NL Short Takes

VoIP ruling fair for both ILECs and competitors: MCI CanadaThe general manager of MCI Canada says the CRTC’s recent Voice over IP ruling was the right one, allowing competitors to gain market share, while also recognizing that when the market changes, so will the rulings of the commission. Robert Quance, recently appointed as GM of MCI Canada, agrees with CRTC chair Charles Dalfen’s statement that this is the quickest path to competition. He adds, however, that the incumbent telcos shouldn’t be that disappointed with the CRTC ruling to regulate their in-territory Voice over IP services the same way as traditional circuit-switched voice. "I think that the incumbents are secretly happy, though they will never admit it. It’s a bit of posturing," he says of the ILECs’ disappointment. Quance explains that the incumbents still get a piece of the action in terms of revenue generated from last mile broadband connection. "They’re complaining that they’re not getting everything. I don’t have a lot of sympathy and I think the commission was polite about that in their ruling, but I’ll be a little less polite. They got a win-win, they should take it and move on," he tells Network Letter. Not all competitors were happy about the decision. BabyTel, for example, wanted the commission to impose restrictions on the cable companies because of their in-territory market power. This was also raised during the CRTC VoIP proceeding by a number of parties, which requested some sort of recognition in the ruling that cablecos could in fact have similar market dominance in their operating territories as the telcos possess in theirs. The CRTC chose to ignore this possibility, giving cable companies free rein in how they offer and package their VoIP services. Quance admits that the cable companies do pose a threat, but says the commission has been fair and consistent all along in imposing "laws on known crimes, not on future crimes. I think that’s a fair principle as long as there’s some expectation that they will change the rulings and they said up front that they would when market changes (occur)." TWU disappointed with CRTC ruling on VoIPThe Telecommunications Workers Union says it is disappointed that the CRTC’s May 12 decision chose to not regulate the cable companies’ Voice over IP offerings. "The commission dropped the ball with this decision," TWU president Bruce Bell said in a news release. "During the VoIP proceeding, we asked the commission to consider the impact that growth of VoIP service will have on wireline subscribers. It’s great that the CRTC decided to regulate phone companies’ VoIP rates. But it should regulate the VoIP service that is provided by the cable companies as well. Otherwise, as growth in VoIP use reduces phone companies’ wireline revenues, subscribers who continue to rely on wireline service will be forced to pay higher and higher rates," Bell added. Peer 1 Networks doubles quarterly revenuePeer 1 Network Enterprises Inc. has reported a doubling of revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, buoyed by the acquisition of ServerBeach Ltd. in October 2004. Quarterly revenue jumped from $3.4 million in last year’s quarter to $7.2 million this year. Sequentially, revenue increased 26%, growing from $5.7 million. CMA calls for changes to do-not-call listThe Canadian Marketing Association is calling for amendments to the Canadian government’s proposed legislation to create a national do-not-call list for the telemarketing industry. Among the amendments proposed by the CMA, they include the exclusion of established business-to-business relationships and special consideration for calls from charities. "We believe a compulsory do-not-call service for all businesses that use the telephone to market their goods and services to potential customers is the most effective means to curtail consumer annoyance with telemarketing," CMA president and CEO John Gustavson said in a news release. Vonage sponsors major events Vonage Canada Corp. has announced that it will sponsor two major events in Toronto this year: the Molson Toronto Indy and The Distillery Jazz Festival. The sponsorships are part of the company’s strategy to increase brand awareness and aggressively market its Voice over IP services. Task force calls for tougher laws on spamThe National Task Force on Spam has told the Canadian government that it needs to enact tougher laws to fight the growing problem of spam. The 60-page report offered 22 recommendations on how to do this. The task force also recommended that there should be a central coordinating body to improve the enforcement of government policy. Michael Geist, a noted Internet legal expert and a member of the task force, has previously noted that there are laws that already exist to fight spam. "For the moment, we have the tools in existing laws like privacy, deceptive practices and the Criminal Code," he said in April 2004 at the New Developments in Communications Law and Policy conference. An objective of the task force was to determine what gaps were left in current legislation in terms of being able to effectively combat spam. Test cases undertaken by the task force proved that while existing laws are sufficient to address specific aspects of spam, they weren’t effective at deterring the proliferation of spam. As a result, the report recommended legislative and enforcement changes. Other recommendations include tougher penalties for offending organizations or individuals. As well, the task force recommended that there be a private right of action that could facilitate lawsuits against spammers. Telecom review calling for comment registrationThe Telecommunications Policy Review Panel has invited parties wishing to participate in the consultation process to register. "The panel hopes to obtain a wide range of submissions to better understand the issues relevant to the development of Canadian and global telecommunications and information and communication technology sectors, as well as the experience, requirements, research and views of stakeholders in these sectors," reads a May 14 notice. The panel plans to publish a consultation document on June 4 that will be used to focus the discussion of the issues it will consider and that will request specific submissions on the issues to be addressed. The document will also set out a schedule for the filing of submissions, comments on other parties’ submissions as well as other steps in the public consultation process. Bell striking employees raise stakes in union battleThe Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) is upping the ante in its fight with Bell Canada over collective bargaining. "We know that the public is being inconvenienced and now we want them to know that they can claim a rebate on their phone bill for poor service," CEP Ontario region VP Bob Huget said in a news release. The union is taking its message on the rebate campaign directly to the public across Ontario, by providing the toll free number for the CRTC. The CEP estimates that customers are waiting upwards of four to five weeks for repairs and even longer for new installations. "The public needs to understand that there is only one reason why their phone service is suffering and that is because Bell is refusing to negotiate a new contract which would provide our members with equality and fairness in benefits and wages," Huget added. SlipStream hits service provider milestoneSlipStream Data Inc. has surpassed the milestone of 2,000 service provider partners that are using the company’s email and web acceleration technology. In the same news release, the company announced the general availability of its core acceleration technology, SlipStream Acceleration Engine 4.0. The patented technology claims to increase transmission speeds by up to seven times, while at the same time decreasing bandwidth requirements by up to 98%. SIPquest selects Navtel for test equipmentSIPquest, a Gatineau QC-based provider of session initiation protocol (SIP) clients and servers, has selected Navtel Communications of Markham ON to provide SIP testing equipment. The gear will be used in the early stages of SIPquest’s product development. Navel’s SIP Performance Test Solution is capable of simulating hundreds of thousands of diverse SIP endpoints, loading any device with hundreds of calls per second, while also replicating business-type call hold times. Calgary implements 311 system from MotorolaThe City of Calgary became the first Canadian municipality to install Motorola Inc.’s communications system that enables 311 service delivery. Calgary is also among the first Canadian cities to deploy a 311 service for municipal-related services. Not only will residents get access to City Hall by using the number, Motorola’s customer service request module allows the city to coordinate and assign work to field personnel, providing more effective and efficient service. "We designed the system so cities of all sizes can automate their responses to citizen requests and collect important data that can be used to better manage city resources," Motorola Canada president Frank Maw said in a news release. Nortel and IBM form strategic joint ventureNortel Networks Corp. and IBM Corp. have formed a new strategic relationship under which the two companies will work together on research and development. The agreement also calls for the creation of a development centre located in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. Financial details of the arrangement weren’t revealed, but the two companies say they will cooperate to design customized products across a range of market segments. "Working with IBM, as one of their key partners, is a bold step forward in our efforts to transform our business by reaching an entirely new level of R&D collaboration while reducing our R&D costs, introducing products at a faster pace and serving a broad range of customers more rapidly," Nortel CEO Bill Owens said in a news release announcing the new partnership. Voice over IP to hit stride in 2005: In-StatA new survey from In-Stat indicates that approximately half of all enterprise decision-makers say they plan to purchase emerging telecommunications services such as Voice over IP and integrated access services within the next 12 months. "The conditions are right for increasing adoption of integrated access services and other IP services in this lucrative market of firms with over 1,000 employees," reads an In-Stat market alert. Selling services individually isn’t the right approach, according to survey respondents, In-Stat adds.

NL Short Takes

News | May 25, 2005

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