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IN THIS ISSUE:
** Policy Review Asks 106 Questions ** Nortel President, CTO Resign ** Cogeco Enters Local Phone Business ** Some VoIP Providers Get 9-1-1 Extension ** RIM's Patent Settlement Stalls ** Consortium Wants 5-1-1 for Weather & Travel Info ** Bell Announces Global VoIP Trial ** Nortel Offers Unified Applications Platform ** Sierra Gives Up on Smartphone ** Building Access Rules Include Utelcos ** Rogers Extends Ultra-Lite to Newfoundland ** PIAC Wants Price Cap Amendments ** Telus and IEEE Sponsor Student Contest ** Bell Buys Western ERP Integrator ** Call Genie Names New CEO ** Allstream's Macdonald on Medical Leave ** CIRA Warns Against Password Fraud ** Orion Holds Research Summit============================================================
POLICY REVIEW ASKS 106 QUESTIONS: The Telecom Policy Review Committee's consultation paper, released on Monday, invites comments on a broad range of issues in order "not to prejudge or prematurely eliminate areas of interest and potential reform."
** "Canada has generally been well served by the policy and regulatory framework that evolved over the last century," says the paper, but asks, "Should changes be made [to this framework] to better equip Canada to reap future benefits from developments in telecommunications and ICT as these become more powerful enablers of our social and economic lives?"** 106 specific questions are organized in seven sections: the changing telecom environment, the regulatory framework, regulatory institutions, Canada's connectivity agenda, making the most of technology, other issues, and implementation.
** First-round submissions are due August 15; comments on the submissions are to be made by September 15. The panel hopes to make its recommendations before the end of 2005.NORTEL PRESIDENT, CTO RESIGN: Newly recruited President and CTO Gary Daichendt has resigned from Nortel Networks as a result of what CEO Bill Owens terms "divergent management styles and ... business views." CTO Gary Kunis, who previously worked with Daichendt in Cisco Systems and joined Nortel following Daichendt's appointment, has also left the company.
COGECO ENTERS LOCAL PHONE BUSINESS: On June 8, Cogeco Cable launched digital telephone service in Burlington and Oakville, Ontario. The company says it will extend service to most of the cities it serves by December 2006.
** Service is $44.99 for customers who also take Cogeco High Speed Internet and cable TV; $49.95 for those who take only Internet.** Included: unlimited Canada and U.S. long distance; voice mail and four other features; 4-1-1, 6-1-1, and 9-1-1; and eight-hour battery back up.
SOME VOIP PROVIDERS GET 9-1-1 EXTENSION: In response to applications by Vonage, SaskTel, BananaTel, MTS Allstream, Primus, and Globility, the CRTC has given these providers until August 17 to ensure that their nomadic VoIP 9-1-1 calls are routed to the correct emergency center. (See Telecom Update #482)
RIM'S PATENT SETTLEMENT STALLS: Research In Motion says it has reached an impasse in efforts to finalize its patent licensing agreement with NTP Inc. and is taking court action to enforce the settlement. (See Telecom Update #473) NTP says it will now ask for a court injunction blocking BlackBerry sales in the U.S.
CONSORTIUM WANTS 5-1-1 FOR WEATHER & TRAVEL INFO: The Canada 511 Consortium, consisting of Environment Canada, Transport Canada, Canadian Urban Transit Association, Transportation Association of Canada, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada, all ten provincial governments, and the Yukon Territorial government, has asked the CRTC to assign the 5-1-1 as a telephone number for the free delivery of weather and travel information to the public.
BELL ANNOUNCES GLOBAL VoIP TRIAL: Bell Canada has begun trials of Global Voice over Internet Protocol, which provides flat-rate intra-company international long distance service over a virtual private IP network. International connectivity is from BT Infonet.
NORTEL OFFERS UNIFIED APPLICATIONS PLATFORM: Nortel Networks has announced its new Applications Center, which provides a open standards and SIP-based platform for contact center, speech recognition, unified messaging, and multimedia collaboration tools. Also announced:
** New releases of Nortel's Contact Center Suite (formerly Symposium), CallPilot Unified Messaging, and CS 1000 IP-PBX.** IP Phone 2007, Nortel's first full colour screen phone.
** Nortel's new Multimedia Office Client, which provides multimedia enhancement of Microsoft Office Outlook.SIERRA GIVES UP ON SMARTPHONE: Sierra Wireless says it will sell or shut down its Voq Professional Phone business in order to focus on its core PC card business. Voq, a competitor of BlackBerry and Treo smartphones, secured a $9.5 million federal government investment but sold only an estimated 4,000 units. (See Telecom Update #403, 427)
BUILDING ACCESS RULES INCLUDE UTELCOS: In response to a 2003 application, the CRTC has extended the multi-dwelling unit access agreement guidelines set in Telecom Decision 2003-45 to include members of the Coalition of Hydro Telecom Service Providers. (See Telecom Update #402)
ROGERS EXTENDS ULTRA-LITE TO NEWFOUNDLAND: Rogers Cable has begun offering its Hi-Speed Internet Ultra-Lite service in Newfoundland. The service offers speeds of up to 128 Kbps download and 64 Kbps upload for $19.95 per month.
PIAC WANTS PRICE CAP AMENDMENTS: Responding to the CRTC's proposal to extend the current price cap regime for two years (see Telecom Update #481), the Public Interest Advocacy Centre says that current consumer price levels are too high, and has asked for an extended process to review them. The CRTC has postponed the comment deadline to June 20, but says its proposal "does not contemplate a detailed review of any aspect" of the current regime.
TELUS AND IEEE SPONSOR STUDENT CONTEST: Telus and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers have initiated an annual contest for Information Computing and Telecommunications projects submitted by undergraduate engineering or technology students. The IEEE Telus Innovation Award features $20,000 in cash prizes.
BELL BUYS WESTERN ERP INTEGRATOR: Bell Canada has acquired Winnipeg-based CSB Systems, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems integrator that specializes in Microsoft mid- market ERP software products Navision and Syspro. CSB will become part of the recently-formed Bell Business Solutions organization.
CALL GENIE NAMES NEW CEO: Call Genie, a Calgary-based supplier of voice directory technology, management, and support services, has named Michael Durance, a VP of Toshiba's telecom division, as Chief Executive Officer.
ALLSTREAM'S MACDONALD ON MEDICAL LEAVE: John McDonald, President of MTS's Allstream division, began medical leave on June 10 for undisclosed reasons. MTS announced that CEO Bill Fraser will be overseeing Allstream until MacDonald returns.
CIRA WARNS AGAINST PASSWORD FRAUD: The Canadian Internet Registration Authority warns against fake email messages purporting be from CIRA, which ask dot-ca domain name holders for their CIRA user account number or password. Do not share this information with anyone, CIRA says.
ORION HOLDS RESEARCH SUMMIT: The Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION), which provides high bandwidth connectivity to Ontario universities and research institutions, is holding its 2005 summit in Toronto June 13 and 14. Registration is open to the public, at $295 for the two-day event.
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