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TELECOM UPDATE
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published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group
http://www.angustel.ca
Number 514: January 27, 2006
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:
** SaskTel to Spend $310 Million on Net Upgrade
** Top U.S. Court Won't Hear RIM Appeal
** Aliant Residential Lines Down 2.7%
** MTS Set to Announce 2005 Results
** Virtual Hall of Fame Opens Monday
** Study Sees No Cellphone Cancer Risk
** Experts Find VoIP Security Danger
** Hoax Email Warns of Cellphone Telemarketing
** Microsoft Updates Call Centre Software
** Blackworm Virus Spreads
** Avaya Revenue Up 8.8%
** Lucent Sales Sag
** Uptick in Sierra Wireless Revenues
** SR Telecom Raises $50 Million
** Correction--Videotron
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SASKTEL TO SPEND $310 MILLION ON NET UPGRADE: SaskTel plans to spend
$310 million through 2010, including $136.5 million this year, to
install next-generation access technology and bring fibre closer to
customers' homes. The first result will be faster Internet access: the
telco says it will offer service at 40 to 50 Mbps in ten communities
by the end of this year.
TOP U.S. COURT WON'T HEAR RIM APPEAL: The U.S. Supreme Court has
declined to hear a Research in Motion appeal in the NTP case. RIM had
asked the court to consider whether U.S. law is applicable to its
service, which is delivered from servers based in Canada.
** NTP's request for an injunction to halt BlackBerry service
in the U.S. will be heard in a Virginia district court
February 24.
ALIANT RESIDENTIAL LINES DOWN 2.7%: At the end of 2005, Aliant had
863,000 residential customer lines in service, a 2.7% drop from
2004. The telco attributed the decline to competitive losses,
replacement of dial-up lines by high-speed services, and conversions
to VoIP. Local telecom revenue was down 2.9%; long distance revenue
fell 8.5%.
** Those declines were offset by increased revenues from
wireless, Internet, and other services, and by reduced
expenses. Operating revenue for the year was up 3.1%; net
income increased 52.6% to $199.4 million.
MTS SET TO ANNOUNCE 2005 RESULTS: Manitoba Telecom Services will
reveal its financial results for 2005 on Tuesday, January 31. These
will be the first results released since Bell Canada veteran Pierre
Blouin took over as CEO, and there is speculation that he will discuss
the future of Allstream, which has performed poorly since MTS acquired
it in the spring of 2004.
VIRTUAL HALL OF FAME OPENS MONDAY: Canada's Telecommunications Hall of
Fame will unveil a new and greatly enhanced website on Monday January
30 at 3 pm. New features at the Virtual Hall of Fame will include
exhibits about HoF laureates, a National Telecom Portal, and a "living
stories" section for reminiscences about Canadian telecom.
http://www.telecomhall.ca
STUDY SEES NO CELLPHONE CANCER RISK: A study published in the British
Medical Journal finds no link between cellphone use and increased
frequency of brain tumours. The four-year survey of 2,682 people
compared tumour incidence with number of calls, years of cellphone
use, and hours of cellphone use.
EXPERTS FIND VoIP SECURITY DANGER: The Communications Research Network
says that a security loophole could permit VoIP applications such as
Skype and Vonage to be used as cover for launching denial of service
attacks. CRN is funded by Cambridge University in Britain and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
http://www.communicationsresearch.net
HOAX EMAIL WARNS OF CELLPHONE TELEMARKETING: An email circulating on the
Net warns that massive telemarketing to cellphones is about to begin, so
cellphone users should register with the Do-Not-Call registry. This
message a hoax: please don't pass it on!
** There is no Do-Not-Call registry in Canada: a Bill to
create one was passed by Parliament in December, but it
has not yet been proclaimed.
MICROSOFT UPDATES CALL CENTRE SOFTWARE: Microsoft has upgraded its
call centre software, and renamed it Customer Care Framework 2005. The
product provides agents with data from ordering, billing, and other
business systems.
BLACKWORM VIRUS SPREADS: One more reason to keep your antivirus
software updated. If activated, "Blackworm" sends itself to all your
contacts, then hides on your hard drive: it is programmed to erase 11
types of files, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF, on
February 3.
** An IBM study released this week reports a sharp decline in
email viruses: 2.8% of emails contained viruses in 2005,
compared to 6.1% in 2004.
AVAYA REVENUE UP 8.8%: Avaya reports revenue of US$1.25 billion for
the quarter ended December 31, 8.8% higher than the same period in
2004. Profits more than doubled to $71 million, and IP line shipments
increased 16%.
** Avaya this week announced integration of its
communications software with IBM Lotus, and alliances
with Juniper Networks, SAP, and AT&T.
LUCENT SALES SAG: Fourth quarter revenue of Lucent Technologies was
US$4.2 billion, 12% less than the same period in 2004. The company's
net loss of $104 million included a $278 million charge for a
bankruptcy court judgment.
UPTICK IN SIERRA WIRELESS REVENUES: Vancouver-based Sierra Wireless
reports 2005 revenue of US$107 million, only half the level of the
previous year. But fourth-quarter revenue was up 37% from the
preceding quarter. Net loss on the year: $36.5 million. (See Telecom
Update #485)
SR TELECOM RAISES $50 MILLION: SR Telecom says it is raising $50
million in equity investment and converting some of its debt to
shares. (See Telecom Update #508)
CORRECTION -- VIDEOTRON: Videotron's "Extreme" Internet access service
is being upgraded to 10 Mbps by March, not 10 Gbps, as reported in
Telecom Update #513. We apologize for the error.
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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)