Payment options expand for parking lot operators

telecom | 05/14/2008 12:38 pm EDT

Digital Payment Technologies Corp. (DPT) is ramping up its enterprise management services (EMS) system and electronic parking meters that give cities and parking lot operators the ticket to greater revenue and decreased operational costs. The Vancouver-based firm uses wireless technology to both link consumers to the payment mechanism as well give...

Consumers Association objects to Telus telemarketing tariff application

telecom | 05/13/2008 12:10 pm EDT

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is crying foul over an application from Telus Corp. that would allow the ILEC to call local customers with unpublished numbers to solicit for additional telecom services. PIAC, on behalf of the Consumers Association of Canada and the National Anti-Poverty Association, filed...

Telus union reaches out with Web 2.0

Media | 05/12/2008 4:45 pm EDT

George Doubt, president of the national Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU-STT Canada), recently announced the union's launch of its own YouTube channel. This is part of an overall membership outreach strategy and a push into other Web 2.0 phenomena, such as Facebook, in order to improve internal communication and strengthen bargaining power....

Personalizing online health information getting easier

telecom | 05/12/2008 4:35 pm EDT

The demand for healthcare is rising faster than the number of professionals, putting an increasing amount of strain on the system both here and elsewhere. But Healthwise, a US not-for-profit health information provider with Canadian connections, has developed an online system that should ease some of the pain....

Canada has healthy VC environment but could be better

telecom | 05/12/2008 1:14 pm EDT

Venture capital funding is healthy in Canada, although it could use a dose of vitamin "cash." This was the overall consensus among a group of investors Tech Media Reports spoke with on the heels of the Canadian Innovation Exchange's (CIX) pitch fest in Toronto two weeks ago. VC investments in Canadian companies decreased from $504 million in Q4 2006 to $500 million in Q4 2007, according to recent figures from Thompson Financial. The size of average investments grew from $3 million per company to $3.9 million and that means fewer Canadian firms are getting VC cash infusions. This trend doesn't appear to be deterring venture capitalists as they remain bullish. "I think the VC market is robust and will continue to be so for many years to come," says Joe...

Redwood adding detail to mobile email, calls

telecom | 05/09/2008 6:01 pm EDT

Professional services organizations such as lawyers, accountants, public relations consultants and other power BlackBerry users could soon have the ability to more effectively bill time they spend on client files, with the launch of a new service by a Calgary start-up. Redwood Technologies Inc. is receiving accolades for "momentem" -...

Rogers pushing wireless substitution and affordable mobile browsing

telecom | 05/08/2008 3:56 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. is trying to push wireless substitution to new heights with the introduction of Fido UNO and Rogers Home Calling Zone, two new services that allow consumers to use their cell phone as their home phone. "For that purpose, if [customers] have any home phone whether it's Rogers, Bell,...

Redline marries WiMAX with legacy systems

telecom | 05/07/2008 5:01 pm EDT

The business case for WiMAX just got better. Redline Communications Inc. has overcome one of the major hurdles impeding wider deployment of this last mile wireless - interoperability with legacy systems. The Toronto-based company recently completed interoperability testing with Patapsco Communications, a development that allows conventional TDM...

Rogers to unveil new service on Tuesday

telecom | 05/05/2008 4:08 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. will be unveiling another "innovative service" on Tuesday, Report on Wireless has learned. The new service announcement came to light after RoW requested information regarding Rogers' new Vision Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing Plan. This new plan, which will come into effect tomorrow, was included in a news...

Web giants take early lead in launching health portals

Media | 05/05/2008 3:30 pm EDT

Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are jumping on the growing trend for consumers to manage their own healthcare by developing online portals. Community-based social networking websites dedicated to health-related issues are also springing up on the web, and according to the chief scientist for the Centre for Global eHealth...

Bell and Telus may switch to GSM by 2010: Analyst

telecom | 05/01/2008 6:44 pm EDT

Speculation has run rampant in the past year that Canada's two CDMA carriers Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility are considering a switch to a GSM-based network. And while that may be true, a leading wireless industry analyst doesn't think any decisions will be made until 2009 with deployments potentially beginning the following year. In part two...

Time for Canada to consider “converged” communications legislation, suggests CRTC

telecom | 05/01/2008 3:02 pm EDT

For the second time in two years, the CRTC has released a three-year working plan. Citing an accelerated pace of change in the communications sector, chair Konrad von Finckenstein says it is perhaps time to consider a new legislative approach to communications regulation. "Resolving...

BREAKING NEWS: Rogers to debut iPhone later this year

telecom | 04/29/2008 11:32 am EDT

The iPhone will be coming to Canada after all, if there was any doubt in the first place. Rogers Communications Inc. announced earlier today that it has reached an agreement with Apple Inc. to bring the popular mobile phone/multimedia device to the Canadian market. "We're thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the...

“Responsible” wireless browsing to remain in Canada: NBI

telecom | 04/28/2008 2:25 pm EDT

A "big yawn" is how Brian Platts, a wireless analyst with research and consulting firm NBI/Michael Sone Associates, describes the past 12 months in the Canadian wireless industry. The next 12 to 18 months could prove a little more interesting though. In Part I of a two-part Report on Wireless series, Platts describes the trends he believes will emerge over the next year and a half in terms of data pricing in Canada, and the United States. The second article will look at the technology choices for Canadian CDMA carriers Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility. Platts also offers some insight on the upcoming advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum auction. On wireless data,...

Traditional landline-only homes continue to slide

telecom | 04/24/2008 5:04 pm EDT

Alternative telephony options, such as VoIP and cable telephony, continue to gain traction in Canada as the number of traditional landline-only homes declined significantly in 2007, according to recently released figures from Statistics Canada. The numbers show that approximately 700,000 Canadian homes adopted some form of alternative voice...

Cell-phone only homes continue to climb

telecom | 04/24/2008 3:32 pm EDT

Alberta and British Columbia continue to lead the way in wireless-only households, according to recently released figures from Statistics Canada. Nationally, wireless-only homes increased from 5.1% at the end of 2006 to 6.4% in December 2007. The country's most western province now counts more than 10% of homes as only using a cell phone for...

Bell Mobility keen on Alcatel Lucent’s 9900 Wireless Network Guardian

telecom | 04/22/2008 7:15 pm EDT

Bell Mobility Inc. is now better able to analyze usage trends on its wireless network. The company is using Alcatel-Lucent's 9900 Wireless Network Guardian (ALU 9900 WNG), a device that allows carriers to see how different types of traffic affect their networks. Tony McCarthy, director of wireless technology...

Deferral account ruling appealed again

telecom | 04/22/2008 7:14 pm EDT

Axia SuperNet Ltd. has told the CRTC that its wholesale business plan will be compromised if its deferral account ruling is allowed to stand as is. The owner and operator of Alberta's provincial broadband network appealed the decision earlier this week, also noting that the decision compromises the Alberta government's $193-million investment in the...

Unified communications adoption significant, moving to video

telecom | 04/21/2008 3:20 pm EDT

The uptake of unified communications (UC) systems is happening at a rate faster than previously believed, according to an analyst at research firm IDC Ltd. According to IDC data, 31% of Canadian businesses had incorporated some form of UC by 2007, up from 15% in 2002. "UC is happening much more quickly then people think," Vito Mabrucco, IDC's senior VP worldwide consulting and managing director, tells Network Letter. "We talk about VoIP being this great new technology that enables you to lower costs and add services, but I think the change that's going to come around will be about how this will impact other ways we communicate." Unified voice communications is now a well established technology, so it stands to reason that video communication is the next...

Analysts divided on what Nortel should do with CDMA business

telecom | 04/21/2008 2:34 pm EDT

Many question the path Nortel Networks Corp. is taking to reinvent itself, and nowhere is it more present than on what the Toronto-based telecommunications equipment maker should do in the wireless arena. While it is clear the industry is preparing for the arrival of fourth-generation networks, two analysts are divided on...

UC vendors targeting SMB space for growth

telecom | 04/18/2008 4:04 pm EDT

Unified communications isn't just for the major leagues anymore. Big players, such Mitel Networks, Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks offer scaled-down, tailor-made versions of their UC solutions in a move to capture a share of the untapped SMB market Bell Canada is doing its part too, to ensure that small offices, home offices (SOHOs) aren't left...

Telus forced to reimburse customers LD surcharge

telecom | 04/17/2008 3:32 pm EDT

The CRTC has ordered Telus Communications Inc. to reimburse or credit certain customers the monthly $2.95 surcharge the company introduced in November 2007. The CRTC has ordered Telus Communications Inc. to reimburse or credit certain customers the monthly $2.95 surcharge the company introduced in November 2007. "When applied to customers...

Indiana University, Nortel tout cost, operational benefits of unified communications at Toronto event

telecom | 04/16/2008 2:53 pm EDT

Campus style data and telephony integration can only realistically be done through unified communications, attendees of the IT360 Conference and Expo learned last week in Toronto. Just ask Indiana University and its more than 90,000 students, 18,000 faculty and staff and hundreds of thousands of...

McAfee bolstered security portfolio in 2007

telecom | 04/15/2008 6:43 pm EDT

The growing importance of data - personal or corporate - to cyber criminals played a big role in McAfee Inc.'s decision to bolster its security portfolio in 2007, according to its chief security evangelist Andrew Berkuta. Last year's acquisitions now enable the company to offer a comprehensive set of security and encryption solutions to customers....

Wireless important, but Shaw won’t break the bank in deployment

telecom | 04/14/2008 4:15 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. won't bet the farm on wireless, according to company CEO Jim Shaw. Despite the possibility of rounding out the company's service portfolio with either a regional or national wireless offering in partnership with other like-minded operators, Shaw Communications says it will take the slow go...

Public safety groups call for firm date for spectrum availability

telecom | 04/09/2008 6:41 pm EDT

First responder groups in Southern Ontario are urging Industry Canada to adopt a firm deadline for making additional public safety spectrum available. The City of Toronto's Emergency Services branch says the department should move quickly to resolve any potential inference issues in the region between TV and...

Troops rally against Cisco; recent Mitel announcements fortify partner strategy

telecom | 04/09/2008 4:02 pm EDT

New alliances between Mitel Networks, Foundry Networks Inc. and Sun Microsystems offer further proof that companies need to work together in order to compete against voice and data convergence behemoth Cisco Systems Inc. In fact, companies like Foundry, a switch and router manufacturer headquartered in Santa Clara, CA,...

Télébec targets emerging wireless market in mines and tunnels

telecom | 04/08/2008 3:22 pm EDT

A Quebec lab has scored $1.134 million in federal funding to develop - in partnership with Télébec - a new wireless communications system for mines, subways and other underground or confined areas. These new telecom frontiers are poised to become lucrative niche markets for wireless service providers and manufacturers. "There are a lot of communications systems in mines, but what they are using for a wireless radio system is like a walkie-talkie radio. It's a technology called leaky feeder that's been around for 20 to 25 years and is very limited," says Pierre-André Bélanger, the administrative director of the Télébec laboratory for underground communications at the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) in Val-d'Or, PQ . "Our goal is to...

CDMA-based BlackBerry driving customer additions

telecom | 04/07/2008 6:55 pm EDT

Pent-up demand for Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry Pearl from carriers such as Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility in Canada and Verizon Wireless and Sprint-Nextel in the US helped drive customer acquisitions for the popular device to record levels in the fourth quarter. Speaking during RIM's fourth-quarter and year-end financial and...

Yak getting aggressive with home phone marketing

telecom | 04/07/2008 2:23 pm EDT

Armed with survey results showing that three-quarters of Canadians believe they pay too much for local telephone service, Yak Communications Inc. is ratcheting up its marketing machinery in a bid to attract disavowed customers, particularly in Ontario and Quebec. Andrew Boone, VP of marketing at Yak, says telephone customers are being...

Industry heavyweights lose bid for national ICT centre; may locate outside of Canada

telecom | 04/07/2008 2:14 pm EDT

Nortel Networks Corp., IBM and Carleton University have lost a bid to establish a $31.5 million national centre of excellence focusing on next-generation Internet and communications technologies. The group, which recently failed to make the final cut for the federal government's new Centres of Excellence in Research and...

Exceeding customer expectations is common theme in IDC’s latest wireless report

telecom | 04/02/2008 1:23 pm EDT

Proven technology and customer satisfaction are the two common elements among the companies profiled in IDC Canada Ltd.'s 10 Canadian Wireless Companies to Watch report, released earlier this week. Krista Collins, analyst for Canadian ICT innovation and export at IDC, says that while all the companies have very...

P4P could help solve Canada’s traffic shaping debate

telecom | 03/31/2008 3:06 pm EDT

Results of a recent trial south of the border have shown that ISPs may be wrong in assuming that P2P technology is a threat to network bandwidth. Pando Networks Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. tested proactive network provider participation for peer to peer, known as P4P, which demonstrated dramatic improvements to P2P download speeds. "P4P is a protocol that can help ISPs and P2P to work together," Haiyong Xie, a researcher at Yale University, tells Network Letter. The idea of P4P is for client applications to better assess network conditions, thus improving P2P file transfer performance. P4P does this by using the network topology so that peers can be selected more efficiently, as opposed to randomly, as presently occurs with P2P. "It should be stressed...

Certification delaying greater WiMAX network deployment: Maravedis

telecom | 03/27/2008 6:24 pm EDT

A delay in certifying mobile WiMAX equipment (802.16e), combined with high customer premise equipment (CPE) costs and the lack of a broad number of devices, are hampering greater WiMAX network deployments, according to a new report from Maravedis Inc. In the latest installment of its WiMAXCounts Quarterly Report,...

Bell Canada prepares for Supreme Court battle to keep customer rebates

telecom | 03/27/2008 6:23 pm EDT

Bell Canada is absolutely convinced that the CRTC didn't have the authority to order customer rate rebates as part of its 2006 deferral account decision and will rely on many of the same arguments it presented to the Federal Court of Appeal to battle the commission once again - this time before the country's highest...

McAfee Canada recruits Ross Allen to boost sales 18%

telecom | 03/25/2008 8:59 pm EDT

McAfee Inc. has brought in new leadership for its Canadian operations to increase sales and its penetration in the business market. The company announced on March 18 that it appointed Ross Allen to head the Canadian unit. It's a reunion of sorts for Allen, whose official title is Canadian general manager for McAfee. Allen was the Canadian...

Fonolo makes IVR system navigation easier

telecom | 03/24/2008 4:12 pm EDT

The frustration sometimes experienced by navigating interactive voice response (IVR) systems could soon become a thing of the past if a new service developed by Toronto-based Fonolo lives up to its promise. The company unveiled and demonstrated the innovative service at eComm 2008 in Mountain View CA earlier this month, and Fonolo CEO Shai...

Bell appealing deferral account ruling to Supreme Court

telecom | 03/20/2008 2:50 pm EDT

Bell Canada is taking its fight against local telephone customer rate rebates to the country's highest court, Network Letter has learned. The country's largest incumbent telco will ask the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn a recent lower court ruling that confirmed the CRTC's right to order the ILECs to give...

Microsoft committing to open competition in mobile space

telecom | 03/19/2008 5:43 pm EDT

A decision by Nokia Corp. to give its mobile application developers access to Microsoft Corp.'s Silverlight browser plug-in should go a long way in demonstrating the software giant's commitment to the mobile space. But it will also further the development of new and innovative technologies that can function on multiple...

Construction boom puts pressure on CRTC to change MDU access rules

telecom | 03/18/2008 8:09 pm EDT

Novus Entertainment Inc. wants the CRTC to change how it governs access to multiple dwelling units (MDUs), saying the five-year-old rules can't keep up with Metro Vancouver's red hot market for new condominiums. In a March 5 complaint, the company says new buildings are going up in the city faster than the CRTC can...

Cable company alliance in the making

telecom | 03/17/2008 2:37 pm EDT

All the stars appear to be aligned for a pan-Canadian cable company new entrant alliance after Industry Canada's upcoming spectrum auction is complete. EastLink and Quebecor Inc. joined Shaw Communications Inc. as confirmed participants in the department's spectrum auction set to begin on May 27. Now that all three companies have submitted...

Is Telus going to adopt GSM and introduce a new youth brand?

telecom | 03/17/2008 1:59 pm EDT

Faced with a maturing mobile market and slowing net subscriber additions, Telus Corp. appears set to make a major change in strategy. Rumours are circulating that the western-based incumbent cell phone operator will introduce a new brand, called "Koodo Mobile", in an effort to attract more of the youth market - those interested in ringtones and downloads. Analysts also suggest Telus is considering a move to the GSM network. "I do wonder if Telus won't be coming up with a different brand," says Michelle Warren, senior analyst at Info-Tech Research Group in London ON. "'Telus has been using The Future is Friendly for a couple of years, but there's an argument that the future is now. They are an innovative company and could look more progressive."...

Analysis – MTS Allstream going national

telecom | 03/13/2008 4:16 pm EDT

It appears MTS Allstream Inc. is pulling out all the stops in its bid to expand wireless operations beyond its Manitoba borders. The company announced on Monday that it formed a consortium with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and The Blackstone Group LP to bid on wireless bandwidth in the upcoming advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum...

Utelco consolidation continuing; Cogeco makes play for Windsor fibre assets

telecom | 03/12/2008 2:34 pm EDT

Consolidation in the telecommunications space is picking up speed as more municipalities unload non-core telecom network operations, providing their purchasers better access to the enterprise market. When Cogeco Cable Inc. announced its acquisition of MaXess Networx yesterday, it marked the third time in as many months...

Comment – Will there be a new national player in the spectrum auction?

telecom | 03/10/2008 5:01 pm EDT

The first major development in Industry Canada's upcoming spectrum auction could come today as interested parties submit their applications along with financial deposits to the department. Of course, the main question on most people's minds is: will there be an alliance of providers to form a new national entrant?...

Aastra Technologies picks up Ericsson’s enterprise unit, expands beyond traditional market

telecom | 03/10/2008 3:09 pm EDT

Aastra Technologies Ltd.'s acquisition of Ericsson's enterprise communication business is a deal that makes sense for both parties, given Ericsson's need to focus on its core business, and Aastra's desire to expand its footprint in new markets.  Aastra, a communications networking company...

Telco competitors weigh pros and cons of CRTC essential services decision

telecom | 03/06/2008 6:20 pm EST

The CRTC's decision this week extending regulation over some of the incumbent telcos' networks was a "missed opportunity" to promote more facilities construction by competitors, the chief of regulatory affairs at Bell Canada tells Network Letter. In its decision, the commission lays out a plan to eliminate the regulation on some of the ILECs facilities such Ethernet and the higher-speed access in three to five years, but kept the shackles on other elements such as local loops and ADSL.   Referring generally to services on which regulation won't be phased out, Mirko Bibic suggests the new rules don't go far enough to encourage competitor network deployment. "In my...

42% of SMEs now use mobile devices

telecom | 03/05/2008 8:24 pm EST

A growing number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are adopting wireless devices to gain a competitive advantage over rivals, according to new surveys from Toronto-based Warrillow & Co. and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). According to the Warrillow research, two out of every five Canadian businesses with...

Telecom giants support federal bid to study zero-carbon Internet

telecom | 03/05/2008 7:25 pm EST

Ericsson, Nortel Networks and Bell Canada Enterprises are among the companies supporting an industry-led plan to promote development of a carbon-neutral Internet. Led by the Quebec-based organization PROMPT Inc., the "Next Generation Internet to Reduce Global Warming" research project has already lined up $8...

RIM pushes consumer focus at investment conference

telecom | 03/04/2008 1:14 pm EST

Despite two large-scale service outages, a looming US recession and increased competition in the smartphone market, users of all stripes can't seem to get enough of their BlackBerrys. And Waterloo ON-based Research in Motion Ltd. continues to make solid gains in the consumer market, which now makes up about 30% of its subscriber based. Speaking...

Industry Canada sets mandated roaming and tower sharing rules

telecom | 03/04/2008 1:13 pm EST

Industry Canada will not force new entrant wireless carriers to build a set portion of their network before requiring incumbent mobile operators to negotiate mandated roaming agreements. The department put in place new mandated roaming and antenna tower sharing rules as part of the upcoming advanced wireless...

Tackling the next stage in corporate integration for KMTS and Bell-Aliant: Q&A Part II

telecom | 03/03/2008 12:19 pm EST

The establishment of competitive markets created a sense of urgency for Kenora Municipal Telephone System (KMTS) to find a new buyer, but since its acquisition by Bell...

Comment – Industry Canada rules “resale is not roaming”

telecom | 02/29/2008 6:24 pm EST

Industry Canada's declaration this week that resale is not roaming won't deter new entrants from trying to become virtual national players soon after acquiring wireless bandwidth in the upcoming spectrum auction. This was one of the major points of contention between the big incumbent wireless operators Bell...

Executives share rationale for KMTS-Bell Aliant merger: Q&A Part I

telecom | 02/28/2008 2:24 pm EST

Pending competition from cablecos and the prospect of seeing red ink within three to five years are among the main reasons Kenora Municipal Telephone System (KMTS) started merger talks with a Bell...

Product and market diversification key for growth at Sierra Wireless

telecom | 02/28/2008 2:19 pm EST

Despite a record year for revenue growth in 2007, Sierra Wireless Inc. continues to push product and market diversification to an increasingly competitive market. The Vancouver-based company is forging relationships in Asia for its traditional AirCard products while continuing to build on its newly acquired...

2008 may not be a make or break year for WiMAX afterall

telecom | 02/26/2008 7:35 pm EST

Analysts at Mobile World Congress earlier this month speculate that 2008 could be the year that decides WiMAX's success or failure. But one Canadian analyst remains bullish on the longer term prospects for this broadband wireless technology. Adlane Fellah, founder and CEO of research firm Maravedis Inc., discounted suggestions that 2008 would either see WiMAX cement its position as a mainstream technology or land in the niche status for broadband wireless. "Contrary to what some analysts, say 2008 is not a make or break year for WiMAX. WiMAX fundamentals remain strong as a technology supported by a large ecosystem and a pent-up demand for broadband wireless solutions," he wrote on his blog. "What is at stake here is which of [Long-Term Evolution] LTE or WIMAX...

Ted Rogers fights back over mandated roaming, tower sharing

telecom | 02/25/2008 6:14 pm EST

Financial analysts got an earful February 22 when Ted Rogers, president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., took aim at Industry Canada for adopting provisions that would allow new entrants to roam on his wireless network and share towers, saying it would cause his company "real economic hardships"....

MTS appealing “wrong-headed” decision to deregulate Centrex

telecom | 02/22/2008 6:08 pm EST

MTS Allstream Inc.'s chief regulatory officer says a CRTC decision deregulating Centrex is "absurd" and "wrong headed", and that MTS will soon launch an appeal. "We don't think [Centrex deregulation is] a good decision for competition in general and certainly not for competitors delivering...

Ownership restrictions force AT&T into arms of enterprise customers

telecom | 02/21/2008 12:26 pm EST

AT&T Canada hasn't given up its battle for deregulation, but it isn't letting foreign ownership rules get in the way of new business opportunities in Canada. In fact, its potential foothold into the enterprise market just got a lot bigger with a deal that makes AT&T Inc. a preferred SAP AG hosting partner for...

Canadian firms make big announcements at Mobile World Congress

telecom | 02/19/2008 2:33 pm EST

Mobile World Congress is always an event where key stakeholders in the wireless communications ecosystem come to make big announcements and unveil revolutionary technologies, services or applications. This year was no different with some Canadian firms introducing new products. Below is a collection of some of those...

Telecom complaints body appealed by founding members

telecom | 02/15/2008 7:39 pm EST

Some founding members of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services' (CCTS) have appealed a CRTC ruling that officially sanctioned the telecom complaints body. In two separate Part VII applications filed on February 4, the telcos and cablecos claim the commission erred when it set the scope and mandate of the CCTS. In a decision last December, the commission accepted a proposal by some of the country's largest telcos and cable companies to create the CCTS to handle complaints from individuals and small businesses for deregulated telecom services such as local telephony, wireless and Internet services. But the CRTC made some modifications to the scope and mandate of the CCTS. For example, the commission ruled that limitations of liability (LoLs) in...

Canada outpaces US in consumer broadband; lags in business and gov’t usage: Survey

telecom | 02/13/2008 3:31 pm EST

Canada ranks fourth internationally, behind the US, Sweden and Japan, as one of the world's top "Innovation driven economies", according to a Connectivity Scoreboard released by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). We also took top marks for high broadband penetration among consumers, although the country continues to...

SMBs slow to catch on to unified communications, but that could change

telecom | 02/13/2008 1:14 pm EST

Unified communications (UC) is often touted as the ideal communications solution for an increasingly mobile workforce, and to date, UC has been targeted primarily at larger companies. Most small and medium businesses have been left out in the cold by vendors, but analysts say the tide is already beginning to change....

Concordia University first Canadian university to rollout next-gen WiFi

telecom | 02/12/2008 12:49 pm EST

Concordia University is teaming with Cisco Systems Inc. for a first in Canada - the rollout of a next-generation WiFi network at its Montreal campus. There's a lot of hype around 802.11n, the yet-to-be certified set of standards for wireless local area networks (WLANs) that, with greater range and much higher...

Municipalities share funding model solutions for deploying wireless networks

telecom | 02/12/2008 12:46 pm EST

Municipalities have a number of alternatives to fund the deployment of their wireless networks, and no one model will work in all cases. This was the key takeaway from several speakers at the Strategy Institute's 2nd Annual Municipal Wireless Summit in Toronto earlier this month. Georgina ON, a "cottage...

Texas town shares secrets for a successful municipal wireless network

telecom | 02/11/2008 12:44 pm EST

Applications that make city operations cheaper to run and more efficient are critical factors in making municipal wireless networks sustainable, assuming you can come up with the cash to build and sustain the network, a municipal manager from Corpus Christi TX told delegates attending the Strategy Institute's 2nd Annual...

Sutus undercuts Nortel and Microsoft in battle for small office IP

telecom | 02/08/2008 4:22 pm EST

Vancouver-based Sutus Inc. is challenging the big equipment makers for a larger share of the small office IP communications market with a new unified communications product that is competing on both price and ease-of-installation. Shipments of Sutus' Business Central only started in November 2007, but already the...

High-profile muni wireless failures hamper future projects

telecom | 02/08/2008 2:34 pm EST

A lack of vision, detailed plans and effective management is crippling efforts to rollout municipal wireless networks in many North American cities. Delivering the opening address at the Strategy Institute's 2nd Annual Municipal Wireless Summit in Toronto on January 30, Craig Settles, president of Successful.com,...

Newspaper telemarketers slam CRTC for overriding Parliament

telecom | 02/07/2008 7:21 pm EST

A CRTC decision requiring all organizations engaged in telemarketing activities, including those exempted under legislation, to fund the telemarketing complaints investigation process has ruffled the feathers of at least one of those exempted groups. The Canadian Newspaper Association (CNA) is disappointed and believes the...

Telcos show signs of stemming the tide against cable

telecom | 02/07/2008 4:49 pm EST

Fourth-quarter and year-end financial and subscriber results from three of the Canada's major incumbent telephone companies demonstrate that they all appear to be stabilizing losses in their local residential businesses. MTS Allstream Inc., BCE Inc. and Bell Aliant Regional Communications posted solid revenue and subscriber figures, driven by wireless, Internet and TV services. Local residential telephony is still under pressure from the cable company rivals, but the telcos noted their retention programs are working to stem losses and winback programs are paying off as returning customers are spending more. Pierre Blouin, president and CEO at MTS Allstream, said during a conference call with analysts on February 5 that 2007 marked a turning point for the company. "The company has...

Google makes web searching with your mobile device easier

telecom | 02/05/2008 9:06 pm EST

Google Inc. is giving Canadian mobile subscribers first crack at some new mobile search features. The company introduced new functionality to its popular online search engine last week that makes searching the vast World Wide Web with a mobile device much easier. One of the key changes is to the location setting. Rather...

Industry Canada adopting new band plan for 700 MHz

telecom | 02/04/2008 7:32 pm EST

Industry Canada has kicked off a consultation to harmonize with the United States' critical narrowband communications spectrum in the 700 MHz band for public safety agencies. Harmonizing would cover the spectrum used to carry analog TV stations 64 and 69, complementing spectrum used for analog TV channels 63 and 68 already designated for public...

Analysis: Combining hydro telecoms only makes sense

telecom | 02/04/2008 3:25 pm EST

Greater telecommunications consolidation could be on the horizon in Canada. Last month talk surfaced that Toronto Hydro was shopping its telecom subsidiary and Ottawa Hydro was also looking to unload Telecom Ottawa. The same usual suspects are mentioned when talk of telecom consolidation surfaces. Rogers Communications Inc. and Bell Canada top the list....

Mandated tower sharing and roaming consultation elicits interesting arguments

telecom | 02/01/2008 7:29 pm EST

The usual suspects of Canada's wireless industry have drawn their lines in the sand regarding an Industry Canada provision to mandate antenna tower sharing and roaming, but some parties appear to be extending the guidelines of the consultation as far as possible. The comments come as the department prepares for its May...

Rogers breaks with pack in supporting foreign ownership limits

telecom | 01/31/2008 6:53 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. is advocating no change to Canada's current rules limiting foreign direct investment in telecommunications - the only large communications service provider to support the status quo. In its comments to the Competition Policy Review Panel, the media and communications conglomerate contends the current rules limiting foreign investment restrictions in telecommunications are relevant today and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. It argues that the current rules have had no negative impact on either competition or productivity. "Over the past 15 years, the Canadian telecommunications market has experienced an explosion of competition from Canadian companies transforming the sector from monopoly supply to a vibrant competitive marketplace with...

Standards development to drive M2M market, GPS on mobile to see disappointing uptake

telecom | 01/29/2008 6:05 pm EST

The move to a standard size in radio modules will help drive greater adoption of wireless in the machine-to-machine (M2M) market in 2008, while adoption of personal navigation services through GPS on cell phones will disappoint, according to Deloitte's Technology, Media and Telecommunications 2008 predictions. Speaking...

CRTC to delegate investigations of illegal telemarketing to third party

telecom | 01/28/2008 5:35 pm EST

The CRTC plans to outsource the investigation of unsolicited telemarketing calls to a third party, marking yet another step in bringing the National Do-Not-Call List (DNCL) to fruition.  The commission expects to release a Request for Proposals to find an operator of the investigative process by the end of February. While...

Mvive rings up customers in beta test of mobile coupons, or moupons

telecom | 01/28/2008 5:27 pm EST

Coupon clippers' days are numbered. So, put down those scissors and pick up your cell phone. Last week, Mvive Inc., a Toronto-based mobile marketing service provider, announced that more than 50,000 customers registered for its mobile coupon delivery program during its beta phase. Mvive's initiative eliminates paper...

NextWave launches salvo at government over restriction on foreign investment

telecom | 01/23/2008 9:30 pm EST

A huge swath of 2.3 GHz spectrum, prime real estate for wireless broadband services, risks laying fallow for some time unless the Canadian government removes restrictions on direct foreign investment in telecommunications, warns NextWave Wireless Inc., the US-based holder of the bandwidth. Writing to the Competition Policy...

Foreign ownership restrictions limit telecom innovation: opponents

telecom | 01/22/2008 10:15 pm EST

AT&T Enterprises Canada Co. is calling on Canada to eliminate its foreign ownership limits for telecom carriers, saying the country's rules are among the most restrictive among industrialized countries. The Canadian subsidiary of US-owned AT&T was one of several foreign-owned providers who filed comments this...

Frequency swapping border plan still on track, despite FCC decision

telecom | 01/22/2008 6:22 pm EST

Discussions between Canada and the United States regarding the re-banding of portions of the 800 MHz band along the border are on track despite a decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to extend the deadline for mandatory negotiations, according to Industry Canada. Re-banding - or frequency swapping - will...

Government closing Office of National Science Advisor

Media | 01/21/2008 4:54 pm EST

The Office of the National Science Advisor (ONSA) is being shut down by the government of Stephen Harper and NSA Dr Arthur Carty has decided to retire. The move comes less than four years after its creation by the previous Liberal government of Paul Martin. The decision to terminate Carty's office and position was made earlier this month and has...

CWTA mulling options over ringtone tariff appeal

telecom | 01/21/2008 4:53 pm EST

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) may challenge a January 9 Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) decision upholding the legality of a tariff requiring wireless operators to pay a fee each time a subscriber downloads a ringtone. "We're still looking at [the Tariff 24 decision] to see what, if anything, we should do with the...

Sandvine targets DSL and wireless for future growth

telecom | 01/21/2008 4:53 pm EST

Sandvine is banking that the rising use of deep packet inspection (DPI) software by ISPs will give it a competitive edge in the largely untapped DLS and wireless markets. DPI, also referred to as broadband intelligence, allows an ISP to manage its bandwidth to provide a high quality of service. The system can give an ISP "unprecedented visibility" on network activities, such as the number of online gamers on the network, the number of people making Voice over IP calls and the amount of bandwidth that is being consumed, Caputo said at an investors' conference last year. Cable-based ISPs were early adopters of the company's broadband intelligence solutions, but in recent months Sandvine has won some key contracts with DSL and wireless providers in North America and Europe....

Long distance fees going up for many Bell customers

telecom | 01/17/2008 8:30 pm EST

Bell Canada is once again making it more expensive for customers who don't sign up for a long distance plan. Following on the heals of a $1.25 monthly access fee, customers who don't subscribe to a LD calling plan will also see their rates increase by as much as $0.09 per minute. While the company says on its website that some rates will also...

Carriers take steps to solve bandwidth crunch

telecom | 01/16/2008 8:37 pm EST

Internet providers have turned to traffic shaping and bandwidth prioritization applications to ease the network bottlenecks resulting from the growing use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. It's a trend industry observers expect to continue. Rogers Communications was recently criticized when the blogosphere revealed that the ISP - in an attempt to...

Binder to head Nuclear Safety Commission

telecom | 01/16/2008 4:01 pm EST

Michael Binder, long time assistant deputy minister for spectrum, information, technologies and telecommunications at Industry Canada, has been tapped to lead the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on an interim basis, effectively immediately. He replaces Linda Keen, who has been attacked by the Harper government and subsequently fired January 15th...

Rogers opposing WNP implementation proposal from small ILECs

telecom | 01/15/2008 9:00 pm EST

The wireless arm of Rogers Communications Inc. says an application from the small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECs) should only be viewed as a tactic to delay the implementation of wireless number portability in their operating territories. The company says that the process for implementing WNP has already been set...

Small telcos edge Bell and Telus in rolling out IPTV

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

Small, independent telcos are leading the charge in enabling IPTV service delivery to their customers over their larger brethren which have to deal with much broader network deployments. One only needs to look at the success of both MTS Allstream Inc. and SaskTel and the more recent IPTV network rollout from Bruce Telecom.  In all cases, it has been proven that fibre doesn't need to go into the home. These examples contrast the phased rollout approach from Telus Corp., which now offers IPTV in Calgary and Edmonton and parts of Vancouver, and Bell Canada's ongoing testing. Despite the limited telco TV deployments to date, it is expected to have a measurable impact on traditional TV subscribers, particularly if digital interactivity is leveraged to its fullest. The problem is on the...

FCA rules ringtone tariff legal

telecom | 01/11/2008 9:38 pm EST

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled on January 9 that Canada's wireless operators have to pay a fee, known as Tariff 24, when subscribers download a ringtone. Proposed by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) and certified by the Copyright Board of Canada in August 2006, Tariff 24 calls for a royalty to be paid when...

PIAC files complaint against Telus LD charge

telecom | 01/10/2008 7:05 pm EST

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has joined Yak Communications Inc. in fighting Telus Corp.'s $2.95 surcharge on local service customers that don't subscribe to a long distance plan from the ILEC. PIAC filed its complaint on January 4, one month after Yak filed two separate applications with the CRTC on the matter. PIAC argues that the...

Funding model for DNCL still to be worked out

telecom | 01/10/2008 2:13 pm EST

Chosen as the operator of the National Do-Not-Call List (DNCL) in one of the CRTC's last decisions of 2007, Bell Canada is already working on the finer details of setting up and operating the National DNCL with the expectation that it will launch by the end of September 2008.Critical to the establishment and ongoing operation of the registry is that...

Rogers reports lower Q4 subscriber gains

telecom | 01/09/2008 8:31 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. posted fewer net wireless subscriber additions in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year's Q4 subscriber gains, and Bill Linton, CFO of the media and communications conglomerate attributes this to a shift in subscriber purchasing decisions. "It's becoming a bit more of a third-quarter phenomenon, a...

Market overview: Visa, RBC test waters with launch of mobile payment pilot

telecom | 01/07/2008 3:05 pm EST

Canada's efforts to transform the mobile device into the mobile wallet still lag behind Asian markets, but they are picking up steam with recent announcements by major credit card companies. In November Visa Canada and the Royal Bank of Canada announced an Ontario-based pilot project. RBC staff will be armed with mobile...

Wireless carriers reluctant to embrace mobile advertising

telecom | 01/04/2008 8:50 pm EST

Telecommunications service providers see new business models as the primary drivers of growth in the future, but they are currently reluctant to embrace new approaches such as mobile advertising, according to a study from IBM Corp. The study indicates that service providers, particularly wireless operators, are able to...

CRTC makes key rulings just before holidays

telecom | 01/04/2008 5:39 pm EST

Canadian consumers now have an independent body with which to launch complaints against their telecommunications service providers and will be able to register their telephone number on a National Do-Not-Call List for telemarketing by September 2008. The CRTC issued two key rulings just before the Christmas break: it approved with changes the...

The greening of research & education networks

telecom | 01/03/2008 3:20 pm EST

One of the growing challenges for many campuses around the world is how to accommodate the power and cooling requirements of cyber-infrastructure facilities such as high performance computers and storage facilities. Increasingly the costs of the bricks and mortar, power and cooling to house these facilities significantly outweigh costs of the actual...

Femtocells aim to fill gap in fixed-mobile convergence

telecom | 01/03/2008 12:28 pm EST

Femtocells are set to become a significant component in the world of fixed mobile convergence. Questions remain, however, as to how carriers will leverage this technology, and what its impact will be on the competitive environment.Simply put, a femtocell is a base station that expands localized cellular coverage. To date, a lot of the talk has been around using femtocells in the residential space, though there is no reason why the emerging technology couldn't apply in SOHO or even targeted enterprise environments. The major carriers in Canada are interested, but reluctant to talk about a technology that isn't out yet. The appeal for the carriers is that although some see femtocells as allowing for convergence with Wi-Fi, it fits better as an extension to their licensed spectrum for...