Wireless Federation

Canada’s telecommunications environment is fully privatised with the government having no holding in any telecom carrier. Telecom Service Providers within the Canadian market are broadly categorised as either incumbents or competitors. Incumbents are the telephone companies that provided telecom services on a regional monopoly basis prior to the introduction of competition, and include the out-of-territory affiliates of the incumbents.

Telus Communications, Canada, has posted net profit of CAD267 million (USD250 million) for Q2′08. The company said it added 176,000 new wireless subscribers in Q2, including 157,000 post-paid subscribers, higher than the 2Q contract user net additions reported by rivals Bell Canada and Rogers Communications.

Operators       - subscribers (MARCH’08)

Rogers Wireless - 7.406 million
Bell Mobility   - 6.260 million
Telus Mobility  - 5.656 million
SaskTel Mobility- 0.452 million
MTS Mobility    - 0.400 million

Rogers Wireless, Canada, introduces BlackBerry Bold smartphone to it’s subscribers in Canada.
Naskapi Imuun and OmniGlobe Networks signed agreements that creates Canada’s first national cellular service provider equally owned by an Aboriginal partner. The new joint-venture known as Lynx Mobility Inc. combines leading technology and innovative business models to deliver cellular phone services to small un-served communities in remote and rural Canada.

Notable highlights of the 3Q08 Canada Mobile Forecast include:

• The wireless penetration level in Canada is forecasted to be 71.5% in 2010. Total subscribers in Canada are forecasted to increase from 20.4 million in 2008 to 24.9 million in 2010.
• Given the success of the spectrum auction and the entry of new players, a slight decline in market shares is forecasted among the incumbent operators on Canada. For Bell Mobily, it estimated that it’s current 31.3% market share is the most vulnerable to erosion by new entrants. Rogers Wireless is being seen as the strongest incumbent wireless operator and its market share expected to be 36.3% of subscribers in 2010.
• Monthly churn rates will continue to be similar across different operators and they will stay in the range of 1.8% - 2%.
• It is forecasted that Rogers Wireless will receive the highest ARPU among other wireless operators in 2010 at US$ 65.29 per month. Rogers Wireless will also have the highest MOU per subscriber at 720 minutes per month in 2010.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

QuickPlay Media, which specialises in Mobile TV and video solutions, has announced the launch of VideoStreams, which it says is the first free video streaming service for the BlackBerry (though network data charges may apply). The service features a variety of entertainment content, including music videos, comedy, horoscopes and extreme sports, and is available immediately to customers in the US and Canada.
VideoStreams is initially available on the BlackBerry Pearl  8130 Smartphone to subscribers on North American wireless carrier networks that support EVDO, such as Sprint Nextel, Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility and Alltel Wireless.  Eligible customers can visit www.videostreamsmobile.com using the BlackBerry browser to download the VideoStreams application over the air and start using the service right away.  Videos are streamed to the device, so there is no long wait to view the content, and unlike download services, no additional on-device storage is required. The service also includes a ‘Send to a friend’ feature that enables users to share video clips with friends and family. 
QuickPlay currently offers streaming audio services for BlackBerry Smartphones via QuickPlayer Audio, the first audio streaming service introduced for the BlackBerry platform. QuickPlay also offers a white-label video streaming solution for mobile operators that enables them to provide a custom, branded service to their customers with content from their partners, from QuickPlay partners, or from a combination of both. 
“The mobile market is exploding - with new applications, devices, and services introduced to the world each day - and RIM is a company at the forefront of this rapidly changing marketplace,” says QuickPlay Media CEO and Co-founder, Wayne Purboo. “We are excited to continue our history of innovation by being the first to offer BlackBerry Smartphone customers free access to our high quality video services.”
Jeff McDowell, Vice President, Global Alliances at Blackberry maker, Research In Motion, adds:
“BlackBerry Smartphones are attracting a wider range of mobile customers who want to use more personal applications and entertainment services. In turn, this trend is attracting a new class of developer partners, like QuickPlay, who are creating consumer and lifestyle applications that deliver new experiences for BlackBerry Smartphone users.”
QuickPlay says that the VideoStreams service will be made available worldwide to more regions and mobile operators as additional BlackBerry Smartphones that support streaming video are rolled out on various wireless networks.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Canada’s existing mobile operators and potential new entrants have submitted proposals for a new auction of wireless spectrum scheduled to be held early next year. Industry Minister Maxime Bernier in February issued a discussion paper that asked interested parties to suggest rules for the auction, with the deadline for proposals set for last Friday. Parties have until 27 June to issue rebuttals to others’ suggestions, and the government is expected to announce final auction rules this autumn. The three national network operators Rogers Wireless, Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility say they need more spectrum for new advanced services, including mobile video, and back an open highest-bidder auction process. Regional providers such as MTS and SaskTel, and any prospective new bidders, are in favour of reserving spectrum for a fourth national licence that Rogers, Bell and Telus are prohibited from bidding on. Prospective entrants are also expected to ask the government to mandate roaming charges between carriers and force existing cellcos to lease infrastructure to new rivals. MTS argues that an open auction would simply allow the national incumbents to raise the bidding price beyond the reach of newcomers. Bell Canada on Friday recommended that Industry Canada auction spectrum for advanced wireless services (AWS) using an open framework that does not give potential new entrants special advantages. The company expressed the opinion that government intervention in the market such as spectrum caps or set-asides in the auction process would, in effect, subsidise new entrants at the expense of mobile users. ‘Industry Canada’s obligation is to obtain the maximum benefit for advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum for all Canadians – not just new entrants,’ the company said, adding that ‘the simplest way to achieve that goal is to auction off the AWS spectrum to the highest bidders who can use it to deliver the next generation of communications tools and services.’ The government has signalled that it would like to see new wireless players.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News