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TELECOM UPDATE
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published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group
http://www.angustel.ca
Number 454: October 25, 2004
Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous
financial support from:
** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com
** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/
** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca
** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/
** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca
** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/
** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca
** UTC CANADA: www.canada.utc.org/
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IN THIS ISSUE:
** Rogers Matches Bell $5 LD Offer
** Bell Wins Olympics Sponsorship
** Rogers Offers BlackBerry 7290
** Utility Telcos to Merge
** C-Com Boosts Satellite Internet Speeds
** Mitec Consolidates R&D
** Qwest Pays $250 Million Fraud Penalty
** Telecom Management Awards Announced
** Telus Wants No-Contract Centrex
** FCI Adds 8-Mbps Internet
** Judge Orders Infolink CEO to Resign
** Bell Appoints New Head of Operations
** Primus Manager Joins Vonage
** New Minacs Call Centre in Pickering
** CANARIE Holds Applications Workshop
** Profits Grow at Cogeco, Shaw
** A User Voice in Telecom Policy
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ROGERS MATCHES BELL $5 LD OFFER: Rogers Communications has become a
long distance reseller, offering 100 minutes of North American LD for
5 cents a minute, and the next 900 minutes for free. This effectively
matches Bell Canada's recently announced $5 for 1,000 minutes
plan. (See Telecom Update #438)
** Rogers $5 LD is available only to customers who sign two-
year contracts on a "Better Choice Bundle" for two of
Internet, premium cable, or postpaid wireless service.
BELL WINS OLYMPICS SPONSORSHIP: Bell Canada has been named the premier
sponsor of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games and of the Canadian
Olympic Team for Olympic events through 2012. Bell's bid included $60
million in telecom infrastructure and $90 million in cash, beating out
a Telus proposal that included $50 million in cash.
** Telus said it was disappointed but noted that it would be
contributing to the Olympic team effort through ongoing
amateur sports sponsorships.
ROGERS OFFERS BLACKBERRY 7290: Rogers Wireless and Research In Motion
have launched the BlackBerry 7290 in Canada. The device includes a
quad-band phone, Bluetooth support, a brighter colour screen, and
increased memory, as well as the standard BlackBerry e-mail
features. Price: $599.99, less a $150 mail-in rebate.
** Rogers also says it will begin selling RIM's consumer-
focused 7100 model in Canada "in the coming weeks."
Pricing has not been announced.
** Last week RIM publicly demonstrated a BlackBerry that
incorporates Wi-Fi connectivity, scheduled for release in
2005.
UTILITY TELCOS TO MERGE: FibreWired, the telecom division of Hamilton
Hydro, and Fibre Tech Telecom, a joint venture of three Waterloo
region utilities, are merging. Their combined networks include more
than 1,100 km of fibre.
C-COM BOOSTS SATELLITE INTERNET SPEEDS: Ottawa based C-Com Satellite
Systems says its new satellite-based mobile Internet services,
developed in conjunction with RAMTelecom, will be able to deliver
upload speeds of up to 1.15 Mbps and download speeds of up to 60 Mbps.
MITEC CONSOLIDATES R&D: Wireless component maker Mitec Telecom is
closing R&D centres in New Jersey and the UK, moving the work to
Montreal and China. Overall R&D employment is unchanged.
QWEST PAYS $250 MILLION FRAUD PENALTY: U.S. telco Qwest Communications
has agreed to pay a US$250 million penalty to settle a complaint by
the Securities and Exchange Commission that it engaged in accounting
fraud involving more than $4 billion in misstated revenue and
expenses.
TELECOM MANAGEMENT AWARDS ANNOUNCED: Last week's Telemanagement Live
conference featured the Management & Industry Commitment awards, in
recognition of "great end-user achievements demonstrated through
outstanding technology deployments and enhanced management practices."
The 2004 winners are:
** Cost Recovery Project of the Year: Glen Ryan, Johnson
Insurance
** Most Innovative Project of the Year: Oleg Khaev, De Beers
Canada
** IP Project of the Year: Dave Dobbin, Telecom Ottawa
** Wireless Project of the Year: Chris Taylor, Metro Toronto
Convention Centre
** Telecom Manager of the Year: Rick Adams, City of Coquitlam
TELUS WANTS NO-CONTRACT CENTREX: If a tariff notice filed by Telus
last week is approved, Provincial Centrex Service in Alberta will be
available on a non-contract basis for all customers, not just those
with 99 or fewer lines.
** Telus also wants to introduce Automatic Contract Renewal
for Provincial Centrex Service customers in Alberta and
B.C.
www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2004/t42/tn539.doc
FCI ADDS 8-Mbps INTERNET: FCI Broadband has begun offering 8 Mbps
Internet access service to its residential customers in the Greater
Toronto Area. A bundle including that and local telephone service is
$54/month.
JUDGE ORDERS INFOLINK CEO TO RESIGN: An Ontario court has ordered the
CEO of Infolink Technologies to resign, following allegations that he
misused $250,000 in company funds for personal benefit. Cesar Correia,
who owns about one-third of Infolink's shares, denies the charges, but
has agreed to repay $100,000.
** Infolink recently won a controversial CRTC ruling that
allows it to send advertising to consumers' voicemail boxes
without ringing their phones. (See Telecom Update #452)
BELL APPOINTS NEW HEAD OF OPERATIONS: Bell Canada has named EVP
Patrick Pichette as President, Operations, replacing David Southwell,
who is retiring.
PRIMUS MANAGER JOINS VONAGE: Joe Parent, who until recently was with
Primus Telecommunications Canada, has joined Vonage Canada as
Vice-President, Marketing & Business Development.
NEW MINACS CALL CENTRE IN PICKERING: Call centre outsourcer Minacs
Worldwide has leased a 54,000 square foot building in Pickering,
Ontario, to expand its services to "a Canadian telecommunications
client." The company says it will install 400 workstations in the
building and hire 200 new employees over the next three months.
CANARIE HOLDS APPLICATIONS WORKSHOP: CANARIE is holding a free
workshop in Toronto November 4-5 to demonstrate new network
applications developed in federally funded programs. For information
on "Showing Results, Sharing Knowledge," go to
www.canarie.ca/conferences/fall_series/index.html.
PROFITS GROW AT COGECO, SHAW: During the quarter ended August 31:
** Cogeco Cable's net income was $6.5 million, three times
higher than in the same period a year ago. Sales were $133
million, a 5.2% increase. Cogeco lost 2,493 basic service
customers and gained 5,190 Internet customers during the
quarter.
** Shaw Communications had net income of $28.9 million,
compared to $4.4 million a year earlier. Service revenue
grew 5.9% to $532 million. Basic cable subscribers
increased by 5,830, and Internet customers by 23,488.
A USER VOICE IN TELECOM POLICY: This month's Telemanagement features
an exclusive interview with Ian Russell, chair of the Coalition for
Competitive Telecommunications Pricing, explaining how and why
business customers are again playing an important role in CRTC
proceedings and government telecom policy.
** Also in this issue: John Riddell on Open Source
alternatives for IP-PBXs and IP-Centrex; how to get
corporate wireless bills under control; and Lis Angus's
comprehensive report on the issues in the VoIP regulation
debate.
** For a one-year subscription, including unlimited access
to Telemanagement's extensive online content, visit
www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub-online.html or phone 800-
263-4415 ext 500.
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Angus TeleManagement Group
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TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further
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The information and data included has been obtained from sources which
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Angus TeleManagement (jriddell@angustel.ca)