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TELECOM UPDATE
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published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group
http://www.angustel.ca
Number 510: December 16, 2005
Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous
financial support from:
** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/
** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca
** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/
** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca
** MICROSOFT CANADA: www.microsoft.com/canada/telecom/
** 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:
** We're Taking a Holiday
** Bell to Sell Stake in CGI
** CRTC Combines Broadcast and Telecom Groups
** Rogers Promotes Linton, Hires Reynolds
** Telecom Policy Report Delayed
** Price Cap Rules Extended to 2007
** Wade Oosterman Leaves Telus
** Study Blames CRTC for Cellphone Lag
** Bell Mobility Offers Single-Rate Global Roaming
** No Do-Not-Call List Until 2007
** Forecast 25% of Home Lines to Be VoIP by 2008
** Shaw Postpones Target for Wireless Launch
** RIM Wins Another Patent Ruling
** Nortel Names Toronto Lawyer as Chief Counsel
** Ottawa Optical Developer Folds
** Com Dev Revenue Steady
** Wi-LAN Books Large Loss
** Consultants Call for Speakers
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WE'RE TAKING A HOLIDAY: Telecom Update is taking a winter break; our
next issue will be published Friday, January 6. We wish all readers a
joyous holiday season and a successful and rewarding New Year.
BELL TO SELL STAKE IN CGI: BCE is pulling out of CGI, the Quebec-based
IT services company it first bought into 10 years ago. CGI will pay
$859 million to buy back 100 million shares, and Bell will sell its
remaining 28.3 million "in an orderly fashion." The two companies have
extended their mutual "preferred supplier" agreements to June 2016.
** This deal, combined with the Globemedia sale announced
last week, gives Bell well over $2 billion in cash. Asked
what the company would do with the money, Bell EVP Lawson
Hunter told analysts that more would be revealed at Bell's
annual Business Review Conference on February 1.
CRTC COMBINES BROADCAST AND TELECOM GROUPS: This week, the CRTC announced
an internal reorganization:
** The Broadcasting and Telecommunications units are now part
of an integrated branch, reporting to Len Katz as
Executive Director. A third unit, also reporting to Katz,
will provide industry, market, and technology analysis for
both telecom and broadcasting. Each of the three units
will be headed by an Associate Executive Director.
** A new section, Regulatory Process Management and
Monitoring, will report to Secretary General Diane
Rheaume. It will be responsible for the Commission's
monitoring reports on both broadcasting and
telecommunications and will also handle enforcement,
including the National Do-Not-Call List once it is
established.
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2005/r051215.htm
ROGERS PROMOTES LINTON, HIRES REYNOLDS: Two important executive
changes at Rogers this week:
** Rogers Communications CFO Alan Horn will leave that post
in April. His replacement will be Bill Linton, former CEO
of Call-Net Enterprises, which Rogers acquired in July.
(See Telecom Update #488)
** Randy Reynolds has been named President of Rogers Telecom,
the group that sells voice, data, and wireless services to
business customers. Reynolds was previously President of
Bell Ontario, Bell Nexxia, and Bell West; he left Bell
when the company's western operations were reorganized in
July 2004. (see Telecom Update #418)
TELECOM POLICY REPORT DELAYED: The Telecom Policy Review Panel,
originally expected to report by the end of 2005, now expects to
finish its work in mid-January 2006. The report must then be
translated and printed, so it is unlikely to be released publicly
until after a new Cabinet is sworn in, following the federal election.
PRICE CAP RULES EXTENDED TO 2007: CRTC Decisions 2005-69 and 2005-70
extend the incumbent telcos' price cap rules, without change, for one
year -- to May 31, 2007, for Aliant, Bell Canada, MTS Allstream,
SaskTel, and Telus, and to July 31, 2007, for Telebec and Telus
Quebec. (See Telecom Update #481, 487)
** The Commission will begin a price cap review in the first
half of 2006, after releasing its decision on local
service forbearance (see Telecom Update #479, 499).
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-69.htm
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-70.htm
WADE OOSTERMAN LEAVES TELUS: Wade Oosterman, former Chief Marketing
Officer of Telus, is leaving the company. Ossterman's post disappeared
in a corporate reorganization last month, and Telus says no "suitable
alternative role" has been found.
** Oosterman came to Telus as part of its Clearnet
acquisition in 2000. He played a key role in developing
and maintaining Telus's distinctive nature-themed
marketing programs.
STUDY BLAMES CRTC FOR CELLPHONE LAG: A paper published this week by
the C.D. Howe Institute says that "artificially low wireline prices"
enforced by the CRTC are responsible for Canada being 28th among 30
OECD nations in cellphone adoption. The authors say the Commission
should allow wireline phone rates to rise so that wireless service
would be more attractive to consumers.
** One of the report's authors recently filed an expert report
supporting Aliant's application to have local phone service
deregulated in parts of Nova Scotia and PEI so that the telco could
meet competition from EastLink by lowering wireline rates.
BELL MOBILITY OFFERS SINGLE-RATE GLOBAL ROAMING: Bell Canada now
offers a Motorola handset that can access both CDMA and GSM networks
worldwide, and a rate plan of $2.49/minute for all global calls.
NO DO-NOT-CALL LIST UNTIL 2007: The Do-Not-Call legislation that was
rushed through Parliament just before the election was called (see
Telecom Update #508) is unlikely to be implemented until mid-to-late
2007. This week Len St-Aubin of Industry Canada's telecommunications
policy branch told the Ottawa Citizen that "it will take 19 months or
so to get the list up and running."
** South of the border, DirecTV has been fined $5 million for
violating U.S. Do-Not-Call rules. That's the largest civil penalty
ever in a Federal Trade Commission consumer protection law case.
FORECAST 25% OF HOME LINES TO BE VoIP BY 2008: NBI/Michael Sone Associates
predicts that Voice over IP services will account for 24% of residential
lines and 15% of business lines by 2008, with incumbents holding a 72%
share of the business VoIP sector.
** NBI estimates the incumbents' present share of the
residential market at 69% in Halifax, 87% in Toronto, and
over 90% in other centres.
http://www.nbicanada.com
SHAW POSTPONES TARGET FOR WIRELESS LAUNCH: Back in March, Shaw said it
would launch cellular service in six months. Chairman J.R. Shaw now
says the timeline has been shifted so the cableco can focus on
building its home phone service.
RIM WINS ANOTHER PATENT RULING: On December 15, the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office rejected the second of five NTP patents involved in
the ongoing patent war between Research in Motion and NTP. The
rejections are not yet final.
NORTEL NAMES TORONTO LAWYER AS CHIEF COUNSEL: Nortel Networks has
appointed David Drinkwater as Chief Legal Officer. Drinkwater
previously held senior posts at Ontario Power Generation, Bell Canada,
and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt.
OTTAWA OPTICAL DEVELOPER FOLDS: Metrophotonics, an Ottawa-based
developer of optical networking gear, is going out of business. It
raised more than $70 million over the last five years and had 80
employees at its peak.
COM DEV REVENUE STEADY: Satellite components maker Com Dev
International reports revenue of $123.6 million for the year ended
October 31, a 4% increase from the previous year. Net income was $5.2
million, about the same as the year before.
WI-LAN BOOKS LARGE LOSS: Calgary-based Wi-LAN reports a net loss of
$25.8 million, including about $14 million in one-time charges, for
the year ended October 31. Revenue rose 2% to 25.7 million.
CONSULTANTS CALL FOR SPEAKERS: The Canadian Telecommunications
Consultants Association will hold its Spring 2006 Conference in
Toronto on April 6-8. Proposals for presentations at the conference
are due by January 6. For information, write ctca.speakers@ctca.ca, or
visit www.ctca.ca.
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The information and data included has been obtained from sources which
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Angus TeleManagement Group (jriddell@angustel.ca)