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IN THIS ISSUE:
** Siemens, Nokia to Combine Carrier Divisions ** Bell Operators Ratify Pay Equity Settlement ** MTS Offers Email on TV ** Bell Files Tariffs for "Regional Lines" Spinoff ** Nortel Settles Canadian Shareholder Suits ** Nokia to Stop Making CDMA Phones ** Mitel Unveils VoIP for Financial Traders ** Aliant Rebate Set at $2.69 ** Sprint Offers Roaming EV-DO in Canada ** Nortel Names Technology Officer ** Preston Joins NTG Board ** U.S. Telcos Losing 150K Landlines a Month ** IP-PBX System Comparison============================================================
SIEMENS, NOKIA TO COMBINE CARRIER DIVISIONS: Siemens and Nokia have agreed to merge their telecom networking units that sell to the carrier market. The two manufacturers will be equal partners in a joint venture to be headquartered in Finland, with Nokia's Simon Beresford-Wylie as CEO. Nokia Siemens Networks plans to lay off 9,000 employees, 15% of the combined workforce; its annual sales will be about $22 billion.
** Siemens says it is in talks to sell a majority stake in its enterprise telecom unit, which has yearly sales of about $5 billion. Dow Jones has reported that Nortel Networks is a potential buyer.BELL OPERATORS RATIFY PAY EQUITY SETTLEMENT: Close to 5,000 present and former Bell Canada operators have voted by a 95% majority to accept the $100-million settlement of their pay equity claim negotiated on their behalf by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. (See Telecom Update #530)
MTS OFFERS EMAIL ON TV: MTS Allstream's new Email on Demand enables users of its TV and Internet services in Manitoba to access email on their TV screens, using only their remote control.
BELL FILES TARIFFS FOR "REGIONAL LINES" SPINOFF: Bell Canada has filed tariffs for the regulated services to be offered by its new "regional lines" company. The telco wants approval in time for a service launch on July 1, but says that date depends on "timely finalization of the transaction and the receipt of all necessary approvals."
** The proposed tariffs include a four-month market trial of "Accelerated Delivery Interval," which would allow business customers to obtain early installation of certain circuits for a one-time charge of $1,500/circuit. NORTEL SETTLES CANADIAN SHAREHOLDER SUITS: Nortel Networks says that it has reached agreement on five Canadian shareholder lawsuits related to accounting irregularities. Resolving these suits was a condition of the settlement of two related U.S. disputes. (See Telecom Update #521)NOKIA TO STOP MAKING CDMA PHONES: The wireless technology that is used by both Bell and Telus has lost a supporter. Nokia says it will "ramp down its own CDMA R&D and manufacturing by April 2007." The company says that high licensing fees charged by Qualcomm, which owns key patents, have created a "financially prohibitive CDMA ecosystem."
MITEL UNVEILS VoIP FOR FINANCIAL TRADERS: Mitel Networks is beginning customer testing of IP Trader Solutions, a portfolio of products aimed at providing the high voice quality, mobility, and reliability needed by financial trading operations.
ALIANT REBATE SET AT $2.69: All Aliant customers will receive a phone bill credit of $2.69 per line, as compensation for poor service in
2004. The CRTC set the amount this week in a follow-up to Telecom Decision 2006-27. (See Telecom Update #530)SPRINT OFFERS ROAMING EV-DO IN CANADA: U.S. wireless carrier Sprint says a new agreement allows its customers to send and receive EV-DO data through Bell Canada's network in Greater Toronto, Greater Montreal, Quebec City, Mont-Tremblant, Ottawa, Hamilton, Oakville, Burlington, Muskoka, Halifax, St. John's, Charlottetown, Moncton, and Fredericton.
NORTEL NAMES TECHNOLOGY OFFICER: Nortel has named John Roese as Chief Technology Officer, replacing Gary Kunis, who resigned in 2005. Roese previously served with Broadcom, Enterasys, and Cabletron.
PRESTON JOINS NTG BOARD: Ron Preston, who has held VP-level positions at Bell Canada, MetroNet, and AT&T Canada, has been elected to the Board of NTG Clarity Networks, a Toronto-based network infrastructure planning company that works primarily with telecom carriers.
U.S. TELCOS LOSING 150K LANDLINES A MONTH: According to TeleGeography, regional phone companies (RBOCs) in the U.S. have been losing 150,000 subscriber lines per month so far this year. An estimated 100,000 U.S. lines are migrating each month to Voice over IP services.
IP-PBX SYSTEM COMPARISON: Angus Dortmans Associates is preparing an Canadian IP-PBX Comparison Report/Buyer's Guide, scheduled for November 2006. The report will encompass the state of the industry, why organizations buy IP-PBXs, a comparison of key manufacturers' offerings in Canada, end-user insights, questions buyers need to ask, and more.
** For more information, email Michael Dunne at snipped-for-privacy@angusdortmans.ca.============================================================
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