Rogers ramps up value-add services for telephony

telecom | 06/08/2007 1:40 pm EDT

At an "Innovation Forum" accompanying its annual general meeting last week, Rogers Communications Inc. unveiled details of next-generation services it will deploy to lure users to its telephony offering."We know the first thing we need to do is to be as good as the phone company in terms of delivering basic phone service," Phil...

A fourth national wireless player in Canada: Part III – Spectrum Requirements

telecom | 06/07/2007 11:30 am EDT

As potential new entrants strive to convince the federal government that more competition is needed in Canada's wireless sector and that this can only be accomplished through a set-aside of spectrum, debate surges regarding the amount of spectrum Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and Telus Mobility - the Big Three -...

Hamilton gets North America’s first mobile WiMAX trial

telecom | 06/05/2007 4:47 pm EDT

Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. and its subsidiary Mipps Inc. launched a mobile WiMAX (802.16e) trial last month in Hamilton - the first of its kind in North America in the 3.5 GHz band. Alcatel-Lucent is the network equipment supplier and is working with some third-party vendors to supply customer-premise equipment...

Implementing Policy Direction on procedures not going to be easy

telecom | 06/01/2007 7:17 pm EDT

The CRTC will likely find it difficult to determine which regulatory measures should be reviewed, given the "regulate only when necessary" mantra of the Policy Direction. Telecom Public Notice 2007-6 seeks comment from interested parties on which measures should be reviewed, their respective priority and an...

Money isn’t everything in P3 plans for networks

telecom | 06/01/2007 7:16 pm EDT

Private-public partnerships (P3s) might be one way for municipalities to fund in-city wireless networks, according to the managing director of investment firm BMO Nesbitt Burns. But cities must also consider factors other than financing before deciding if the P3 model is right.In a presentation at the Canadian Municipal Wireless Applications Conference and Exhibition in Toronto on May 30, Rick Byers outlined the P3 paradigm, whereby public and private organizations combine financial forces to build or repair public infrastructure, such as roads and hospitals. Byers pointed out that P3s offer many advantages over the all-public-funding route. For one, P3s offset the costs of construction, taking some of the burden out of the public sector's hands, and placing them with commercial...

Lack of competition in rural Canada warrants new approach to spectrum licensing

telecom | 05/31/2007 8:09 pm EDT

Industry Canada should undertake a new approach to licensing valuable mobile wireless spectrum in rural and remote regions of the country. These comments come from organizations with vested interests in better services for these regions and are directed to the government's spectrum auction consultation.A common thread...

Toronto Hydro Telecom president takes shot at Bell and Telus

telecom | 05/29/2007 8:52 pm EDT

As traditional wireless service providers tout their deep and meaningful relationships with Canada's cities and towns, the ever-outspoken head of Toronto's utility telecom (utelco) argues that Bell Canada and Telus Corp. have failed municipalities.Trends in the mobile services space paint "a truly bleak picture...

More pricing flexibility granted to ILECs

telecom | 05/28/2007 7:33 pm EDT

The CRTC has given incumbent telephone companies more pricing flexibility about a month after allowing them to offer different prices in the same region, known as rate de-averaging. Telecom Decision 2007-36, issued on May 25, allows ILECs to use a price range within a range and comes less than a month after the new price cap regime (Price Cap 3) was...

A fourth national wireless player in Canada: Part II – The Rules

telecom | 05/28/2007 3:29 pm EDT

Industry Canada has embarked on a process to license valuable spectrum that will allow operators to provide a wide range of services including mobile voice and data as well as high-speed Internet access. The government plans to auction the spectrum early next year, but auction rules have to be put in place before the...

Municipal networks discussion evolving, multi-purpose networks become table stakes

telecom | 05/25/2007 5:39 pm EDT

Municipal wireless networks have been a hot topic of discussion over the last few years ever since Philadelphia announced an initiative to blanket the city with a broadband wireless network. But recently, the hype has given way to reality with operators realizing that these ventures aren't just for the social good, they...

A fourth national wireless player in Canada: Part I – The Opportunity

telecom | 05/24/2007 12:18 pm EDT

There has been a lot of discussion lately about whether Canada needs a fourth national wireless operator with incumbent carriers saying new entrants shouldn't get special treatment from the government regarding the upcoming spectrum auction. Potential new players argue on the other hand that a new entrant is required to...

Myopic mobile carriers aim TV gun at their own feet

telecom | 05/22/2007 2:24 pm EDT

The walled garden that wireless service providers have built around mobile video content might be coming down slowly, but this narrow system of providing video access on handheld devices could hobble the nascent industry. Playback magazine's Mobile Forum explored this issue in Toronto on May 17. "It kills innovation," said Steven Comeau,...

New price caps give ILECs pricing flexibility, but not virtual forbearance

telecom | 05/18/2007 1:15 pm EDT

Canada's incumbent telephone companies have secured significant pricing flexibility that will allow them to compete more effectively without having to first be deregulated. On April 30, the CRTC released the rules for the new price cap regime, which comes into effect this summer. Some parties have suggested that the new...

Mobile messaging services remain big data revenue generator

telecom | 05/18/2007 1:10 pm EDT

Mobile messaging services - SMS, MMS, email and IM - will continue to generate a significant amount of revenue for wireless carriers around the world, according to a new report from Portio Research. The independent UK-based research firm indicates in its Mobile Messaging Futures 2007-2012 report that revenue from SMS will top US$67 billion by 2007, driven by 3.7 trillion messages. The report also suggests that SMS, also known as text messaging, remains a phenomenal success where markets continue to experience SMS growth and have exceeded predictions of previous research conducted in 2005. Text messaging traffic has not flattened out in mature markets, but continued to boom, according to Portio. Two of Canada's national wireless operator recently reported first-quarter financial and...

Competitors balk at ILECs’ request for stay in wholesale orders implementation

telecom | 05/15/2007 2:25 pm EDT

A number of competitive providers state that it doesn't matter that ADSL and Ethernet services will be considered under the wholesale services proceeding (Telecom Public Notice 2006-14), the incumbent telephone companies should still be required to comply with the rules as set out by the CRTC on January 25. The comments...

Shift gets protection from creditors

telecom | 05/14/2007 1:36 pm EDT

Shift Networks Inc. is operating under bankruptcy protection of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), the firm announced last week. The Calgary-based VoIP provider to small and medium-sized businesses said it was a necessary move so that it could "maintain regular business operations and to continue uninterrupted delivery of...

Green Connectivity: Environmental Sustainability for Network Professionals

telecom | 05/14/2007 4:00 am EDT

As a thank-you for your support, Decima Reports would like to offer all subscribers a free copy of its latest analytical feature, Green Connectivity: Environmental Sustainability for Network Professionals. Penned by Telemanagement editor Stefan Dubowski, this detail-packed report includes an assessment of supplier efforts,...

Green Connectivity: Environmental Sustainability for Network Professionals

telecom | 05/14/2007 4:00 am EDT

As a thank-you for your support, Decima Reports would like to offer all subscribers a free copy of its latest analytical feature, Green Connectivity: Environmental Sustainability for Network Professionals. Penned by Telemanagement editor Stefan Dubowski, this detail-packed report includes an assessment of supplier efforts,...

Potential new entrants boost lobbying effort

telecom | 05/11/2007 2:18 pm EDT

Potential new wireless entrants Vidéotron ltée, MTS Allstream Inc. and Mipps Inc. have launched a coordinated lobbying effort to convince the federal government to allow more competitors to enter the Canadian wireless market.They say the entire industry is controlled by the existing three national operators Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility and this has led to higher prices and less advanced technologies. "The solution for this is very simple - more competition will help lower prices and introduce technologies that Canadians will need to compete globally in the wireless economy," Luc Lavoie, executive VP of Quebecor, said in a statement.  The coalition has launched a website to provide information and research on the Canadian wireless landscape...

Nortel says it’s in the driver’s seat for future communications

telecom | 05/11/2007 12:48 pm EDT

Two of Nortel Networks Corp.'s top executives told a group of investors earlier this week that they believe the company is in a prime position to capitalize on the emerging anywhere, anytime, on any device communications concept. Mike Zafirovski, president and CEO, described the trend as "hyperconnectivity",...

Cablecos and network providers support CCSA

telecom | 05/09/2007 1:00 pm EDT

MTS Allstream Inc. is the latest company to throw its support behind a Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) application requesting an exemption from a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) requirement that some call burdensome, but the company believes many more CLEC obligations could also be avoided. Quebecor Media Inc. and Cogeco Cable Inc. also...

Rogers Jr. lays out company’s spectrum auction position

telecom | 05/08/2007 1:11 pm EDT

Ted Rogers, president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., put his stake in the ground regarding the rules for the upcoming advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum auction. He laid out the company's position during its first-quarter financial and subscriber results conference call on May 1.  Speaking passionately...

P2P VoIP ushering in a new era in telephony

telecom | 05/07/2007 1:40 pm EDT

According to some telecommunications industry experts the evolution of VoIP to a distributed peer-to-peer (P2P) environment is going to radically change the rules of the telephony game. But P2P won't do it alone - it needs the help of standards-based session initiation protocol (SIP), and just as VoIP affected the conventional telecom world, P2P SIP...

Bruce talks about the business market and new technologies

telecom | 05/02/2007 12:10 pm EDT

Interview with Rob Bruce Part IIThe Canadian wireless industry is witnessing some pretty exciting developments, particularly when it comes to faster networks. While the CDMA camp has been offering higher-speed EvDO services for about two years, Rogers Wireless - the country's only GSM player - is rolling out its...

Twisting the facts on Canada’s wireless industry

telecom | 05/01/2007 12:44 pm EDT

Interview with Rob Bruce: Part IWith the deadline on comments to Industry Canada's spectrum auction consultation paper fast approaching, it should come as no surprise that potential new entrants have ratcheted up criticism of the country's wireless sector. According to Rob Bruce, president of Rogers Wireless, there is a direct correlation...

Consumer protection agency not likely until next decade

telecom | 04/30/2007 1:39 pm EDT

Those believing that the government would move swiftly to create an independent telecommunications consumer protection agency will have to wait longer than they may have expected. What was, according to Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, to take a couple of months is now going to take more than three years. The new consumer...

Slower growth ahead for Canada’s communications sector: Conference Board

telecom | 04/27/2007 11:00 am EDT

An increasingly competitive market will lead to slower growth for Canada's communications companies, according to a recently released Conference Board of Canada report. Canadian Industrial Outlook: Canada's Telecommunications Industry - Spring 2007 notes that despite higher levels of competition coming from cable...

Wireless carriers adding fleet management services to portfolio

telecom | 04/26/2007 12:00 pm EDT

Telus Mobility and Rogers Wireless are capitalizing on a fragmented fleet-management and asset-tracking industry to announce new partnerships allowing the two cell phone companies to expand into this business. Both wireless operators say they can offer a turnkey solution to companies that have a mobile component to their business, whether it pertains to employees or vehicles. Rogers has partnered with WebTech Wireless Inc., while Telus is working with Complete Innovations. The companies are offering a range of services addressing a number of different companies with differing needs. Dan Anzarut, associate principal of vertical marketing at Telus Business Solution, tells Report on Wireless that the company has been supporting the transportation sector for 10 years with its Mike service....

CFIB says government rules critical to SMB productivity gains

telecom | 04/25/2007 11:00 am EDT

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released a report April 24 detailing the significance of small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improving productivity gains in Canada. And contrary to popular belief, small companies are doing their fair share to invest in information technology - believed by many...

Discussion heats up during CWTA spectrum auction forum

telecom | 04/24/2007 1:53 pm EDT

What was shaping up to be a love-in at the Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association's (CWTA) one-day forum on the upcoming advanced wireless services spectrum auction came to a grinding halt during the first afternoon session. After the morning - when financial analysts debunked the conclusions of a controversial...

Fireworks to erupt at CWTA forum

telecom | 04/23/2007 11:00 am EDT

Attendees at the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) forum on the advanced wireless services spectrum auction today are likely to see some fireworks early in the afternoon. One session will explore wireless pricing and penetration in Canada with another considering the terms and conditions for the auction. Penetration and pricing...

Intrinsyc Software IPO for marketing and R&D

telecom | 04/20/2007 12:46 pm EDT

Intrinsyc Software International Inc. has issued a preliminary prospectus regarding plans to raise money that the company says will be used to fund sales, marketing and research and development. Canaccord Adams is lead underwriter, with Paradigm Capital Inc., Raymond James Ltd., and GMP Securities LP rounding out the syndicate for the offering. The...

Cyberfraud and identity theft run rampant

telecom | 04/19/2007 12:32 pm EDT

Financial scams remain the largest type of cyberfraud activity, according to a security expert at Foundstone, the professional services division of McAfee Inc., but identity theft isn't as lucrative as it used to be. Ron Nguyen, a director at Foundstone, explains that fraudsters release bots - software that automatically searches for information - to comb the Internet, collecting personal info that is resold to other groups. This information is then used for either spamming purposes or to perpetrate some type of fraud such as cloning credit cards. "It's big business," he says. "There're going to sell [the information] to the highest bidder." According to Nguyen, cyberfraud artists have raked in billions of dollars. "I've been hearing reports that...

Rates won’t decrease for local telephone service

telecom | 04/18/2007 1:09 pm EDT

Last week, the three largest incumbent telephone companies filed forbearance applications in a number of major markets across the country and if granted forbearance would allow them to compete on price more easily. Some say this paves the way for lower prices, but we're not so sure.Despite assertions from the Minister of Industry Maxime Bernier,...

Jockeying for position in the wireless market

telecom | 04/18/2007 1:08 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. is doing a number of things to capture its fair share of new subscribers, according to the company's CFO.Bill Linton, speaking at the Bank of America's 2007 Media, Telecommunications and Entertainment conference in New York City last month, explained that the company has an advantage over its two biggest rivals, Telus...

BCE confirms talks with pension funds

telecom | 04/17/2007 8:00 pm EDT

In an about-face regarding its future business prospects, BCE Inc. announced this morning that it's talking to a group of Canadian pension funds and a US-based private equity firm about taking the company public.Mere days after saying no such talks were taking place, Canada's largest telecom services provider said in a press release that it...

Ottawa U professor raising concerns about privacy and RFID use

telecom | 04/17/2007 11:00 am EDT

TORONTO - Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a maturing technology with a number of emerging opportunities such as enabling mobile payments and reducing counterfeit medications. But its widespread use worries some because of privacy concerns.  "Anytime you can use the chip to individuate or identify, it raises...

Manitoba service provider takes risky route with ISPs

telecom | 04/16/2007 12:51 pm EDT

Most companies shy away from business partners that lack solid business plans, knowledge of the industry and common sense. But Manitoba Hydro embraces such corporate dunderheads. And the results aren't as bad as you might expect.In a candid presentation at the Canadian Utility Telecom Conference in Toronto last month, Al Pinder, a project manager at...

Vonage Canada workers could be on the chopping block

telecom | 04/13/2007 4:56 pm EDT

As it considers chopping a number of staff positions, VoIP service provider Vonage Holdings Corp. might not spare its Canadian workers from the block, says one industry observer.Jon Arnold, a telecom analyst in Toronto, figures all options are on the table - including a complete shutdown of Vonage Canada's customer service operations. "They may...

Test driving the Novogo S700 GPS device

telecom | 04/13/2007 11:05 am EDT

What was once reserved for the military and more recently trucking companies is now making a bigger splash in the consumer market. Personal navigation devices using GPS technology have been available for a number of years, but there's a new player that has entered the Canadian market. Its device comes equipped with a colour screen, can speak in 19...

Primus and Vonage talk about channels

telecom | 04/13/2007 11:00 am EDT

The Internet remains the most important outlet for customer purchases, according to the country's two largest independent Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers, but Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. and Vonage Canada are not about to underestimate the value of retail sales either.Rob Warden, VP of marketing of residential...

Small cable companies want exclusion from CLEC obligation

telecom | 04/12/2007 7:00 pm EDT

The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) wants the CRTC to grant its members permission to operate as competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) without first obtaining central office codes and their own telephone numbers. The applications raises questions about facilities-based competition.The organization says that the costs associated with meeting these obligations are unlikely to be recovered given the small communities its members serve. "The cost to provide local phone service for CCSA member companies is significant and disproportionately high relative to the potential customer base and many of these companies' financial resources," reads the association's Part VII application filed earlier this month with the commission. "They can limit the required...

Canadian companies drinking the IP telephony Kool-Aid

telecom | 04/12/2007 11:00 am EDT

There's an "absolute thirst" for "advanced IP applications" from Canadian businesses, according to Amir Hameed, director of application sales, at Avaya Canada Corp.Speaking with Network Letter during the company's tour in Ottawa with its mobile command center (MCC) today, Hameed explains that Canada is the fastest growing...

Icron capitalizing on existing market presence

telecom | 04/11/2007 11:00 am EDT

Icron Technologies Corp. will be leveraging its experience in the USB extender market as it ramps up distribution of its recently released wireless USB hub WiRanger (RoW, April 2/04). Company president and CEO Robert Eisses tells Report on Wireless that the first rollout will go through its existing distribution channel. "The nice thing is that...

Robust network and services boon to OTN

telecom | 04/10/2007 7:16 pm EDT

TORONTO - As Canada's largest and busiest telemedicine organization, the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) has been designed with sufficient scale and interoperability to meet future demand for health services and to provide round-the-clock health services, says its chief information officer.Speaking here at a healthcare technology and medical...

RIM taking big share of smartphone additions

telecom | 04/10/2007 12:15 pm EDT

Research in Motion Ltd. will release its fourth-quarter and fiscal year financial results on Wednesday and the numbers will demonstrate that the Waterloo ON-based firm should be considered king of the mountain in the smartphone business. RIM revealed last month that it had added about one million new BlackBerry customers in Q4, bringing the...

Playing politics with telecom: Bernier pushes his forbearance regime forward

telecom | 04/05/2007 3:06 pm EDT

Industry Minister Maxime Bernier has again refused to listen to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. Late yesterday afternoon, the minister implemented his forbearance regime, with a couple of slight modifications, despite a report from his own Parliamentary committee calling on the minister to rescind his order and table comprehensive legislation and regulations in the House of Commons. The move shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone in the telecommunications industry, though. Last December the minister disregarded a recommendation from the Industry Committee calling for a more in-depth study of the policy direction to the CRTC. It was said a number of times...

Review of competition policies likely to affect telecom and broadcasting

telecom | 04/05/2007 12:01 pm EDT

When the federal government announced last November that it was considering a broad review of the country's competition policies, it was a sign the Conservatives were serious about making change and the March 19 budget appears to have clarified the situation even more. The government wants a modern and flexible...

Saving hospitals money by implementing automated medication systems

telecom | 04/05/2007 10:00 am EDT

Wireless technology can go a long way to help improve the efficiency of Canada's healthcare system and the dispensing of medications is an area that is seeing results on a limited scale. The Scarborough Hospital is one of a few Canadian hospitals that has moved to minimize medication errors and improve patient safety...

Rights-of-way issue continues to dog commission

telecom | 04/04/2007 7:42 pm EDT

The issue that never seems to go away - access to municipal rights-of-way - is again in front of the CRTC. This time Shaw Communications Inc. is asking the commission, in a Part VII application, to force the District of Maple Ridge in British Columbia to give the communications company access to its highways and other public places according to...

Hydro One Telecom pulls network solution out of the air

telecom | 04/03/2007 8:05 pm EDT

According to one company insider, employees of Ontario's provincial utility company Hydro One Inc. working in rural locations sometimes rent hotel rooms just to get high-speed Internet connections, because broadband connectivity at the firm's remote offices is so unreliable. If Hydro One can't connect its own...

Improving healthcare in northern communities through telehealth

telecom | 04/03/2007 8:00 pm EDT

Successful telehealth projects need to meet certain criteria, says a private telehealth consultant who has worked in many remote and rural areas in Canada that serve large aboriginal populations.In an interview following a forum on aboriginal health and remote access earlier this year, Rod Elford, a clinical assistant...

Remote monitoring saves healthcare costs

telecom | 04/02/2007 8:27 pm EDT

The cost of treating chronic disease in Canada can be greatly reduced with remote patient monitoring, according to research presented at a healthcare technology forum in Toronto earlier this year. Joseph Cafazzo, an engineer and lead at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at the Toronto General Hospital/University Health Network, noted that the...

IMS, fibre deployment appealing telecom investments for VCs

telecom | 04/02/2007 7:24 pm EDT

Growing demand for multimedia applications is driving investment trends in the telecommunications industry, according to two venture capital (VC) firms. They say companies looking to expand bandwidth and encourage convergence with the wireless industry are getting looks from the investment community. Nazmin Alani, director...

Wireless USB 2.0 hub debuts in Canada

telecom | 04/02/2007 6:16 pm EDT

True plug'n'play wireless connectivity for USB devices is now available in Canada. Icron Technologies Corp. debuted its WiRanger Cable Free USB 2.0 Hub today, which allows USB-equipped devices to connect to the 802.11g hub without additional software installation or user configuration. Eliminating the requirement for software and user...

Utelco reps to meet over wholesale access situation

telecom | 04/01/2007 10:43 pm EDT

The United Telecom Council of Canada's board members plan to convene within a week to hash out a stance on wholesale access and essential services - a critical matter currently before the CRTC that could have a profound effect on utelcos (Telecom Public Notice 2006-14)."We are going to have to do some work to figure out our position," said Laurence Dunbar, UTC Canada's legal counsel and a partner at Johnston & Buchan LLP, speaking at the Canadian Utility Telecom Conference in Toronto on March 28.The commission is considering what network elements should be considered essential and therefore offered to competitors at mandated wholesale rates. Incumbent telephone companies want the definition of an essential service to be narrowed which would dramatically reduce the...

Venture capital shifts to applications in the wireless space

telecom | 04/01/2007 10:42 pm EDT

The wireless sector continues to capture a large share of venture capital (VC) funds in Canada, but over the past few years VC firms have changed their investment strategies. According to two of the country's major VC companies, firms developing applications and services are now garnering the lion's share of...

Utility-telecom providers need stronger partnerships

telecom | 03/30/2007 10:10 am EDT

Utility telecom providers, commonly referred to as utelcos, must partner with other carriers and systems integrators to win a bigger piece of the communication technology market, according to one industry observer. But making partnerships work is a big challenge."I think it's time to look at this again," said Iain Grant, a principal with...

No cheering Fort McMurray ruling

telecom | 03/30/2007 10:05 am EDT

Bell Aliant Regional Communications believes the CRTC missed a prime opportunity this week to advance regulatory parity between telcos and cable providers in Canada when it decided that Telus Corp. still had to meet competitor quality of service indicators (CQoS) before it would be deregulated in the Alberta city of Fort McMurray. Denis Henry, VP of...

Better communications using mobile email improve patient care

telecom | 03/30/2007 10:00 am EDT

The use of wireless email increases efficiency in the delivery of healthcare and builds a greater degree of teamwork, according to the director of medical informatics at Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga ON. The facility's staff use BlackBerry devices to deal with patient-related communications. "Healthcare...

Telus criticizes CRTC deregulation ruling for Fort McMurray

telecom | 03/29/2007 10:16 am EDT

Those who thought new CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein might show a little more compassion for the incumbent telephone companies in their fight for local service forbearance got a rude awakening yesterday. While the commission ruled that Telus Corp. had met the market share loss threshold to gain forbearance in Fort McMurray AB, price deregulation won't come until the company meets the competitor quality of service (CQoS) requirements as set out in Telecom Decision 2006-15. Janet Yale, executive VP of corporate affairs, panned the ruling for not taking into consideration the uniqueness of the Fort McMurray market. "I thought we had made a good case with respect to why the commission should not only think about market share loss differently but competitor quality of service...

Wireless data revenue skyrocketing in US

telecom | 03/29/2007 10:06 am EDT

New results from CTIA - The Wireless Association reveal that American wireless data services revenue jumped to more than US$15.2 billion in 2006. This is an increase of 77% compared to 2005 wireless data revenue of US$8.6 billion. According to the US wireless industry association, data now represents approximately 13% of all wireless services...

Sierra Wireless sits down with Report on Wireless

telecom | 03/28/2007 12:51 pm EDT

Since the advent of municipal wireless networks and public hotspots, some have questioned the ongoing viability of mobile broadband products and services from companies such as Sierra Wireless. Greg Speakman, VP of adapter marketing at the BC-based company, recently spoke with Cristina Howorun, a Toronto-based freelance writer, about the impact of...

CRTC balances public interest and privacy in reaching E911 database decision

telecom | 03/28/2007 12:09 pm EDT

At the end of February, the CRTC ordered incumbent telephone companies to provide enhanced 911 (E911) information that would then be used in telephony-based community notification services (Telecom Decision 2007-13) - a decision that should immediately benefit the public.Alain Normand, manager of emergency measures and...

Lawful access legislation back on the table

telecom | 03/28/2007 12:07 pm EDT

Liberal MP Marlene Jennings re-introduced lawful access legislation in the House of Commons last week, but the move could be less about getting the bill passed as is and more about getting the Conservatives to get the ball rolling on the legislation. Bill C-416 is, according to David Elder, VP of regulatory law at Bell Canada, the spitting image of Bill...

CRTC rules in favour of Telus forbearance application

telecom | 03/27/2007 4:03 pm EDT

The CRTC has deregulated Telus Corp.' local telephone service in Fort McMurray AB, but the telco has to first demonstrate that it has met the competitor quality of service requirements in the region. Telus first applied for forbearance in the region in October 2006, but had also requested that it not be subjected to the competitor QoS requirements...

Rogers inks agreement to bring cell phone content backup to Canada

telecom | 03/27/2007 12:53 pm EDT

Rogers Wireless is now in the business of selling peace of mind, becoming the first wireless service provider in Canada to offer Asurion Corp.'s CellBackup program to Canadian subscribers.CellBackup allows wireless subscribers to backup content such as contacts, pictures, wallpapers and ringtones stored on their mobile...

VC investment favouring convergence, evolving infrastructure systems

telecom | 03/27/2007 12:50 pm EDT

Bouncing back from the infamous telecom and Internet implosion of about six years ago, investment in the communications industry by Canadian venture capital (VC) companies has shifted its focus away from infrastructure development toward innovative applications developers. According to two of the country's VC firms,...

Sierra Wireless undeterred by expanding number of municipal Wi-Fi networks

telecom | 03/26/2007 5:47 pm EDT

In cities across North America surfing the web and connecting to your data is becoming easier; both in terms of access, and on your pocketbook. By the end of 2006, more than 300 municipal Wi-Fi networks were either deployed, in various stages of deployment or were being planned in the US alone.For companies like Richmond...

Insight and Data

Media | 03/26/2007 4:00 am EDT

Editorial roundtable with Ciel Satellite Group: Decima Reports sat down with Dave Lewis, president and CEO, Scott Gibson, VP and general counsel, and Gerry Wall, VP of regulatory affairs, to talk about the upstart satellite operator, the changing competitive landscape and the reasons it will succeed in the market. Editorial roundtable with Ken Engelhart, VP of regulatory affairs with Rogers Communications: he shares his views of the changing landscape in the Canadian cable, broadcast distribution and telecommunications sectors. Click here for access to transcript. Editorial roundtable with Janet Yale, executive VP of corporate affairs with Telus Corp.: she shares her views of the changing landscape in the Canadian cable, broadcast distribution and telecommunications sectors. Click here for access to transcript. Penetration of Cable TV Services in MDUs in Quebec and Ontario: This market research report, published in 2004, evaluates the potential impact that satellite and wireless cable could have on conventional cable...

Vonage Canada president smiles through the gloom: full conversation

telecom | 03/26/2007 4:00 am EDT

Under the cloud of a troubled initial public offering and a lawsuit from Verizon, Vonage Canada president Bill Rainey put on a brave face during an interview with Network Letter last month. He talked up the VoIP provider's plans, and explained how the firm expects to create a brighter future for itself, customers and...

Small telecom providers lambaste variance of local forbearance

telecom | 03/19/2007 4:00 am EDT

A group of small telecom and cable TV service providers told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology late last month that the proposed local forbearance regime test won’t lead to more competition in lesser populated regions.Representatives from Distributel, Access Communications...

Vonage Canada president smiles through the gloom

telecom | 03/19/2007 4:00 am EDT

Under the cloud of a troubled initial public offering and a lawsuit from Verizon, Vonage Canada president Bill Rainey put on a brave face during our interview last month. He talked up the VoIP provider’s plans, and explained how the firm expects to create a brighter future for itself, customers and shareholders. DeregulationNL: The government is...

Holistic approach to enterprise technology adoption preferred: Telus

telecom | 03/19/2007 4:00 am EDT

A senior executive at Telus Corp.’s business unit says that enterprises have to think of technology adoption in a holistic way. Speaking in Ottawa last month to an audience of government and private-sector IT professionals, Dave Fuller, senior VP of products and solutions for the ILEC’s business division, explained that...

Alternative providers blast past carriers in fixed mobile convergence

telecom | 03/19/2007 4:00 am EDT

North American service providers are finally beginning to make waves in fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) – technology that combines wireless and wireline networks for a richer end-user experience. But judging from discussions at the VoiceCon conference in Orlando earlier this month, the telcos might be too late.As AT&T Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc. ramp up FMC applications, companies such as DiVitas Networks and Siemens AG present FMC that end users can implement themselves, without any help from telcos. "It’s not anti-carrier," said Vivek Khuller, CEO of DiVitas, during a VoiceCon panel. "It’s practical."Carrier intervention used to be...

Hospital can’t go it alone when in deploying patient privacy measures

telecom | 03/19/2007 4:00 am EDT

Implementing privacy safeguards in a hospital setting isn’t as simple as making sure to protect internal information, says one privacy specialist, because the solution will also have to apply to external facilities."Consent management allows patients some control over the use and access to their health information in...

Competition won’t develop in rural areas: commissioner Cram

telecom | 03/19/2007 4:00 am EDT

CRTC commissioner Barbara Cram is again dissenting on a decision regarding the deferral accounts. This time, however, she is responding to the CRTC’s March 14 decision denying Barrett Xplore’s review and vary application. Below is her dissenting opinion.Once again I disagree with my colleagues in the majority on this...

Three-player test won’t work in less populated regions: small providers

telecom | 03/19/2007 4:00 am EDT

Small providers rightly expressed their concern to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology that the three-player competitor presence test won’t produce more competition in less populated regions. As the lead article explains, they worry their mere presence in the telephony market will...

Wireless access to Internet getting good work out south of the border: Pew

telecom | 03/12/2007 4:00 am EDT

New data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project reveals that approximately one-third of American Internet users have logged onto the Internet using a wireless connection either at home, at work or somewhere else using a laptop, PDA or cell phone. Below is an excerpt from the report.Users of wireless access show...

SeaBoard Group fans the flames of wireless competition debate

telecom | 03/12/2007 4:00 am EDT

The state of competition in Canada’s wireless market has been a hot topic of discussion in the last few years. The SeaBoard Group fanned the flames of this particular debate earlier this month when it released a report referring to Canada’s wireless penetration as a national disgrace.While we believe that the industry...

Rural broadband initiatives to get boost from spectrum offering

telecom | 03/12/2007 4:00 am EDT

Industry Canada has kicked off a first-come, first-serve licensing process for analog TV spectrum to be used for fixed broadband connectivity in remote rural parts of the country. With many parts of rural Canada still lacking high-speed Internet access, this spectrum (512-698 MHz) is critical to bringing broadband to...

Unlikely churners become prime suspects after WNP

telecom | 03/12/2007 4:00 am EDT

Single parents and small business operators might be the most likely mobile phone users to switch carriers when wireless number portability (WNP) comes into effect on March 14, according to the experience of one industry insider. Scott Radcliffe, business director at analytics software firm SAS Institute Inc. and former senior director of customer...

Spectrum auction a prime opportunity to introduce new competition: SeaBoard

telecom | 03/12/2007 4:00 am EDT

A new report from the SeaBoard Group says the upcoming auction of advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum represents a key opportunity for the government to introduce more competition to the wireless industry. But an executive with one of the ILECs dismisses the report as missing the mark. The report urges government...

RFID offers quality of service enhancements for pharmaceutical industry

telecom | 03/12/2007 4:00 am EDT

The use of radio frequency identification (RFID) has potentially both positive and negative consequences to patients in healthcare, says the CEO of the Toronto-based Ontario Pharmacists’ Association.Speaking in Toronto at a conference on health information privacy and security earlier this year, Marc Kealey discussed some of the benefits of RFID systems. They can carry information or allow links to a central database but, unlike barcodes can be read from a distance. "The management of the supply of medications is made more efficient through the use of RFID," Kealey tells Report on Wireless. "It offers protection for the manufacturers of medications and ensures that the...

Wireless Innovation Contest demonstrates mentorship is critical to success

telecom | 03/12/2007 4:00 am EDT

Expert advice and media exposure trumps cash rewards for winners of the Wireless Innovation Contest (WIC). Entering its fourth year, the contest is gaining momentum and generating greater awareness of wireless products and applications – even though contestants aren’t vying for a cash prize or funding.Produced by the...

Taking stock of telecom competition, moving beyond a duopoly

telecom | 03/05/2007 5:00 am EST

Now that the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology has finished public hearings on the deregulation of telecommunications, it will take stock of all the comments made during the eight meetings.Coming to any consensus on recommendations for the House will be virtually impossible as both...

Fix wholesale regime and keep winback rules: small providers groups

telecom | 03/05/2007 5:00 am EST

The Canadian Association of Internet Providers and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology last month that the wholesale regime needs to be fixed before the government moves to deregulate retail telephony services. They also noted that winback...

Telehealth network helps Manitoba standardize health data collection

telecom | 03/05/2007 5:00 am EST

The province of Manitoba is leveraging its telehealth network to standardize the way it collects, stores and shares health data, according to a consultant with Manitoba Health in Winnipeg. Antoinette Zloty says it only made sense to take advantage of the computer technology being used to deliver the telehealth service to...

Rogers ordered to continue right-of-ways payments to New Brunswick

telecom | 03/05/2007 5:00 am EST

Rogers Communications Inc. lost a battle with the province of New Brunswick over appropriate rates for access to the province’s highways, sometimes referred to as right-of-ways (ROW). The CRTC ruled in Telecom Decision 2007-8 that the fees charged to Rogers are "just and expedient." But just as Rogers won’t be celebrating the decision, the province will also be questioning the merits of the commission’s ruling. Not only does New Brunswick debate the CRTC’s jurisdiction to intervene in matters the province believes fall squarely under its control, it has been ordered to negotiate an agreement with Rogers and report back to the commission in six months. Rogers sought in its...

CRTC issues confusing decision on wholesale services

telecom | 03/05/2007 5:00 am EST

Less than three months into a massive and comprehensive review of the wholesale services regime, the CRTC has ordered the ILECs to provide access to competitors for some non-essential services on a mandatory basis. Bell Canada, Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Telus Corp. and SaskTel have all asked the commission to stay implementation of these...

ILECs make plea for less regulation at Standing Committee

telecom | 03/05/2007 5:00 am EST

Echoing comments made by other incumbent telephone companies, SaskTel said February 27 that it will take too long to implement all of the recommendations set out in the report from the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel (TPRP) and that it’s better to move on matters more achievable in the short term."The length...

Incumbents ordered to refund competitors for overpayments for essential services

telecom | 02/26/2007 5:00 am EST

Rogers Communications Inc. is set to get a refund from overpayments the company’s wireless arm made to incumbent telephone companies for access to some competitor services, according to a ruling from the CRTC. Telecom Decision 2007-6, released on February 2, states that the Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, MTS Allstream and...

Softer holiday spending results in lower net subscribers in Q4

telecom | 02/26/2007 5:00 am EST

Canada’s three national wireless operators say that consumer spending on new wireless activations was slower in the fourth quarter compared to previous years, and this is one of the primary reasons net subscriber additions for the quarter were down. As the chart below illustrates, new net additions in the fourth quarter...

Number portability to have little impact in the enterprise space

telecom | 02/26/2007 5:00 am EST

Wireless number portability (WNP) comes into force on March 14, giving users the right to keep their numbers when they switch providers. Just as the impact on the consumer market is predicted to be minimal, enterprise users aren’t likely to begin switching in droves, according to Dave Fuller, senior VP of solutions and...

Spectrum auction framework looks to help increase number of competitors

telecom | 02/26/2007 5:00 am EST

Industry Canada’s recently announced spectrum auction consultation appears to be leaning towards letting new competitors into the market, particularly for advanced wireless services (AWS). While the consultation doesn’t overtly say new competitors are wanted, certain proposed provisions in the paper seem to demonstrate...

Rogers possibly migrating mobile TV to DVB-H network

telecom | 02/26/2007 5:00 am EST

Rogers Communications Inc., the country’s largest wireless operator, has all but confirmed that it will eventually migrate its mobile TV services off its conventional cellular network to an emerging network based on digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H) technology.Ken Engelhart, VP of regulatory affairs at Rogers, alluded to the potential move in...

Don’t single out Telus for mobile porn

telecom | 02/26/2007 5:00 am EST

As is now widely known, Telus was forced to eliminate adult material from its cell phone Internet portal this week, but this isn’t the last we’ve seen of this kind of content on mobile handsets.After initial pressure from the Catholic Church didn’t convince Telus to get rid of what the church considered offensive material, hundreds of complaints...

More work needs to be done in creating a more competitive wireless sector

telecom | 02/26/2007 5:00 am EST

Vidéotron ltée hasn’t hidden its belief that the Canadian wireless sector lacks the competitive spirit and rivalry that exist in other countries. The company has now taken two opportunities to voice its concerns in this regard to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.Luc Lavoie, executive VP of corporate affairs, Quebecor Inc. and Vidéotron, is the chief spokesperson on regulatory matters for the company. Below are statements taken from his last appearances before the committee. October 19, 2006Indeed, if we are looking for ways to benefit Canadian consumers, I would suggest that we might all be looking in the wrong place. Although the policy...