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TELECOM UPDATE
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published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group
http://www.angustel.ca
Number 502: October 21, 2005
Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous
financial support from:
** 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/
** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com
** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions
** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca
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IN THIS ISSUE:
** Telus Exec Jumps to Bell
** Nortel Recruits a CEO, Again...
** ...and Motorola Sues Him
** Allstream Challenges Rogers' Plan to Move LD
** CRTC Expands VoIP 9-1-1 Notification Rules
** Bell May Vary VoIP Prices by Province
** Telecom Policy Forum to Be Held Next Week
** CRTC to Continue Telecom Industry Reports
** Videotron Hiring to Meet Phone Demand
** Telus Must File Dark Fibre Tariff
** Mitec Weighs Strategic Alternatives
** Treo to Offer BlackBerry Connect
** RIM Seeks Stay in Court Appeal
** Telus Strengthens Security Portfolio
** NEC Intros Small Business VoIP System
** Celestica Sales Down 8%
** TIW Shares to Be De-Listed
** Toronto VoIP User Group Formed
** IIC Sets Conference Program
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TELUS EXEC JUMPS TO BELL: George Cope, President and CEO of Telus
Mobility, will join Bell Canada as President and Chief Operating
Officer in January. His surprise resignation from Telus was effective
this past Tuesday evening.
** Bell's Enterprise, Small and Medium Business, Residential,
and Wholesale units will report directly to Cope. He will
not be responsible for Bell Mobility.
** Stephen Wetmore now has overall responsibility for
improving Bell's cost structure: his new title is Group
President Corporate Performance and National Markets.
NORTEL RECRUITS A CEO, AGAIN... Mike S. Zafirovski, who was Chief
Operating Officer of Motorola from 2002 until January 2005, will join
Nortel Networks as President and Chief Executive Officer on November
15. He replaces Bill Owens, who has held the post for only 19 months.
... AND MOTOROLA SUES HIM: One day after Nortel's announcement, Motorola
filed suit against Zafirovski in Illinois, alleging that joining Nortel
would violate non-compete agreements he signed on eight separate
occasions. Motorola wants the court to prevent him from taking the
position, and to order him to return a US$11 million payment he received
when he left the number 2 cellphone maker.
ALLSTREAM CHALLENGES ROGERS' PLAN TO MOVE LD: MTS-Allstream says it is
preparing a court application to block Rogers Communications from
moving its long distance traffic from Allstream to the former
Call-Net, which Rogers acquired this year. Allstream says Rogers is
obligated by contract to continue using Allstream for LD until the end
of 2006.
CRTC EXPANDS VoIP 9-1-1 NOTIFICATION RULES: CRTC Telecom Decision
2005-61 orders all VoIP providers to notify current customers about
the availability, characteristics, and limitations of their
9-1-1/E9-1-1 service within 90 days, and to notify new customers
before providing service. The information cannot be buried in small
print, and must be provided in marketing, point-of-sale and
implementation materials.
** Customers must be re-informed of 9-1-1 limitations at
least once a year.
** Carriers must include these conditions in their new and
existing contracts with VoIP resellers.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-61.htm
BELL MAY VARY VoIP PRICES BY PROVINCE: CRTC Telecom Decision 2005-62 gives
interim approval to Bell Canada's application to charge different rates in
Ontario and Quebec for its access-dependent "Digital Voice" VoIP service
(see Telecom Update #496, 498).
** The ruling does not apply to Bell's access-independent
"Digital Voice Lite."
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-62.htm
TELECOM POLICY FORUM TO BE HELD NEXT WEEK: The Telecom Policy Review
panel, appointed in April, is hosting a three-day public forum October
24-26 at the Gatineau Congress Centre. The forum will examine a wide
range of telecom policy and regulatory issues. (See Telecom Update
#477, 485, 490)
** CPAC will provide a live webcast of the proceedings, and
will rebroadcast them on TV at a later time.
http://www.telecomreview.ca/epic/internet/intprp-gecrt.nsf/en/h_rx00049e.html
CRTC TO CONTINUE TELECOM INDUSTRY REPORTS: The CRTC says its annual
reports on the state of the Canadian telecom industry have proved so
useful that it will continue issuing them, even though the five-year
Cabinet order requiring the reports expires this year. To improve
timeliness of reporting, service providers must submit data by March
of each year.
** The CRTC's 2005 monitoring report will be published this
month.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pt2005-15.htm
VIDEOTRON HIRING TO MEET PHONE DEMAND: Videotron says it will hire 300
new employees for customer service, technical support, and other
areas. The cableco says the 10% increase in staff is driven by an
increase in customers, "including those generated by the launch of
residential telephone service."
TELUS MUST FILE DARK FIBRE TARIFF: CRTC Telecom Decision 2005-63
orders Telus Communications to file a general tariff for optical
fibre, subject to the availability of unused and unallocated
facilities.
** If Aliant, MTS Allstream or SaskTel decide to provide dark fibre, they
must file a general tariff for the service.
** The Commission has decided not to deregulate dark fibre on routes where
IX private lines are already forborne.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-63.htm
MITEC WEIGHS STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES: Montreal-based Mitec Telecom,
which makes radio equipment for the wireless and satellite industries,
has hired Orion Securities to help it assess "strategic alternatives,"
including the possible sale of the company.
** Mitec has named a new executive team, headed by CEO Keith
Findlay. (See Telecom Update #490)
TREO TO OFFER BLACKBERRY CONNECT: Palm Inc. says it is working with
Research In Motion to add RIM's BlackBerry Connect software to the
Palm Treo 650 smartphone early in 2006.
RIM SEEKS STAY IN COURT APPEAL: Research In Motion has asked a U.S.
appeals course to block proceedings in NTP's patent-infringement
lawsuit while RIM appeals the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
TELUS STRENGTHENS SECURITY PORTFOLIO: Telus's portfolio of managed
security solutions now includes End Point Security Agent, which
analyzes "suspicious IT behavior" to identify worms and viruses.
NEC INTROS SMALL BUSINESS VoIP SYSTEM: NEC Unified Solutions has
expanded its Univerge product line with the SV7000 MPS, an IP-PBX for
the Small/Medium Business market. The system, which can grow from 50
to 500 IP clients, supports both NEC Dterm telephones and SIP-standard
devices.
CELESTICA SALES DOWN 8%: Toronto-based Celestica, which makes telecom
and other electronic components, reports third-quarter sales of
US$1.99 billion, 8.4% less than the same period a year ago. The net
loss of $19.6 million was Celestica's ninth in the past ten
quarters. (See Telecom Update #466)
TIW SHARES TO BE DE-LISTED: Telesystem International Wireless plans to
have its shares de-listed from the TSX Ventures Exchange by the end of
November, as part of the company's liquidation. Earlier this year TIW
sold its major European assets to Vodafone for US$3.5 Billion: it
distributed $3.58 billion to shareholders on September 27, leaving it
with cash and short-term investments of $260 million. (See Telecom
Update #473)
TORONTO VoIP USER GROUP FORMED: The inaugural meeting of an
organization of business users of VoIP products and services will be
held in Toronto on November 1. For information contact Toronto VoIP
Users Group: tvug@tvug.org.
IIC SETS CONFERENCE PROGRAM: The Canadian Chapter of the International
Institute of Communications will hold its fifth annual conference at
the Ottawa Congress Centre, December 12-13. The theme of this year's
meeting is "Broadband: Are We Ready?" See the IIC'S website for the
conference agenda and registration information.
http://www.iic-canada.ca/
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The information and data included has been obtained from sources which
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