Wind Mobile wins over CRTC Ruling. Canada to see first new independent mobile operator in more than 10 years.
Woot! Well it’s a happy day in Canada. This is good news for all Canadians, except maybe the few carriers making up the communications oligopoly of today.
Wind Mobile received the green light from the Canadian Minister of Industry today after making some changes to their share structure and foreign ownership within the company.
From their website (and over the wire) this morning
Globalive Welcomes Gov’t of Canada Decision and Prepares to Bring WIND Mobile to Market
TORONTO – December 11, 2009 – WIND Mobile declared a new day for wireless in Canada today, in response to an announcement made by the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, to vary a recent decision of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
The Government of Canada variance is effective immediately and provides a clear path for WIND Mobile to enter the Canadian wireless market and to become Canada’s first national wireless alternative in over a decade.
“This is a new day for wireless in Canada. This holiday season we will start to provide Canadians with the competitive choice that they want and deserve,” said Anthony Lacavera, Chairman of Globalive and WIND Mobile. “We thank the Government of Canada for a decision that will serve the best interests of Canadian consumers.”
In its decision today, the Government of Canada concluded that Globalive is a Canadian company that meets the Canadian ownership and control requirements under the Telecommunications Act by varying an October 29 CRTC decision (Telecom Decision CRTC 2009-678).
“For too long, Canadians have suffered from higher prices and an underwhelming customer experience,” said Ken Campbell, CEO of WIND Mobile. “We look forward to offering the most unforgettably positive mobile experience in Canada. In return, we’re asking Canadians to make a new choice in wireless and sign up on WINDmobile.ca today.”
A national survey found that 60 per cent of Canadians are frustrated when dealing with service providers due to factors like a lack of unbiased advice, inability to change their service plans, and in particular, hidden service fees. In addition, Canadians pay an average of 60 per cent more for wireless than Americans.
“For over a year, we’ve been engaged in conversation with Canadians who have been telling us they want more from their mobile experience,” said Lacavera. “But the conversation isn’t over – it’s just beginning. We will always be listening, always inviting thoughts, comments and opinions about how to make things better.”
About Globalive and WIND Mobile
Globalive provides voice, text and data services to Canadians under the brand name WIND on a next-generation wireless network and is committed to offering a level of wireless service presently not available in Canada. WIND is built on actual conversations that are happening with Canadians who are passionate about wireless and creating a better mobile offering nationally. For more information about WIND Mobile, visit our About Us page.
For more information, please contact:
Rick Byun
Narrative Advocacy Media
416.644.4124 or rick.byun@narrativeadvocacy.com
The CRTC – Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, had put the kibosh on Wind Mobile’s progress. This action was prompted by the other mobile operators (surprise surprise) who argued against globalive’s entrance due to the company not adhering to the the Canadian foreign ownership rules. Globalive had invested 442 million dollars to buy spectrum in the last auction.
There is at least one question to ask, were there any changes made to the foreign ownership rules to accommodate this ruling? If so does that leave the door open for the other carriers to by swallowed up by even larger carriers elsewhere?
Interesting times.
It's official, Nortel is finished.
After billions of dollars lost in the past few years, Nortel is bankrupt. It’s the dawn of a whole new era, bring it on!
SMB Phone Inc. Obtains Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) Certification For New Microsoft 'Response Point' Small Business Phone System
SMB Phone Inc. obtains Microsoft certification for Response Point and announces early release of SMB Digital Voice™
SMB Phone Inc. (SMBPhone.ca) announced today it has obtained certification as an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) for Microsoft’s small business phone system/IP PBX “Response Point”. This certification marks the beta service offering of SMB Phone’s digital telephone service: SMB Digital Voice, made specifically for Microsoft Response Point phone systems.
“We are very excited to be able to bring our new SMB Digital Voice service to small and medium business in Canada,” said Trent Johnsen, Founder & VP Sales. “We believe our certification will help us achieve the goal of becoming the de-facto telephone service provider for Response Point in Canada. Until recently the only way small business in Canada could integrate scalable and reliable telephony services was through acquisition of expensive equipment and analog circuits from old-school telephone companies. SMB Phone has removed those barriers by integrating with Response Point and allowing our customers to leverage our national access to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).”
SMB Digital Voice™ features:
- $29.95 Digital Business Telephones Lines
- Competitive Long Distance (North America)
- Competitive International Long Distance Rates
- Free calling between offices on SMB Phone network
- Free inter-branch call transfer
- Free local calling
- Free Caller ID
- Burstable Voice Channels (Auto-expandable phone service)
- Local Number Portability (Transfer your existing phone number)
- e911
- 611 (direct support number)
- Multiple regional phone numbers (get a phone number almost anywhere in Canada)
- SMB Anywhere™ (support for remote users)
Customers interested in participating in the early release program for SMB Digital Voice™ will receive 30 days free and a 50% monthly discount off the subscription rate. For more information please call +1 (866) 473-0516, ask for ‘sales’.
About SMB Phone Inc.
SMB Phone is a premium Canadian business telephone company designed exclusively to serve Microsoft Response Point customers. SMB Phone services are created just for Response Point and the way Small Medium Business work today. Response Point makes it easy to use, grow and manage your small business communications needs. SMB Phone make it easy to obtain accompanying business quality telephone service. Order Response Point online.
For more information about SMB Phone Inc. :
Email | +1 (866) 473-0516
Jeff Pulver Comments on FCC's Single National Framework for VoIP
Let me first say that Jeff Pulver’s and his FWD network/service (Free World Dialup) was instrumental in contributing to the early growth of Xten (now called Counterpath). FWD provided the platform where the X-Lite SIP softphone flourished. It was a great litmus test for us and created incredible awareness for our product. I don’t think I ever thanked him properly for that.
VON might be history, but Jeff is far from done.
In his last blog post, Jeff talks about exclusive federal jurisdiction for VoIP and how important this is to the communications industry as a whole.
It’s a good read, here is an excerpt…
Yesterday six major high-tech associations collectively representing the growth engines of the economy (generating billions of economic activity every year, employing millions of workers, and representing thousands of companies) filed a friend of the court brief in support of the FCC’s decision to provide a single national policy framework for VoIP.
This is a big deal, and a part of a broader effort to remove barriers that could determine how and when consumers benefit from the lower prices, new services, and advanced communication features that VoIP can deliver.
Check out the entire post: http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/008352.html
Lypp Launches Integrated Conference Call Services for Microsoft Outlook Users
VANCOUVER, June 4, 2008 – Lypp announces Lypp Conferencing for Outlook in celebration of its 150th business customer.
“Our goal with Lypp for Outlook was to make it easy for Outlook users to create ad hoc and scheduled conference calls the same way they would normally schedule a meeting in Outlook, by using the Calendar.” said CEO Erik Lagerway. “Canadian and US businesses can now access the Lypp advanced conference calling feature-set with ease and at 9 cents/min, business will find it hard to beat.”
Lypp Conference Calling Features:
– Microsoft Outlook Add-in/ Plug-in;
– Instant Activation;
– Toll-free Dial-in Access From Any Phone;
– Automated Dial-Out at Time of Meeting;
– 24 Hour Access;
– Automated Notifications;
– Enterprise Account Management: Sub-account creation/editing and central or individual billing;
– Mobile Conference Call Management;
– Call Recording & RSS syndication;
– Phone Book with CSV/vCard Upload;
– Crystal Clear Connections;
– Secure and Private;
– Real-Time Conference Management Controls;
– Detailed billing.
Lypp conference calling service is available now: Lypp or call +1(877)422.6644
About Lypp
Lypp is disrupting the telecommunications industry by building advanced communications software and services to give users the features and pricing that the existing carriers don’t, won’t or can’t offer. Lypp also provides wholesale services leveraging its REST-based API to enable integration of telephony features with other applications and services.
The Lypp service is operated and owned by Gaboogie Canada Inc.
Fortune Magazine Article – What Crap!
I just found this…
Talk about wrong information. There are some stats mentioned in this article that are WAY off!
If you are going to quote stats you had better do you homework, and this is Fortune Magazine?
VoIP top priority for Bell Canada in 2004
By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Bell Canada is moving more aggressively toward Internet Protocol technology. Top on its “to do” list: voice over IP service for residential customers.
At its annual shareholder meeting in Toronto on Wednesday, Michael Sabia, chief executive officer of the Canadian phone company, outlined his company’s strategy for moving all of its communications services onto an IP-based communications network.
“It’s clear the future for the industry is IP,” Sabia said in a statement. “The company is solidly engaged, and we have the plans and the proven ability to execute to support our determination to compete and win in an IP world.”
Bell Canada’s overall objective is to migrate 100 percent of its traffic, including all of its voice traffic, onto a national IP backbone network within three years. The carrier said that IP-based communications will provide its customers with several benefits including simpler provisioning, greater self-service and multimedia Internet. The company said the move also will significantly reduce operating costs.
TechTerra Deploys New Xten Technologies
TechTerra Deploys New Xten Technologies in Delivering Free SIP-to-SIP Calling and Other Integrated Services
AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 15, 2003–TechTerra Communications, Inc., a leading VoIP service provider, today announced the expansion of its product line to include: free SIP-to-SIP, TerraConnect and TerraCall X-Pro Business Edition. TechTerra is proud to be the first service provider to deploy these services powered by new technologies from Xten Networks, Inc.
TechTerra’ SIP-to-SIP (StS), also known as PC-to-PC, is a free service allowing voice calls from one PC (or other approved SIP-enabled endpoint) to another. TechTerra is offering a free broadband TerraCall X-Lite client to access the free service, with which landline and cellular calls can also be made at very low rates. StS will also support the Actiontec Internet Phone Wizard, a USB device that merges your regular telephone and VoIP into one endpoint.
European Resellers Caught in Lindows vs. Windows Crossfire
This isn’t really related to telephony today but there is some crossover which will become apparent very soon. This battle is reminiscent of the VoIP regulatory issues we are experiencing these days as well.
I support Lindows as I believe that they are being bullied by the software giant in Redmond, give them hell Michael!
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Microsoft is putting European resellers in the middle of its trademark battles with Lindows, and in Sweden, Microsoft is winning.
Lindows isn’t Windows. Apparently plain old folks don’t know this, however, at least according to the City Court of Stockholm, Sweden. The court issued an injunction at Microsoft Corp.’s request on Dec. 10, barring San Diego-based Lindows.com Inc. from marketing its LindowsOS operating system in Sweden.
In its declaration, the City Court “prohibits, for the time until the case has finally settled or anything else has been decided, Lindows.com to use Lindows, Lindows.com and LindowsOS, as marks for products or services regarding operative systems.”
The injunction is the latest salvo in an increasingly nasty war in which Microsoft appears determined to quash the Lindows name permanently. “What we’re asking Lindows to do is to change its name,” says Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler. “It is Lindows.com that put these [European] resellers in a compromising position by their deliberate infringement on our trademark.”
Vonage drops Cisco VoIP adapter
By Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Broadband telephone service provider Vonage said Monday that it has replaced Cisco Systems with Motorola as its exclusive telephone adapter supplier.
As a result of the deal with Motorola, each of the approximately 2,500 subscribers that Vonage adds each week will be given Motorola’s VT1000v. Known as an Analog Telephone Adapter, the device plugs into a broadband connection and lets traditional home or office phones make telephone calls that use the Internet and avoid additional charges from telephone companies. Vonage continues to use Cisco network gear, including gateway and call-manager products.
WebRTC.is 