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Ottawa moved to open the door to foreign ownership and smaller players in an effort to boost competition in the Canadian telecom industry. Industry Minister Christian Paradis says the new measures will allow new wireless carriers into the market and foster greater competition in the telecom industry after a spectrum auction expected in 2013. The changes to the auction rules will let at least four companies obtain spectrum in each of Canada’s 14 licence areas, effectively making one block available for one of the smaller players. As well, companies with less than 10% of the telecom market will no longer have restrictions on foreign investment.
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In a bid to strengthen its recent entry into the mobile broadband market, Swedish telecom giant Ericsson acquired BelAir Networks for an undisclosed amount. Ottawa-based BelAir has raised approximately $43 million in VC funding since it was founded 10 years ago to create wireless Internet technology for cellphone carriers. Ericsson launched its own carrier-grade WiFi solution last September and is adding the Canadian technology to help meet growing demand. BelAir makes both indoor and outdoor WiFi products, which AT&T and other major wireless carriers have already started to deploy.
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Radio frequency products manufacturer Mitec Telecom has agreed to a reverse takeover by Israel-based Optiway, the Montreal company said. Mitec shareholders will own between 30% and 40% of the combined company. Financial details weren't provided. Mitec is looking for growth opportunities to exploit its infrastructure and background knowledge in wireless technology, Mandel said. The agreement still requires shareholder and regulatory approvals in both Canada and Israel.
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Huawei Technologies, which now employs more than 120 researchers, developers and engineers at its R&D centre in Kanata, announced it will double that number to 250 employees in the next 18 months, according to its president, Sean Yang. Huawei has more than 400 employees in Canada at present, including its headquarters in Markham, Ont., and branch offices in Montreal and Edmonton. “It’s quite good for a business environment, compared to the United States,” Mr. Yang said, calling Canadian minds more open and its governments more accommodating. “It is a very flexible culture and at the same time there is very good talent in human resources.”
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Central to Alcatel-Lucent's future lies in its Kanata, Ontario, plant which specialises in selling networks built according to technical standards based on Internet protocol (IP). More than half the firm’s global research and development related to IP is done in Kanata. The company, co-headquartered in Paris and New Jersey, sold $564 million worth of IP networks, up 28% year-over-year. The firm’s Kanata campus, which employs 2,700 includes developers who specialize in optical, Wideband-CDMA wireless, security and network access technologies. The firm has added about 200 employees to its Kanata over the past year and expects growth to continue at the same pace.
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Cisco Canada announced it will double its R&D workforce in Ottawa with the help of a $25 million provincial investment. The company is currently working on a next-generation router that would be able to transfer one billion videos at a time. In total, the company plans to invest $401 million in research and development over five years on various initiatives, including advanced telemedicine, improved virtual workforces and energy management. The investment will allow the company to add 300 employees, with at least half going to the Ottawa office. Cisco also said it will double its workforce in Kanata, Ontario, which currently has more than 200 employees.
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Indian-based telecommunications services company Tech Mahindra opened a mobility solutions centre in Toronto for wireless carriers. The company is a global systems integrator for cable, phone and wireless companies. Initially, the lab will do handset certifications, but the company hopes it will open the door to creating a platform for carriers to sell enterprise mobility apps.
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America Movil, the giant Mexican carrier, owned by Carlos Slim Helu, may be investigating an entry into the Canadian telecommunications market by partnering with an established player in Canada, Phillip Huang, an analyst with UBS Securities Canada, suggested. Huang's research note mentions that the telecom has been interested in entering the Canadian market by offering a cheap, no frills wireless service over the network of an incumbent provider, such as BCE Inc.
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A trade delegation from Toronto, which met with entrepreneurs and investors in India, wants to attract investments in the information and communication technology, life sciences and renewable energy sectors. The Toronto region serves as a gateway to the $16.5 trillion economy of the NAFTA area. Between 2009 and 2010 Indian FDI in Canada was $8 billion while Canadian FDI in India was close to $4 billion.
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Mississauga, ON-headquartered Tech Data Canada, a distributor of IT products, logistics management and other value added services, has partnered with Ruckus Wireless (based in Sunnyvale, CA) to offer Ruckus "Smart Wi-Fi" systems and technology to its 5,000 reseller and solution provider customers across Canada. Through the agreement, Tech Data will distribute the entire line of Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wireless LAN products throughout the country.
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Google has been snapping up some of the top Canadian tech assets and applications, buying up dynamic and forward-thinking companies like BumpTop, PushLife, Social Deck and more. In addition, seeking to get its hands on other Canadian tech developments, Google is offering nearly one billion dollars for Nortel's suite of ICT patents.
Related News:
Google eyes Canadian startups and tech entrepreneurs - BlackBerry Cool
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Alpine Access, a virtual call centre outsourcing services based in Colorado, is expanding into Canada for the first time, using Calgary as its home base. The company’s international expansion is the result of the accelerated adoption of the at-home call centre model, as well as the recent signing of a multi-year contract to support the wireless operations of a major Canadian communications provider. Alpine Access Canada will be hiring over 600 work-at-home customer care professionals in the next two months.
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360networks, a facilities-based wholesale provider of telecommunications services, announced completion of a new route between Seattle and Vancouver, Canada. "The 150 mile route provides the company's wholesale customers access to other growth markets based on a customer's specific requirements," said 360networks.
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Denver-based Alpine Access, which provides virtual contact centre services to companies, has opened up a new Canadian subsidiary in Calgary. As part of the expansion, the firm plans to hire more than 600 employees in Canada. Alpine Access has extended into Canada in part because of a signing of a multi-year contract with what it says is Canada's largest provider of wireless and data communications services. Alpine Access provides virtual contact centres, managing employees who work at home as part of a virtual call centre.
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Ciena Canada Inc., a telecommunications equipment company and subsidiary of U.S.-based Ciena Corporation, announced a $900 million investment in Ontario, with the goal of developing new technology and making Ottawa the focal point of its global R&D efforts. Ciena has also committed to partner with universities in R&D and hire 125 university graduates. Ciena plans to add 353 new jobs at its Ottawa labs over five-years. "This partnership with Ontario is a great contribution to our technology investment in Canada, which is an important innovation centre for Ciena as we execute on our vision of bringing optical and Ethernet together to realize the full potential of communications networks worldwide," said James Frodsham, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Ciena Corporation.
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Huawei Technologies has signed joint agreements with Canadian telecommunications providers Bell and Telus Corp. to create innovation centers in a few Canadian provinces. Under the terms of the memorandum, the length of the agreement is three years and each company will own 50% of the Joint Innovation Center. The collaborative platform would take Huawei and TELUS' existing relationship to a new level, increasing business benefits for both companies. Huawei and TELUS will work together on enhancing broadband solutions, wireless and wireline offerings.
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Avaya Inc. announced it will invest $165 million over three years in the facilities in Ottawa and Belleville, Ont., so 350 staffers can continue to work on new unified communications and collaboration technologies. Ross Pellizzari, president and managing director of Avaya Canada, said: "we're going to continue to invest in Ontario and retain and attract more skilled labour as we go forward and the business grows." The money, which will be used to hire staff and pay for lab facilities, helps fulfill a commitment Avaya made to Investment Canada to get approval for the acquisition of keeping at least 350 R&D positions in the province.
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As we know it, mobile Internet usage is mushrooming and wireless networks are struggling to keep up with the growth in mobile data traffic. To help mobile providers address this challenge, Tellabs is adding key technology, intellectual property and Internet Protocol expertise to create a new R&D office in Vancouver. Tellabs has affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.
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One of the world's leading telecommunications technology companies announced a major investment in its Ottawa research and development centre. Huawei made the announcement following a meeting with Premier Dalton McGuinty in Shanghai as part of his mission to China. Huawei will invest $67 million, including a $6.5-million grant from Ontario. The investment will help create 164 new jobs over five years.
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Los Angeles-based Boingo Wireless, the provider of Wi-Fi roaming and hotspot services, has inked a deal to expand its network in Canada. The firm said it has inked a deal with MTS, a Canadian national communications provider, to add over 150 MTS hotspot locations to its network. The hotspots cover Winnipeg, Brandon, and other communities in Manitoba. Boingo said it now has a network of nearly 1,200 Wi-Fi hotspots in Canada.
