Virgin Canada nearing 500K subscriber count

telecom | 06/12/2007 12:14 pm EDT

Quasi-mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Virgin Mobile Canada is fast approaching the 500,000 subscriber mark, company president and CEO Andrew Black revealed yesterday at the Canadian Telecom Summit.The company, which uses Bell Mobility's wireless network, surpassed the 400,000 mark just two years after launching in the first quarter of 2005,...

Mom, Dad, it’s time you learned the truth about long distance

telecom | 06/11/2007 12:00 pm EDT

On a phone call home the other day I asked my mother how much she was currently paying for long distance. "Twenty dollars a month," she said, adding, "but I can make calls any time during the day." A simple enough answer to be sure, yet it reveals a few things about the current state of our long-distance...

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 such as PCMCIA cards for laptops and desktop terminals. Ted Chislett, president of Primus Canada, tells Report on Wireless that mobile WiMAX is the way of the future and the trial serves to prove what it can do in real life situations. He adds that from a technology perspective the testing will reveal a number of things including how well WiMAX penetrates buildings, how large or small the cell sites have to be, as well as network connectivity when moving from cell site to...

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...

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, president of new media and TV production firm Collideascope Digital Productions Inc., of the strategy. In his estimation, the system keeps independent producers out of the loop, and it bolsters status-quo content aggregators. Under this regime, he said, carriers as much as ignore pitches from independent producers. The walled garden effectively keeps users from accessing content that they might enjoy, and this myopic paradigm could eventually...

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...

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, recycling options, applications and advice to help your business go green. To receive your free copy, contact Ryan O'Neill - roneill@decima.com....

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...

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 telecom protection agency is to become the main complaints and disputes resolution mechanism in the newly deregulated telecommunications services market. The CRTC revealed the significant delay in its latest three-year working plan released last week, noting that it would "collaborate closely with industry stakeholders to bring about the prompt establishment of a consumer protection agency, as mandated by the Government of Canada's order of April 4 of this...

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...

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 have for the last number of years garnered a significant amount of attention with both sides of the debate pulling out facts and figures to back up their claims. Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of Québécor Inc., recently fanned the flames on the debate when he described some of the deficiencies of Canada's wireless sector in a speech last Tuesday to the Canadian Club of Ottawa. Canada's 58% penetration rate "reflects the fact that the average wireless customer in Canada pays 33% more than Americans for the same service. Heavy users in Canada pay 56% more than Americans," according to Péladeau's speaking notes. "The only price advantage in Canada is for...

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 -...

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 different languages and can find all Tim Horton's locations in Canada and the United States. Report on Wireless recently took Korea-based Novogo's S700 for a test drive around the Nation's Capital to put it through its paces. With more features than I knew what do with, I probably only used 10% to 25% of the S700's full functionality. Overall, the device performed according to its specifications. As the marketing material and...

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...

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 devices forum last month, Ron Riesenbach, OTN's CIO told attendees that technical integration and a system of unified network architecture allows OTN to provide 2,600 patient encounters and 450 educational events per month. OTN has 780 videoconferencing endpoints and 380 hospital and community sites, including public health units, community care access centres, and specialized clinics. It also has many partnering organizations, such as the...

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...

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 of telecom venture capital for BDC Venture Capital's Ottawa branch, says that a lot of pressure is being exerted on telecom infrastructure and VCs are looking to invest in solutions that will relieve some of that stress."Traffic demand is certainly growing at a pretty significant rate," Alani tells Network Letter. He adds that current reports suggest network traffic is growing between 50% and 80% per year, most of which he contributes to growth in the...

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...

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 regulatory affairs at the country's largest regional telecommunications service provider, panned the decision as missing the mark. "Despite the way it was pitched as granting forbearance, it didn't do anything of the kind and really just reinforced the commission's old framework, which is flawed in our view," he says. It's frustrating, Henry tells Network Letter, because the commission doesn't seem to understand the concept that cable companies - the biggest threat to telcos - don't require access to ILEC networks and therefore the requirement to meet (CQoS) indicators doesn't make sense. He describes this concept, first put forward in Telecom Decision...

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...

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, investment trends are favouring applications that encourage convergence as the line between wireless and wireline becomes increasingly blurry."There's a continual cycle of investment in the area of intelligent management of person-to-person communications. What I'm talking about here is solutions that manage your directories, manage your inbound and outbound...

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...

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...

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...

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 a healthcare environment," says Mike Gurski, a privacy strategist with Bell Information and Communications Technology Solutions in Toronto. "The real challenge to that is that it has to be used across hospitals. It is prohibitive to have individual hospitals try to build in IT solutions for consent management." Addressing an audience in Toronto at a...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 rules need to remain in place. Below are comments from their representatives.Kirsten Embree, counsel for the Canadian Association of Internet Providers and lawyer at Osler, Hoskin and HarcourtIn 2005, the revenues that were generated from the provision of Internet services in Canada reached $4.5 billion, which represented an 8.8% increase over the $4.2 billion generated in...

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...

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...

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,...

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 products at Telus Corp.’s business solutions division.Fuller, in Ottawa to speak to government and private sector technology professionals at a breakfast meeting earlier this month, sat down with Report on Wireless after the meeting to talk about WNP and the impact of its coming-into-force on the enterprise community. He explained that number portability really doesn’t change the rules of engagement in the competitive wireless sector that much.For instance, the high...