitel COO Paul Butcher added, "The Mitel solution allows Courier Express to boost intra-office communication, enhance customer service practices and improve operational efficiencies while reducing costs and setting the foundation for the future deployment of advanced IP applications." MTS introduces flat rate long distance calling planManitoba Telecom Services Inc. has introduced a flat rate long distance calling plan that allows subscribers to make unlimited long distance calls in Canada and to the United States for $15 per month. The package is only available to those that subscribe to an MTS bundle – a combination of two of MTS’ service. Yak continues to diversify product and service offeringsYak Communications Inc. has joined forces with Emergent Network Solutions Inc. and DaVinci Integration Inc. to provide its yakForFree Voice over IP subscribers with an easy means for upgrading local-long distance VoIP-to-PSTN services. This is a pre-paid VoIP feature. Emergent will provide the platform on which to enable the service and DaVinci will integrate it. Yak believes the new yakForFree service represents a "disruptive force in the VoIP arena, offering the first free member-to-member Voice and video online service and enticing users to move to VoIP as the primary means for communications with colleagues, friends and family around the world," reads a news release. Yak chair and CEO, Charles Zwebner said, "We anticipate a significant number of consumers to sign up for this free communications alternative that requires only a PC, camera and a broadband connection. Once they subscribe, the Emergent/DaVinci solution makes it easy for members to upgrade to the pre-paid YakToAnyone service." In other Yak news, the company has announced that it will use CommPartners Inc.’s VoIP network and applications to deliver its unlimited calling plan as part of its WorldCity VoIP service offering. "We expect that our relationship with CommPartners will enable us to generate increased loyalty, expand our customer base, and ultimately provide Yak with a higher return on its investment," Zwebner said in a news release.

NL Short Takes

News | December 8, 2005

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