2004 November | Mark Evans

Au Revoir, Andre Tremblay

November 9th, 2004 | No Comments | Posted in Main Page

It sure didn't take long for Microcell Telecommunications CEO Andre Tremblay
to step aside now that the company's purchase by Rogers Wireless is
complete. Microcell may have been a disruptive, pain in the ass that
survived due to the largesse of creditors who cooperated when it filed for
bankruptcy protection under the weight of $2 billion of debt but it made the
country's wireless industry a lot more interesting. Give Tremblay credit for
getting Microcell through the bankruptcy protection process and into the
arms of Rogers for a cool $1.4-billion. While Rogers, Telus Mobility and
Bell Mobility must be happy to see Microcell go away, it will be missed -
particularly when wireless fees start to rise with anyone like Microcell
offering discount packages. You'll be missed, Mr. Tremblay

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The New New Nortel

November 9th, 2004 | No Comments | Posted in Main Page

So Nortel has decided now's the time for a corporate makeover. Out with the
old boring - if somewhat scandalous - image, and in with the new, hipper
look and feel. It's only been a few hours and I've already forgotten the new
corporate slogan -something about Nortel and networks, I think - but no
matter, it's the thought that counts. With a new chief marketing officer,
Clent Richardson anxious to make his mark, it's somewhat encouraging to see
Nortel strutting its stuff. I mean, it's not like there a rule Nortel has to
wallow in its financial troubles forever. That said, analysts were
particularily underwhelmed about the new marketing campaign. Almost to a
man, the reaction was “And so?”. The real story is the restated results,
which will apparently come out soon. Only after they've been released and
digested can Nortel really start to talk about a new beginning again.
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Another Owens Sighting

November 7th, 2004 | No Comments | Posted in Main Page

Wonder what Bill Owens will have to say this week at yet another investor
conference? Maybe he'll really, really promise that Nortel's restated
results will out by mid-November after just promising last week at a
conference in arizona. Give him credit, though, for making the rounds. At
least he's out and about as opposed to frank dunn, who hid out with
customers and avoided contact with analysts and reporters. The frustration
with Owens is he doesn't have much to say other than our products are great,
blah, blah until the company puts out its restated results for 2003 and Q1
and Q2 of 2004.
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Satellite silliness

November 6th, 2004 | 1 Comment | Posted in Main Page

Beaming digital music from the heavens is probably the best thing to hit the
radio industry since the FM band, but you couldn't tell based on comments
made by some music industry groups this week in Ottawa. Speaking before the
CRTC, which is deliberating over the licensing of satellite radio providers
in the Great White North, the Canadian Recording Industry Association said
it wants technology installed on receivers to prevent people from recording
the CD-like signals. What a load of self-serving crap! If the music industry
did a better job selling good music and commercial radio wasn't so
“programmed”, there wouldn't be as much interest in satellite radio. CRIA's
demand illustrates how the music industry remains out of touch with what
consumers want and how technology has changed the landscape. If the CRTC
gives Canadians a watered-down version of XM or Sirius, the grey market will
take off as Canadians look south for “real” radio.
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Online Poker Rocks

November 5th, 2004 | No Comments | Posted in Main Page

With the NHL on strike, couch potatoes everywhere have looking for new sources of entertainment. Their salvation has been televised poker tournaments, particularly the World Series of Poker on ESPN where odd-looking characters battle it out for big bucks - this year's winner took home US$5-million. A beneficiary of the poker phenomena is Toronto-based Cryptologic Inc., which makes software for online gambling. The company posted better-than-expected third-quarter results, propelled by its poker software and the growing interest in online tournaments. Online poker houses are expected to generate a staggering US$1.5 billion of business this year, compared with US$150-million in 2002. The amount gambled at online poker houses will hit US$30-billion. It makes you wonder why there aren't more publicly-traded online gambling companies.
Mark Evans
Senior Technology Reporter
National Post
300-1450 Don Mills Road
Toronto, Ont.
M3B 3R5
http://evans.blogware.com

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RIM

November 5th, 2004 | No Comments | Posted in Main Page

You have to love the speculation that surrounds RIM's legal woes. Seems the stock tumbled yesterday after someone decided a US court was going to make a decision in the patent battle between RIM and NTP. Turns out the excitement
was based on the decision writing habits of the one judges expected to write the decision, and not on anything concrete. You would hate to be the person who sold RIM when it dropped $10 yesterday before it bumped up again. There was also some interesting analyst activity on RIM. UBS Warburg's Mike Urlocker downgraded his rating to “neutral” amid concerns RIM's new 7100 device will not be a major success. Urlocker does not think the 7100 is particularly user-friendly - citing the need to triple punch the keyboard to punch out messages. There are, however, reports that the 7100 is selling well. At just C$299, the 7100 may be one of the hits of the important fourth-quarter sales season.

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Musings from BCE

November 4th, 2004 | No Comments | Posted in Main Page

Lost amid BCE Inc.'s third-quarter results yesterday and its move to
eliminate more than 5,000 employees, there were several interesting tidbits
from CEO Michael Sabia. Among them was BCE's take on fiber to the home - a
technology being aggressively pursued by Verizon and SBC in the U.S. While
conceding it's intriguing, Sabia said BCE remains committed to fiber to the
node and efforts to ensure its “last-mile” copper connection to the home is
optimized. He contends this will give Bell Canada the 20MB or so of capacity
it needs to deliver digital video and other “value-added” services to
consumers. The counter argument is this approach is flawed because it will
take at least 25MB to give consumers video-on-demand, three channels of
digital TV, data access and other services. If this view is accurate, there
are analysts who strongly believe the cablecos will have advantage with
their upgraded digital plants. If digital video and TV are the new
high-speed “killer apps”, they contend it will be the cablecos who could
dominate the “triple play” or “quadruple play” market.

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BCE's Q3

November 2nd, 2004 | No Comments | Posted in Main Page

A few things to look for when BCE Inc. posts its Q3 results tomorrow. First, will BCE raise its dividend for the first time in a decade. There has been increasing pressure to do so, and it only intensified when Telus hiked its dividend last week. It will also be interesting to see how Bell Mobility fared in the quarter - a period in which its major competitors - Telus, Rogers and Microcell did very well. Bell Mobility's growth could be hurt by major problems with its billing system, which has exasperated the company and its customers.

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