ROW Short Takes

Rogers Wireless hypes winter sports with mobile triviaRogers Wireless Inc. has embarked on a cross country tour in conjunction with sports product company K2 visiting the country’s hottest ski resorts to preview Warren Miller’s latest extreme ski and snowboard film. The two companies will also launch the K2 Snowslam winter sport text trivia and download contest. The project will reward customers with a gift-with-purchase at participating retailers. At each stop on the tour to college and university campuses, students will be given the opportunity to trial one of Rogers’ new colour phones. In other Rogers Wireless news, the company has inked a distribution agreement with Gameloft to provide its subscribers access to the complement of Gameloft games. Gulo’s Tale, Rail Rider, Earth Vision and Planet Zero are just some of the titles available. Wireless Matrix completes restructuring, reduces staffCalgary-based Wireless Matrix Corp. has completed an organizational restructuring, which will see the consolidation of certain development and operational activities and a reduction of the company’s workforce by 10%. "As a result of the completion of the development activities associated with the MBS2, which include GPS capability and additional features, we were able to consolidate additional development and operational activities in support of our focus on a direct sales and marketing strategy," interim president Al Milligan said in a news release. SaskTel agrees to work with Mobile DiagnostixMobile Diagnostix Inc. (MDI) is working with SaskTel Mobility to introduce MDI’s Mobile Care Framework customer care product to the provincial wireless operator’s customer support team. Use of the product will go to support SaskTel Mobility’s smartphone subscribers. SaskTel Mobility hopes that by implementing this software, the company will be able to reduce expenses it incurs when dealing with high-margin customers. BlackBerry reaches the 1-million subscriber numberResearch in Motion Ltd. has announced that it now has one million subscribers for its popular BlackBerry wireless email device and service. "This is an important threshold for BlackBerry and even a positive industry indicator since BlackBerry is now the first integrated wireless data platform to reach the one million subscriber mark," Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of the company, said in a news release announcing the milestone. TeraGo Networks enters wholesale marketToronto-based TeraGo Networks has launched a new partner program for the wholesale market and sales agents, in addition to its direct sales force. The new program will meet a demand from ISPs, systems integrators, independent sales agents, and value-added resellers looking to offer more cost-effective, Internet and data communications to the business market. TeraGo believes that after three years of growth, the company is equipped to partner with wholesale customers and offer them an option to package, brand, and resell TeraGo services. ZIM acquires U.K. SMS firm for US$3.5MZIM, an Ottawa-based application developer for the SMS market, has agreed to acquire EPL Communications Ltd. in a combined share and cash deal worth approximately US$3.5 million. The acquisition allows ZIM to further penetrate the global SMS market for premium, bulk, location-based and interactive two-way SMS. The company expects to complete the transaction in the middle of this month. EPL was founded in 1999 and is considered a top 10 SMS provider in the U.K. with customers such as the BBC and EMI Music. The U.K. company is also partners with four of the world’s largest wireless network operators: Vodafone, Orange, O2 and T-Mobile. WaveRider reduces prices of its wireless equipmentWaveRider Communications Inc. has announced aggressive promotional prices for its Last Mile Solution wireless products as part of its commitment to reduce deployment costs for wireless Internet service providers. The company is now offering a 40% reduction on the cost of wireless modems, as a result of larger market acceptance and increasing unit shipments. The price reductions were also made possible through the company’s R&D activities, which focused on increasing the products’ capability, but also reducing manufacturing costs. Wavesat selects Amtel for chip productionWavesat Wireless Inc. has chosen Amtel’s SiliconCITY capability to design and manufacture the company’s WiMAX-compliant 802.16d chips. According to a joint news release, Wavesat’s ultimate goal is to create a system-on-a-chip and choosing Amtel was a logical choice given the company’s goal. "For our customers, this alliance means they are getting the best OFDM wireless technology built by a worldclass semiconductor manufacturer," Wavesat’s president and CEO Michel Guay said in a news release. AmikaNow releases new generation of email serverOttawa-based AmikaNow has released version 2.2 of the AmikaGuardian email server that should help solve requirements to meet new privacy laws, including new legislation in Canada and the United States. The email server helps organizations prevent the unintentional release of sensitive and protected information. SR Telecom receives orders for new wireless equipmentSR Telecom Inc. has received the first orders for its SR500-ip, valued at $4.4 million. The placing of the order coincides with the launch of the product, which delivers broadband Internet access and more than twice the voice capacity using the same amount of bandwidth. The orders came from an incumbent carrier in Southeast Asia. SR Telecom expects that once initial systems have been deployed, the contract with the carrier will be expanded and could be worth $100 million over three years.

ROW Short Takes

News | February 10, 2004

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