For investors still curious about Nortel Networks' plans for an AGM, you can now mark down June 29 on your calendars. In a regulatory filing today, Nortel said its 2004 and 2005 AGMs will be held then. If you like corporate drama, we can only hope the AGM is anywhere near as exciting as Nortel's last AGM in Halifax. That meeting lasted more than five hours due to questions from shareholders, and required an unscheduled break for lunch to placate the hungry masses. Let's hope Nortel shareholders don't get lulled into complacency by CEO Bill Owens' deliberate and calming tones. This is a rare opportunity to grill…i mean, question…senior management about what the company's embarassing accounting scandal, including the firing of ex-CEO Frank Dunn.

In the hunt for the rare VOIP investment play, Russell Shaw offers a take from the Wall Street Transcript, which features an interview with Kaufman Brothers analyst Ari Moses. So what are Moses' leading VOIP plays? deltathree, Covad and Net2Phone. What I find most interesting is the Q&A suggests analysts are starting to think about VOIP investment plays. For the enterprising analyst, there is an opportunity to carve out a distinct niche – much like Mary Meeker and Henry Blodget capitalized on the dot-com boom to make themselves into superstars (and I use that term loosely given they only knew a tad more than the rest of us). I think over the next year, there will be VOIP IPOs, although the market will likely be pragmatic and cautious (translation: demanding that a company have sales, profits and customers) rather than speculative. In Canada, Terry Matthews' Mitel Networks sticks out as the most likely candidate, although CEO Don Smith sounded cautious about the idea in a recent interview.

In a sign of things to come as the lines between carriers and cablecos disappear, Telus has filed an application with the CRTC to order Shaw Communications to stop selling telephony service. The complaint has to do with Shaw not filing the proper documentation with the CRTC and not following some minor rules. In response, Shaw accuses Telus of regulatory harassment and anti-competitive behaviour.
In and of itself, Telus' application is not terribly exciting but it offers some valuable insight into how carriers and cablecos are going to butt heads and use any weapons they can to fight it out. It's a logical environment when you are selling the exact same services to the same group of consumers. You can go battle it out using the big weapons – prices, customer service and bundles – but you can bet there's also going be plenty of picking, niggling, complaining and whinging going on in public and behind the scenes. The CRTC's decision to expedite its decision-making process will be a necessity as we see more focus on he-said, she-said regulatory spats.

Maybe Nortel Networks CEO Bill Owens’ extensive contacts within the U.S. military are going to pay off in spades after all. Maybe Owens, a former U.S. Admiral, wasn't pulling our legs when he talked about the new strategic focus on winning more government/military business. Maybe I’m going to have to finally bite my tongue about Nortel’s fuzzy strategy. What’s changed? Well, Nortel unveiled a contract today with the U.S. Department of Defense to create a new private network. Sure hope this is a sign of things to come because Nortel’s 2004 third-quarter results were disappointing when it came to wireless, optical and Asian sales. Then again, maybe putting strategic emphasis on the military and government is a no-brainer given President George Bush is intent on continuing the war on terrorism. The military and government market have potential for growth, which is a lot more than you can say about other parts of the telecom market.
ZDNet's Russell Shaw provides some more details about the contract, and asks whether it provides people with more confidence in VOIP.

With all the focus on wireless data these days, it’s interesting to peak behind the curtain at the technology powering mobile devices these days. In Canada, an interesting play is Atsana Corp., which makes multi-media processors that let wireless devices provide high-quality video features without heavy power consumption. Atsana's processor will be a key component in Samsung’s new two-megapixel SCH-M309 camera phone, which will be introduced in China this month. Some other Canadian companies active in the wireless technology market are Michael Cowpland’s Zim Corp., which develops e-mail software, and 724 Solutions Inc., which is developing media gateways to help carriers efficiently deliver video.

There must be something to first-mover advantage amid news NetFlex Inc. now has more than three million subscribers. It's an impresssive feat given there is plenty of competition in the online DVD rental business, including retail heavyweights Wal-Mart and Blockbuster. NetFlix's success is a testament to a compelling service, good customer service and a savvy ability to react well to competition. Despite NetFlix's growth over the past year, its shares have not fared well. Motley Fool's Seth Jayson offers a take on whether it's time to jump into the fray. While NetFlix's attractiveness as an investment should be based on fundamentals, the big thing the company possesses is what I call “default status” in the high-tech world. Once you have it, it is difficult to wrestle away. Some well known examples include Yahoo, Amazon, Research in Motion and eBay.