Obama pick for FCC chief could be good news for Sandvine

telecom | 01/21/2009 1:25 pm EST

The global economic crisis could wreak havoc on Sandvine Corp.'s books in 2009, but the company's president and CEO is optimistic that a new chair at the Federal Commissions Commission could provide some relief on the net neutrality front. Julius Genachowski, who was tapped to head the FCC, was behind the Obama...

Commentary: It’s a new world for Nortel’s customers

telecom | 01/20/2009 2:49 pm EST

Some technology analysts have been sanguine about Nortel Network's demise, and Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. say it is business as usual on the carrier side. But Nortel's enterprise customers face significant uncertainty - the business will likely be broken up, sold, and re-branded. Telecom consultancy Ovum (part of the...

M2M communications helps companies reduce operating costs: KORE

telecom | 01/20/2009 1:35 pm EST

KORE Telematics, a Virginia-based firm with network operations in Winnipeg and close ties to the Canadian telecommunications sector, is touting its machine-to-machine (M2M) service offering as a way for companies to reduce operating costs during these difficult economic times. "It resonates tremendously,"...

Rogers commits to pay its own freight on wireless E911

telecom | 01/19/2009 8:54 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. is rebutting claims by the daily press that it, along with the other wireless carriers, want taxpayer money to pay for the deployment of next-generation Enhanced 911 (E911) systems. Ken Engelhart, senior VP of regulatory and government affairs, says no one from the national newspaper called to...

Canadian carriers prepare for the ‘backhaul bottleneck’

telecom | 01/19/2009 2:56 pm EST

Mobile service providers have high hopes that novel applications and services will help drive up subscriber numbers and revenue, but some industry observers say a problem threatens to bite wireless carriers in the backhaul. In recent years, service providers have enticed users with rich and bandwidth-intensive applications, such as video calling, picture and video messaging in addition to email. But these interactive services could overpower the carriers' backhaul networks - the connections from network end points (cell towers) back to the network core, where calls and data streams are routed to their destinations. And with an increasing number of wireless subscribers sending email, photos and files from handheld devices, backhaul networks could be overwhelmed, causing slow service,...

Shaw CEO puzzled over Rogers’ slowdown in attracting new cable subs

Media | 01/19/2009 2:55 pm EST

Shaw Communications is seeing few signs of an economic slowdown in its home operating territories, according to financial and subscriber results released last week. The company added 9,198 new basic cable subscribers in the quarter, versus 8,138 in the same 2007 period. Digital customers grew by 60,717, compared to...

Cogeco in good shape despite recession and troubles in Portugal

Media | 01/15/2009 3:00 pm EST

Cogeco Cable Inc. put out some solid numbers in its first quarter, demonstrating that slower growth reported at Rogers Communications Inc. earlier this month is not a sector-wide trend. "Our results for the first quarter for our cable company continue to be outstanding," president and CEO Louis Audet said...

Cybersurf calls Bell’s non-action on speed matching “bologna”

telecom | 01/15/2009 2:40 pm EST

Cybersurf Corp. and Bell Canada are arguing over the details of the speed matching decision with the two companies at odds over the services covered under the CRTC ruling. Cybersurf wants access to Bell's 7 Mbps service, while Bell says it doesn't have to provide it according to the language in the decision. The...

Commentary: Wireless industry reluctance to not pay for E911 upgrades shouldn’t sit well

telecom | 01/12/2009 9:00 pm EST

The unwillingness of the Canadian wireless industry to pay for necessary upgrades to bring truly enhanced 911 (E911) services to Canada is shaping up to be a public relations fiasco. There are a few elements at play here that don't bode well for the wireless carriers and their industry lobby group...

Octasic expanding into wireless arena to address need for faster 2G base stations

telecom | 01/12/2009 8:47 pm EST

Montreal chip developer Octasic Inc. is leveraging its experience in the voice and video media gateway market to expand into the wireless base station sector. The move, which was announced today, comes as carriers in many parts of the world are looking for speed increases and Octasic can give it to them by improving...

Who will survive in 2009? Smaller telecom/wireless firms brace for the worst

telecom | 01/09/2009 12:17 pm EST

The next 12 months could prove critical for a number of smaller Canadian wireless and telecommunications companies with some surviving and others getting swallowed or disappearing altogether. Industry analysts share their predictions for Canada's most vulnerable. At the end of 2008 a number of smaller companies in...

‘Homes with tails’ idea turns network investments on their heads

telecom | 01/07/2009 12:22 pm EST

A new concept in broadband networking aims to make fibre to the home (FTTH) more affordable for service providers by having homeowners essentially purchase the cables that provide last-mile broadband connectivity. Such a strategy could also make it more attractive for the telcos to deploy FTTH. For telcos, the...

Platform and industry focus to determine mobile application developers’ success: analysts

telecom | 01/07/2009 12:20 pm EST

The ongoing economic downturn in 2009 will have a negative effect on a number of industries but the mobile wireless arena will fair much better than others, according to analysts. And they point to application development for the enterprise spurred by the device platform wars, healthcare and...

Rogers’ success with iPhone not so clear cut

telecom | 01/06/2009 9:41 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. added half as many iPhone customers in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 as it did in the third quarter, prompting speculation as to the success of the popular wireless device. The media and communications conglomerate released preliminary subscriber results earlier today. Reaction from analysts was mixed with some telling clients the results were disappointing, while others noting the iPhone and subscriber figures fell within expectations. The company registered 130,000 new iPhone customers in Q4 with about 40% of them being new Rogers Wireless customers or about 52,000. Overall new net subscriber additions for the quarter were 199,000 with the vast majority (158,000) subscribing to post-paid plans, meaning that 106,000 new subscribers purchased a...

Everywhere mobile broadband communications becomes ubiquitous participation

telecom | 01/05/2009 8:10 pm EST

The increase in broadband wireless communications networks combined with skyrocketing penetration of advanced two-way mobile devices has given rise to a new social phenomena "ubiquitous participation", according to David Jacobson, director of emerging technologies at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Ubiquitous...

Carriers face tough choices in ’09, but it may not all be doom and gloom, say industry experts

telecom | 01/05/2009 2:43 pm EST

With new entrants squeezing the mobile space, cablecos pressuring telcos to lay fibre for delivery of IP-based broadband services, and Telus Corp. and Bell Canada having to invest in their HSPA network, industry experts say the slowdown in  2009 will put new pressures on carriers to stay...

Cablecos poised to increase lead in broadband speeds, but telcos not out yet

Media | 01/05/2009 2:40 pm EST

Telcos such as Bell Canada and Telus Corp. will lose the war against cablecos such as Rogers Communications Inc. and Vidéotron ltée for broadband service supremacy – unless the phone companies take drastic and expensive actions, according to telecom analyst Dvai Ghose.Speaking at the 5th Canadian Telecommunications...

Rogers follows through on application to get SMS/MMS in telemarketing rules

telecom | 12/19/2008 4:57 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. isn't backing down from its fight to get text messages (SMS) and multimedia messages (MMS) included in the unsolicited telemarketing rules (UTR).The company filed a Part VII on December 10, arguing that the telemarketing rules make reference to unsolicited telecommunications, meaning that the...

Decision Makers Series: Long-time public advocacy lawyer leaves Ottawa

Media | 12/18/2008 8:32 pm EST

After five and a half years at the helm of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) Philippa Lawson is hanging up her boots, with a warning that privacy issues on the Internet, convergence and deep package inspection (DPI) still pose challenges that need to be monitored to protect the interests of the consumer.Lawson became CIPPIC director in the fall of 2003. She will be leaving to set up her own private practice in Whitehorse, where her husband is taking up a job with the Yukon government. She plans to do the same kind of work as she has in Ottawa, but on contract. Under her leadership, CIPPIC launched a spirited campaign on a slew of high profile privacy issues...

Bell thrwarting migration of DND services, Telus charges

telecom | 12/18/2008 6:31 pm EST

Telus Corp. lashed out at Bell Canada this week, accusing the rival incumbent telecom provider of intentionally frustrating the migration of the Department of National Defence's telecommunications services."Bell Canada claims that it has been blameless in the customer migration," Telus tells the CRTC. "To the...

High costs and scarce bandwidth stifling users and creators of new media, Nunavut group tells CRTC

Media | 12/18/2008 6:27 pm EST

Network throttling in Nunavut is part of daily life and will only get worse unless the government takes action to replace expensive satellite links with fibre as the main method for moving data into and out of remote communities, a Nunavut group tells the CRTC. The situation, it warns, is even more...

MTS Allstream kicks cost cutting into high gear, looks to wireless, IPTV and enterprise for growth

Media | 12/18/2008 2:45 pm EST

MTS Allstream Inc. is going to ramp up cost cutting efforts in 2009 as part of an operational efficiency initiative it kicked off in 2008, president and CEO Pierre Blouin noted during the company's 2009 guidance conference call with analysts yesterday."We will take out more costs in 2009 than...

Telus projects upwards of 10% wireless revenue growth in 2009, analysts confused

telecom | 12/17/2008 11:46 am EST

Analysts questioned Telus Corp.s' projection of upwards of 10% wireless revenue growth in 2009 when it is facing downward average revenue per user (ARPU) pressure and increased competition from flanker brands.Telus' CFO Bob McFarlane said during the company's 2009 guidance conference call with analysts today that wireless...

Sierra Wireless bolsters M2M product portfolio with Wavecom acquisition

telecom | 12/15/2008 8:36 pm EST

Sierra Wireless plans to leverage the acquisition of France-based Wavecom to strengthen the Vancouver-headquartered firm's ongoing push into the machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless connectivity space. Sierra Wireless announced earlier this month that it had inked an agreement to purchase Wavecome for about $343...

Nortel banks on carrier VoIP amid rumours of bankruptcy

telecom | 12/12/2008 7:53 pm EST

Nortel Network Corp. continues to forge ahead with its key growth areas, particularly the carrier voice over IP (VoIP) and applications business, despite speculation the telecommunications equipment giant is exploring bankruptcy protection. This market represents significant potential for the firm as only a small percentage...

Cybersurf wins appeal, gains access to speed matching

telecom | 12/11/2008 7:17 pm EST

Cybersurf Corp. has won an important battle against the incumbent telephone companies, gaining access to the same broadband speeds on a wholesale basis as the ILECs offer their retail customers.The matter came to the fore earlier this year when Cybersurf ISP filed a Part VII with the CRTC after Bell Canada refused to provide the Calgary-based company...

Wireless to buoy telecom sector: Conference Board

telecom | 12/10/2008 7:05 pm EST

The traditional telecommunications sector is going to face some tough times over the next five years, according to the Conference Board of Canada, but solid returns from the wireless industry will buoy the telecom space."The telecommunications industry will continue to expand at a modest pace in the near term, though growth will decelerate to its...

Lack of funding and talent limiting growth in Ontario’s mobile content sector

Media | 12/10/2008 12:14 am EST

Less than 5% of experts in Ontario's mobile content sector believe the province's wireless industry is a leader in entrepreneurship and innovation, and only 20% agree Ontario has a solid global hold on data-centric mobile devices, such as the Blackberry. Despite the poor showing, survey respondents say there are things the province can do to improve the situation.The preliminary survey results, released to Tech Media Reports by the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, solicited industry views on how Ontario can become a centre of excellence for mobile content and services. The feedback will assist MEIC - which is led by several Ontario academic institutions and mobile and content companies -...

Don’t regulate mobile broadcasting undertakings: CWTA

telecom | 12/08/2008 7:14 pm EST

Canada's wireless industry lobby group says the CRTC shouldn't regulate mobile TV broadcasting undertakings because the services are still evolving and it's only been two years since the commission exempted them from regulation.The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association tells the CRTC in its comments to the new...

Don’t allow numbers on DNCL in perpetuity: telemarketers

telecom | 12/05/2008 5:44 pm EST

Big users of telemarketing services are telling the CRTC that it shouldn't allow telephone numbers registered with the National Do-Not-Call List (DNCL) to remain on the list in perpetuity. They say moving away from a three-year period as set out in the original decision would be harmful to business and is unnecessary as...

New entrants generally pleased with new rules for tower sharing and roaming

telecom | 12/04/2008 8:34 pm EST

New entrant wireless carriers are applauding Industry Canada for the rules regarding tower and site sharing and roaming as well as new dispute resolution guidelines for negotiating such agreements. They say the arbitration rules will allow them to strike deals with incumbents in time for their service launch...

Industry Canada clearing the deck before the holidays

telecom | 12/03/2008 4:20 pm EST

With the election over and the federal government now sitting again - we don't know for how long though - Industry Canada has gotten back to business, releasing a few notices in the past week or so. Tower sharing and roaming topped the list, but also came a decision to auction air-to-ground spectrum as well as a call for expressions of interest on...

Rogers Communications founder and CEO dies

Media | 12/02/2008 5:47 pm EST

Canadian communications pioneer Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers, died at his home this morning in Toronto at the age of 75. Tech Media Reports looks back at a few of the industry issues he has championed over his long career.As the founder and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., Rogers was known for his indefatigable drive in building his company into a Canadian and North American leader in wireless telecommunications, cable television, broadcasting, publishing and more.Within regulatory and policy circles, Rogers reputation as a proud nationalist, a generous philanthroper, and relentless maverick is legendary. Never one to shy away from a battle, Rogers spent a career challenging both the CRTC and Industry Canada on everything from competition in the telecom industry and spectrum...

Glassbox TV on verge of new deal with Canada’s mobile carriers

Media | 12/01/2008 10:44 pm EST

Glassbox TV is expected to shatter expectations when a new deal with Canadian mobile carriers is announced later this month."Put it this way- the carriers are eager to promote their phones as music-friendly and because AUX has a lot of buzz, and could be the next big music thing there's a strong desire to create a...

Deloitte previews 2009 technology predictions

telecom | 12/01/2008 8:03 pm EST

Next year is going to feature a more robust mobile web surfing experience, smartphone penetration will continue to make inroads in Canada and the emergence of netbooks will become more apparent in North America, according to Duncan Stewart, director of Deloitte Canada Research.Giving attendees of Insight Media's 5th Canadian Telecommunications Forum in...

With little growth in fixed telephony, carriers need new business models to succeed: analysts

telecom | 12/01/2008 6:14 pm EST

Cable companies offering voice services have been the clear winners in the battle to steal telco local landline customers, while services such as Skype and over the top providers like Vonage haven't had a material impact. But the erosion of local residential telephony revenue is going to force the...

ISPs should take initiative to stop piracy, without the heavy hand of legislation: Quebecor executive

Media | 11/27/2008 8:11 pm EST

The new VP, corporate and institutional affairs at Quebecor Media Inc. warns that Canadians will look elsewhere for their Internet fix if the federal government and its regulator don’t break with protectionist policies that stifle consumer choice and innovation. At the same time, J.Serge...

Analysts give mixed predictions for telecom slowdown

telecom | 11/27/2008 8:08 pm EST

The Canadian telecommunications industry is in for a rough ride, according to industry analysts contacted by Network Letter. But they aren't united in predicting how hard the sector is going to be hit."It's pretty clear that all sectors will be hit and affected to some extent," says Jay Angl, senior research analyst at Info-Tech Research in...

Difficult times ahead for Canadian wireless sector, investors warn

telecom | 11/27/2008 7:41 pm EST

The Canadian wireless industry is in for some tough times, according to two industry analysts. Speaking at Insight's 5th Canadian Telecommunications Forum conference in Ottawa this week, Dvia Ghose, of Genuity Capital Markets, and Jeff Fan, of UBS Securities Canada, said the incumbent mobile operators are going to suffer...

The time has come for a national Video Relay Service, say disability groups

telecom | 11/24/2008 8:19 pm EST

The Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) wants Canada to move quickly to implement a national Video Relay Service for hearing impaired people, saying it “will not tolerate wasting another full year in a new CRTC proceeding”. But some companies, including Rogers Communications Inc., disagree.VRS enables deaf, hard of...

MTS considers equity partnership with new entrant; finalizing technology upgrade plans

telecom | 11/24/2008 6:50 pm EST

MTS Allstream Inc. may expand its wireless operations outside of its incumbent Manitoba territory through an equity investment in one of the new wireless entrants. And while the company isn't ruling out a partnership, its focus now is on securing backhaul contracts with new wireless players that...

Telus chips in $100 million to support healthcare technology development

telecom | 11/24/2008 12:17 pm EST

Telus Corp. is expanding its commitment to the healthcare sector by investing $100 million in research and development to support a variety of technologies aimed at addressing the lack of electronic patient information and automated patient health records in Canada.Joe Natale, executive VP and president of Telus Business Solutions, said the investment will be directed at applications such as mobile health solutions, collaborative medicine, robust and secure data networks as well as advanced clinical process management. "We all live in a world where we carry a personal device in our pockets, so our expectations become much higher when it comes to the availability of information,"...

Commentary: Forget Net throttling, governments sold out private communications years ago

Media | 11/21/2008 9:37 pm EST

The CRTC’s decision to deny a complaint from the Canadian Association of Internet Providers regarding Bell Canada Enterprises’ controversial throttling practices has received a lot of attention – mostly negative – on Internet message boards.  But both Canada and the...

Household wireless penetration tops 70%: Harris/Decima

telecom | 11/20/2008 8:01 pm EST

Results from a Harris/Decima survey released today show that mobile services are becoming more popular in Quebec, and still leading the way is Alberta.Household penetration in la belle province jumped from 51% in 2006 to 61% in 2008, while in Alberta, more than 80% of households have at least one cell phone. Overall...

ISPs will get second chance to fight for Net Neutrality; but status quo remains until 2010

Media | 11/20/2008 7:49 pm EST

Independent ISPs, disappointed with a CRTC ruling today denying a Canadian Association of Internet Providers' (CAIP) application against Bell Canada's traffic management practices, will get a second kick at the can to convince the CRTC that it should uphold Net Neutrality."Essentially what we...

Public Works asks CRTC to intervene on DND migration dispute

telecom | 11/19/2008 4:46 pm EST

The ongoing saga of the Department of National Defence's migration from Bell Canada to Telus Corp. has taken another twist with the federal government now engaging the regulator on the issue.Last week, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) filed an appeal with the CRTC asking it to once again intervene...

New business models required for wireless operators: Transverse

telecom | 11/17/2008 6:22 pm EST

Wireless service providers could easily increase revenue by 20% to 30% if they worked with third parties to implement mobile advertising, according to the co-founder and COO of Austin TX-based Transverse.North American wireless operators have reached a market saturation point with flat to declining average revenue per user (ARPU) rates. This has resulted in intense price competition from the operators, say Chris Couch. "In order to actually grow their revenue per user, they're going to have to look to innovative business models that involve third parties," he tells Report on Wireless.While price competition has been intense in the US for some time, it has picked up in Canada with a direct impact on ARPU. Telus Mobility has been the most vocal about declining voice ARPU. In the...

New forms of WiMAX coming out of CRC

telecom | 11/14/2008 4:47 pm EST

Canada's Communications Research Centre is meeting demand for new variations of the WiMAX standard as interest in the broadband wireless technology picks up steam around the world. Speaking at the Future of WiMAX in Canada conference last week, Gerry Chan, VP of terrestrial wireless at the CRC, says there is tremendous opportunity for WiMAX in the...

Enablence betting broadband backlog will insulate fibre deployments from economic crisis

telecom | 11/13/2008 4:36 pm EST

Enablence Technologies Inc. is banking on the growing demand for rural broadband - combined with a looming bandwidth crunch among telecom carriers - to give the Ottawa-based company a solid foothold in the growing fibre to the premise (FTTP) market in the United States and Canada.In preparation for...

Rogers wants telemarketing proceeding expanded

telecom | 11/11/2008 7:09 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. is asking the CRTC to expand the review of certain unsolicited telemarketing rules (UTR) to include text messages (SMS) and multimedia messages (MMS). In a document filed with the CRTC as part of Public Notice 2008-14, the communications giant threatens a Part VII if its request isn't granted. The move comes 10 days after...

New Cisco router prepares carriers for You Tube-driven ‘zettabyte era’

telecom | 11/11/2008 2:26 pm EST

Cisco Systems Corp. recently released a new Internet router, the ASR 9000, which is designed to give carriers the network capacity required to handle the significant surge in video and other rich online media traffic traveling over wireline, cable and mobile networks."There is a sea change occurring, and it is...

CRTC budget shortfall to affect delivery of services: von Finckenstein

Media | 11/10/2008 7:57 pm EST

The chair of the CRTC warns that a $9 million budgetary shortfall beginning April 1 will mean slower service and a reprioritizing of activities. Konrad von Finckenstein also ruled out increases in licence fees, and with the global economic crisis continuing, it’s doubtful the federal government will be loosening the purse...

Industry Canada considers lighter licensing mechanisms; looks ahead to WRC11

telecom | 11/10/2008 6:13 pm EST

Industry Canada could soon be implementing a new way to license spectrum with an official saying the department may adopt what is called "light licensing". Doug Sward, senior director of spectrum planning and engineering, told Report on Wireless that the US Federal Communications Commissions has implemented this...

FCC’s white spaces ruling to have little immediate impact on Canada

telecom | 11/10/2008 3:37 pm EST

The US Federal Communications Commission's decision last week to approve the use of white spaces TV spectrum - bandwidth for unused TV channels 2 to 51 - for broadband wireless access services is expected to have little near-term impact in Canadian border regions, according to an Industry Canada official.Speaking with...

Unwired ‘Net: Consumer Attitudes on the Wireless Internet Using Personal Wireless Devices

telecom | 11/06/2008 3:23 am EST

Download the full report in PDF attached below....

Through the Keyhole: A Look at Canada’s Spectrum Auctions

telecom | 11/06/2008 3:20 am EST

Since the late 1990s, Industry Canada has used auctions as its preferred method to license valuable, scarce radio spectrum to new telecommunications and data communications carriers and to incumbent or existing service providers. While spectrum auctions have generally proven to be an effective way to equitably license spectrum, they have done so with varying degrees of success with respect to promoting greater competition in the telecommunications services market. The recently completed 2300 MHz and 3500 MHz spectrum auction demonstrated this dual effectiveness of auctions. Although the 2300/3500 MHz auction was a financial bust for Industry Canada (total auction haul was a little more than $11 million), it proved to be a very effective method of licensing spectrum to both new entrants...

The Price Cap Decision: Real Winners and Losers

telecom | 11/06/2008 3:19 am EST

An independent assessment of the impact of the CRTC’s price cap decision on telecom industry players and customers – September 2002 Download the full report in PDF attached below....

‘Net Calling

telecom | 11/06/2008 3:05 am EST

The pending Voice over IP decision, scheduled for mid-May, will likely be the most significant decision the CRTC has made since it decided to open up telecommunications services to competition in the 1990s. The ruling will reverberate across the industry for many years, either creating an environment where competition can flourish or one where only a few players profit... Download the full report in PDF attached...

Local Number Portability

telecom | 11/06/2008 3:04 am EST

A Tech Media Reports / Decima teleVox Study on the role of local number portability as a factor in switching telephony providers. Download the full report in PDF attached below....

An Interview with Janet Yale

telecom | 11/06/2008 3:00 am EST

Tech Media Reports interviews Janet Yale EVP, government and regulatory affairs TELUS Corp. January 26, 2005 Download the full report in PDF attached below....

A Capital Decision

telecom | 11/06/2008 2:58 am EST

The Debate Over Changing the Foreign Investment Regime in Canadian Telecommunications and Broadcasting. Download the full report attached below....

Bell wants ADAD rules changed

telecom | 11/04/2008 6:40 pm EST

Bell Canada and Bell Aliant Regional Communications want the CRTC to update the Automatic Dialing-Announcing Device (ADAD) telecommunications rules and are threatening an appeal if the commission doesn't do so as part of a follow-up proceeding to the unsolicited telemarketing rules (UTR).The CRTC initiated Public Notice 2008-14 last month with the goal...

Canadian wireless landscape set to change next year

telecom | 11/03/2008 8:44 pm EST

The Canadian wireless industry will see some significant changes in the next year with many new entrants planning service launches in the coming months, following their wins in the recent Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum auction. While Vidéotron, Globalive Communications and BMV Holdings have announced 2009 launch plans, western cable giant...

VoIP helps solve voice challenge for WiMAX

telecom | 10/31/2008 3:02 pm EDT

WiMAX broadband wireless services are gaining significant traction in emerging markets around the world and this has some operators turning to Boucherville QC-based TelcoBridges for help in bundling voice on top of their high-speed access."We specialize in voice - it can be TDM or VoIP," Gaetan Campeau, president and CEO of TelcoBridges tells...

Canada’s spectrum auction rules need updating: AIMS

telecom | 10/30/2008 6:13 pm EDT

A new report from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) says an updated online spectrum auction system would save Industry Canada and bidders' time and money. In addition, a new platform would allow the department to adopt more sophisticated auction formats.Ian Munro, director of research at AIMS and author of the report, Chicken Little Eats...

BCE maintains second spot for research spending, despite 13.6% decline

telecom | 10/29/2008 6:38 pm EDT

Research spending by Canada's two largest telcos dropped sharply in 2007, despite healthy profits, according to the latest top 100 list of industrial research and development (R&D) spenders. And the survey's author warns things will likely only get worse as research-intensive companies look for ways to reign in...

Platform wars heat up for mobile enterprise content

telecom | 10/28/2008 3:59 pm EDT

Device compatibility issues are making it increasingly important for enterprises to pick the right vendors for their mobile content platforms, according to mobile enterprise content management company Chalk Media Corp.The mobile enterprise content world is dominated by Research in Motion Ltd. with the near omnipresence of the BlackBerry. And while...

Globalive chief talks more about wireless plans

telecom | 10/27/2008 7:41 pm EDT

When Global Communications Inc. announced plans to implement MyScreen Mobile's mobile advertising solution as part of its wireless service, it demonstrated the company's willingness to experiment and be creative when it comes to wireless pricing. And chief executive Tony Lacavera recognizes that his wireless company is going to need to offer something...

Academia-industry partnership aims to boost mobile development

Media | 10/27/2008 6:22 pm EDT

Several Ontario academic institutions and a number of wireless and content companies have banded together to form the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre (MEIC), an organization whose goal is to develop a centre of excellence for applied research, design and commercialization in Ontario's mobile content and services...

OECD releases updated broadband figures, Canada remains in top 10

telecom | 10/24/2008 4:03 pm EDT

Statistics released this week by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) show that Canada remains in the top 10 for overall broadband subscriptions and penetration among OECD countries. The figures are as of June 2008.Canada ranks eighth overall for total broadband subscribers at 9.2 million and tenth for broadband penetration per 100 inhabitants with 27.9%. Its penetration rate puts the country at the top of the G7 nations, ahead of the United Kingdom and France. The United States ranks fifth with a penetration rate of 25% among G7 countries.The OECD statistics come less than two weeks after the federal election, which saw the Conservative Party of Canada win...

Mobile advertising key part of Globalive’s wireless offering

telecom | 10/23/2008 5:20 pm EDT

Globalive Communications inked an agreement with MyScreen Mobile earlier this month that will see the upstart wireless carrier offer a variety of advertisements to subscribers at the end of calls and text messages. And the timing seems right. Not only is mobile advertising expected to hit US$20 billion within four years,...

Mobile messaging moves into social communities

telecom | 10/22/2008 6:59 pm EDT

When Nokia Corp. announced a takeover bid for OZ Communications late last month, it was a sign that the mobile Internet was becoming a larger part of the cell phone giant's growth strategy. But as OZ's president and CEO explains, Nokia also recognized the increasing importance of mobile messaging in the social community context to future growth.Just as...

Introducing TMR’s New ‘Decision Makers’ Series – First up, Teletoon’s Caroline Soucy

Media | 10/21/2008 7:35 pm EDT

Tech Media Reports' Decision Makers Series probes the top issues affecting Canada's communications industry through a series of one-on-one interviews with business executives and senior government officials. Each installment will feature an article and complete interview transcript - available...

Net Neutrality is a recipe for paralysis: SeaBoard

telecom | 10/20/2008 5:07 pm EDT

"Overt government" regulation of Internet services in Canada will only serve to stymie investment in the global network, resulting in slower access speeds and potentially decreased subscriber numbers, according to a new report from SeaBoard Group."We assert that a neutral Net would produce an inevitable increase in congestion. ISPs would...

Commentary: Battle for 4G mobile wireless begins to take shape

telecom | 10/16/2008 6:52 pm EDT

The fight for supremacy in next-generation mobile networks began in earnest when Sprint-Clearwire launched its Xhom mobile WiMAX service in Baltimore last month. And while the American operator is banking heavily on the as yet-to-be proven technology, many of the traditional wireless services have already announced that they are going to migrate to Long-Term Evolution (LTE).Verizon and AT&T in the US, Vodaphone in the UK and China Mobile have announced intentions to adopt LTE. In Canada, Rogers Communications has indicated that it will migrate to LTE at some point in the future. "The next logical step for us is LTE," David Robinson, VP of new business planning at Rogers Wireless, acknowledged in a recent interview.Questions around future plans for Bell Canada and Telus Corp....

Government intervention needed to expand infrastructure for telehealth services

telecom | 10/16/2008 2:44 pm EDT

Expanding telehealth activities through increased broadband penetration in rural and remote communities won't happen without direct government involvement, according to the telecommunications sector."There is no business case for us to connect these communities," Shawn Hall, a spokesperson for Telus Corp., tells...

Expanding telehealth requires better promotion and more rural broadband

telecom | 10/14/2008 7:00 pm EDT

Telehealth services in Canada are getting results, providing care to Canadians who don't live in close proximity to medical facilities, but there is still a long way to go before it is integrated into the Canadian healthcare system. Advocates say what's needed is better marketing of telehealth's benefits, and greater...

New wireless consortium targets SMBs in the oilpatch

telecom | 10/14/2008 2:43 pm EDT

Small- and medium-sized resource companies looking to tap into the booming oil business in Alberta can now do so at a lower cost base by leveraging a GSM-based fleet management service offered by a newly formed consortium that includes Rogers Communications Inc.NelTrac is a joint fleet management service from Rogers, WebTech Wireless Inc., Foster Park...

Conservatives don’t see big picture on broadband: Telecommunities Canada

telecom | 10/09/2008 5:39 pm EDT

Community broadband advocates are miffed at the Conservative Party of Canada's lack of understanding on broadband issues. Speaking with Tech Media Reports this week in the wake of the Tories' platform release, Gareth Shearman, president of Telecommunities Canada (TC) says Conservatives don't get it."They're not seeing...

Former TBayTel CEO creates new business model for Mobivox

telecom | 10/08/2008 2:36 pm EDT

Realizing that there was little growth ahead in the provision of inexpensive wireless long distance minutes, free member calls and Skype connections, the new CEO of Mobivox Corp. moved the company in a new direction. Peter Diedrich, who was once CEO of TBayTel in Thunder Bay ON, took over as CEO of the...

Competitors complain to commission over Bell wholesale voice deregulation application

telecom | 10/06/2008 7:21 pm EDT

Yak Communications has told the CRTC that a decision to immediately deregulate Bell Canada's wholesale telephony offering will have a negative financial impact on the company.Yak's comments are in response to a Bell application, seeking forbearance of its wholesale local service and features (WLSF)...

Ottawa generating billions in profit from spectrum management: Report

telecom | 10/02/2008 8:19 pm EDT

Industry Canada's spectrum management operations are proving to be a highly profitable business for the federal government, according to figures in a report obtained by Report on Wireless through an access to information request.The study, A Study of Market-based Exclusive Spectrum Rights, indicates that the department's...

Create independent regulatory agency for spectrum management: Report

telecom | 10/02/2008 7:37 pm EDT

Industry Canada's spectrum management operations should be spun off into an independent regulatory agency to safeguard against political interference, according to a government-commissioned study obtained by Report on Wireless through Access to Information.The report, A Study of Market-based Exclusive Spectrum Rights, says...

Bell and DND head back to negotiating table

telecom | 10/01/2008 8:17 pm EDT

A CRTC decision last week on customer specific arrangements (CSAs) - enterprise customer contacts - means that Bell Canada and the Department of National Defence (DND) have to return to the bargaining table to hammer out a short-term network and services usage deal. And time is running out with sources saying a planned migration from Bell to rival Telus Corp. has to be complete by December 15 or service could be cut off.The migration of DND services from Bell to Telus has already encountered difficulties with the transition being extended once already. According to news reports, Telus was to have fully transitioned DND by the summer, but was given until October to complete the switch-over. With the deadline looming, Telus filed an application with the CRTC at the end of August seeking a...

Supreme Court grants leave to appeal deferral accounts

telecom | 09/29/2008 6:19 pm EDT

Canada's highest court has given Bell Canada, Telus Corp. and consumer groups the green light to appeal the CRTC's ruling on deferral accounts in a decision announced on September 25. It's not yet clear when the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the case."We are very happy about that because we think the Federal Court...

FCC Digest: Chair slams media companies for failing to combat childhood obesity

Media | 09/29/2008 6:18 pm EDT

The US election - unlike here in Canada - hasn't prevented regulators with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from speaking publicly. In a flurry of speeches delivered this month, commissioners spoke about the role of the FCC and industry in combating childhood obesity, the current status on the transition to...

UPDATE: Bell dismisses claims it’s throttling GPS signals

telecom | 09/29/2008 5:53 pm EDT

Google Maps and other third-party navigation services will be forced to pay money to Bell Canada to get access to enhanced satellite tracking signals, called assisted GPS (AGPS), if they want to provide accurate mapping services.Bell spokesperson Jacques Bouchard told Report on Wireless in an interview late last week that...

March Networks shifting to video analytics

telecom | 09/29/2008 1:48 pm EDT

March Networks Corp. is in the eye of the video storm, and like many companies is realizing that there is more value in application-based analytics than in commodity-based hardware. This shift can't happen fast enough for the Terry Matthews company - which is losing money and laying off workers."Top line growth has been good," says Thanos...

Telecom fading, wireless still strong, but overall growth down, according to Fast 50

telecom | 09/25/2008 7:49 pm EDT

Low levels of venture capital (VC) funding in the telecommunications and wireless sectors over the past several years have led to a steep decline in the overall growth levels, according to this year's Deloitte Technology Fast 50. It could signal the end of the hyper growth experienced by Canada's technology sector over the last number of years. On average, there was a drop of about 1,000% in five-year revenue growth figures in this year's edition compared to the 2007 Fast 50.The big winner this year taking the number one spot was Markham ON-based Nightingale Informatix Corp. with 23,078% five year revenue growth. It unseated Waterloo ON-based Sandvine which dropped to number seven on the...

Technical challenges with LTE mean broad acceptance eight years away

telecom | 09/24/2008 1:59 pm EDT

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is considered by some the Holy Grail for CDMA carriers anxious to upgrade to high-capacity next-generation networks. But, as analysts warn, ongoing technical challenges, uncertainties surrounding Nortel Networks Corp. and billions of dollars in new capital investments could make LTE too little, too...

Time running out for telcos to install fibre to the home

telecom | 09/22/2008 1:55 pm EDT

The big telcos are in a bind: they want to leapfrog the cablecos' coaxial infrastructure - jumping from twisted copper to fibre, yet can't afford to lay down a last mile optical network across the country. Meanwhile, competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) are installing fibre and securing significant future revenue....

Supreme Court dismisses ringtone leave to appeal, CWTA disappointed

telecom | 09/18/2008 7:09 pm EDT

The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear an appeal to eliminate Tariff 24 - a levy on companies that provide ringtones to subscribers. And while the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association is disappointed in the decision, it's hopeful potential reforms to copyright law will fix the...

Wavefront builds global relationships to better BC’s wireless and new media cluster

telecom | 09/18/2008 6:00 pm EDT

Wavefront, the commercialization centre for British Columbia's wireless and new media cluster, has inked a series of agreements over the past several months that will enable the organization to bolster the chances of success for start-ups and budding entrepreneurs in the region.One of the more...

Nortel forced to sell metro Ethernet networks segment

telecom | 09/17/2008 6:54 pm EDT

Nortel Networks has opted to sell its Metro Ethernet business after projecting revenue will again be lower -- $2.3 billion in the current third quarter. This is tough news given the traction that Nortel is seeing with its 40G/100G Adaptive Optical Engine, a platform that enables both 40G and 100G transmission on installed 10G networks."If you have...

Telecom union blasts Harper for lack of clarity on telecom foreign ownership

Media | 09/15/2008 7:29 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement last Friday to maintain limits on foreign ownership of Canadian telecom companies isn't winning any praise from the country's biggest communications union which warns things could change quickly if the Conservatives win a majority government this fall.At a campaign stop in...

Broadband: a forgotten issue for this election?

telecom | 09/15/2008 6:48 pm EDT

More than a week has gone by since Prime Minister Stephen Harper pulled the plug on his own minority government, and a commitment to broadband network expansion has received little if any national attention.Not so long ago, deploying broadband across the country to every single household was akin to a national dream, much like the railway in the early...

Carriers likely to bear brunt of content regulation in future: CRTC-commissioned report

Media | 09/12/2008 9:24 pm EDT

Content providers in Canada could see a future with stable public subsidies and little or no regulation, while telephone, cable, ISPs and other carriers are likely to become established “tax collectors” for content production. It’s a prediction infrastructure providers won’t like, but a...

Iristel’s IP Mobility a good fit for SMBs with converged IP communications aspirations

telecom | 09/11/2008 7:53 pm EDT

Markham ON-based Iristel Inc.'s new IP Mobility service represents a solid offering for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), according to telecom analyst Jon Arnold, giving them the ability to integrate mobility with their existing desktop services while also at the same time getting low-cost wireless long distance. Arnold test drove the service over the past few weeks and describes it as a "very sensible offering for an SMB", although its Wi-Fi functionality creates some limitations.Iristel's service can be described as single number reach beefed up with fixed mobile convergence (FMC) technology and Wi-Fi functionality. Single number reach services allow multiple devices,...