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TELECOM UPDATE
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published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group
http://www.angustel.ca
Number 475: April 1, 2005
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:
** Bell Begins IP Telephony Rollout
** Telus Says Shaw Breaks Local Phone Rules
** Telecom Review Members Selected?
** Nortel Hires New Technology Officer
** Entourage Technicians on Strike
** Satellite Carrier Distributes OneConnect VoIP
** Call-Net Wants Database Charges Slashed
** Yak Joins Peering Alliance
** Telus Wants Winback Ban Lifted
** CRTC Toughens Rules for Telco Service to Competitors
** Qwest Still Trying to Buy MCI
** Financial Results
Cygnal Technologies
SR Telecom
WaveRider
** Report -- Cablecos to Get 11% of Home Phones
** CRTC Sets New Rules for 900 and 976
** New IXPL Routes Deregulated
** One-Day Conference to Examine WiMAX
** CIRA to Hold Annual Meeting
BELL BEGINS IP TELEPHONY ROLLOUT: Following several months of
technical trials, Bell Canada's broadband IP telephone
service, Digital Voice, is now available to consumers in
Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres, and Sherbrooke. Pricing depends
on which unlimited long distance plan the customer selects:
$38 for province-wide, $40 for Canada-wide, and $45 for
Canada-U.S. There is no contract or activation fee, and the
first month is free.
** The CRTC is expected to rule this spring on whether=20
incumbent telcos must file tariffs for this type of=20
service.
TELUS SAYS SHAW BREAKS LOCAL PHONE RULES: Telus says Shaw is
not complying with its obligations as a local phone service
carrier, as set out in Decision 97-8. The telco wants the
CRTC to order Shaw to stop offering local phone service until
it can show it has met all requirements.
** Telus says Shaw deliberately launched local phone service
in Calgary before it could provide equal access to all
long distance carriers and comply with industry
arrangements for transferring customers.
www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/t66_200503418.htm
TELECOM REVIEW MEMBERS SELECTED? Today's Toronto Star reports
industry speculation that the members of the panel to review
Canadian telecom policy will be: Gerri Sinclair, former head
of Microsoft's MSN.ca; Hank Intven, former Executive Director
telecom at the CRTC, now a partner at McCarthy Tetrault; and
Andre Tremblay, former CEO of Microcell Telecommunications.
(see Telecom Update #470)
NORTEL HIRES NEW TECHNOLOGY OFFICER: Gary Kunis, who was
Cisco's Chief Science Officer until 2002, has been named
Chief Technology Officer of Nortel Networks. Nortel's current
CTO, Brian McFadden, has been appointed Chief Research
Officer. Both appointments are effective Monday, April 4.
** Nortel will hold a combined 2004/2005 annual shareholders
meeting in Toronto June 29.
ENTOURAGE TECHNICIANS ON STRIKE: 1,400 technicians employed
by Entourage Technology Solutions, the company that does
residential repair and installation for Bell Canada, went on
strike March 24. An Ontario provincial mediator has invited
Bell and the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union to
return to negotiations on April 4.
** Bell Canada recently announced plans to buy the 57% of
Entourage it doesn't own, and operate it as a wholly owned
subsidiary. (See Telecom Update #470)
SATELLITE CARRIER DISTRIBUTES ONECONNECT VoIP: RamTelecom, an
Ottawa-based satellite services provider, has begun offering
OneConnect's hosted IP telephony service across Canada, using
its LinkStar platform.
CALL-NET WANTS DATABASE CHARGES SLASHED: Call-Net says Bell Canada
charges competitors exorbitant fees to update its database when
customers request blocking of collect or bill-to-third-party
calls. The current fee was set in 2000: Call-Net argues costs have
plummeted since then, and only a 15% margin should be charged.
** Furthermore, Bell automatically charges this fee when
numbers are ported to Call-Net, even though no additional
database change is necessary. This accounts for 2/3 of the
fees Bell has charged Call-Net for the service, amounting to
"millions of dollars ... over the past six years."
www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/c25_200502858.htm
YAK JOINS PEERING ALLIANCE: Yak Communications, a VoIP provider in
Canada, is among the six initial members of XConnect, a new
international VoIP peering alliance that offers IP-based
interconnection and VoIP phone number lookup services.
TELUS WANTS WINBACK BAN LIFTED: Telus has asked the CRTC to
eliminate, in Calgary and anywhere else Shaw offers phone
service, the current rules preventing ILECs from attempting
to win back local customers for 12 months after they choose a
competitor's service.
** In Telus' view, "cable entry changes everything" and the reasons
for the current rules no longer apply.
www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/t66_200503393.htm
CRTC TOUGHENS RULES FOR TELCO SERVICE TO COMPETITORS: CRTC Decision
2005-20 sets 14 Quality of Service indicators that the major incumbent
telcos must meet for services they provide to competitors, such as
clearing service repair calls. If any indicator is missed, the ILEC
must pay a rebate, up to a maximum of 5% of the competitor's payments
for the period if all indicators are missed.
** The Commission says that the indicators are a minimum
acceptable level of service, and that smaller penalties
have proven to be insufficient to motivate the ILECs to
meet required standards.
www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-20.htm
QWEST STILL TRYING TO BUY MCI: The Verizon-MCI-Qwest saga
continues. Despite repeated decisions by MCI's Board to accept a
buyout offer from Verizon, Qwest is still pitching, and MCI agreed to
meet with it again after the Denver-based telco has raised its offer
to US$8.9 billion, $1.4 billion more than Verizon's.
FINANCIAL RESULTS: The following results are for 2004:
** Cygnal Technologies reports revenues of $140 million, down
5% from 2003. EBITDA was nil, and the net loss of $0.8
million was slightly less than in 2003.
** SR Telecom had revenues of $124 million, down 3% from
2003, but fourth-quarter sales were down 40% from a year
earlier. The net loss for 2004 doubled to $86 million. The
company says it is experiencing "uncertainty associated
with...refinancing issues."
** WaveRider Communications had revenues of $9.5 million, down 27%
from 2003. The net loss of $6.3 million was up 24%.
REPORT -- CABLECOS TO GET 11% OF HOME PHONES: The latest
Convergence Consulting Group report on "The Battle for the
North American Couch Potato" predicts that Canadian cable TV
companies will capture 11% of the residential telephone
market by the end of 2007.
www.convergenceonline.com
CRTC SETS NEW RULES FOR 900 AND 976: CRTC Telecom Decision 2005-19
establishes new consumer safeguards for 1-900 and 1-976
services. Content providers must disclose all charges at the beginning
of the call, and cannot link toll-free calls to billable 900
services. Telcos must offer 900 call-blocking with no initial set-up
charge, and must waive all reasonably disputed charges for first-time
disputes.
www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-19.htm
NEW IXPL ROUTES DEREGULATED: The CRTC has added several new
interexchange private line routes to those on which the incumbent
telcos no longer need to file tariffs, because competitors also serve
those routes.
www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-18.htm
ONE-DAY CONFERENCE TO EXAMINE WiMAX: The Canadian Wireless
Telecommunications Association's will hold a one-day conference on
WiMAX technology in Toronto on April 13. Conference program details
are available at:
www.cwta.ca/CWTASite/english/conference/WiMAX.html
CIRA TO HOLD ANNUAL MEETING: The Canadian Internet
Registration Authority will hold its 2005 annual general
meeting in Toronto and online on April 28, 2005, noon to 3pm.
To pre-register, visit www.cira.ca/en/agm/2005/agm-registration.html.
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Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For
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TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations
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John Riddell (jriddell@angustel.ca)