In late November, I wrote about the issues of cell towers and the conflicting concerns of people who want better mobile signals but don’t want towers to be located anywhere nearby.
The Toronto Star carried a couple follow-up stories yesterday: Telcos get mixed signals about better reception and Cell tower plans jammed.
In a Boxing Day interview with Nortel CTO John Roese, Forbes sets out the view that networks are becoming more intelligent.
This is in sharp contrast with the oft-repeated view that intelligence at the edge, coupled with IP connectivity, gives rise to stupid networks. The quote about network intelligence isn’t attributed to Roese, rather, it appears as part of the set up to a question.
Networks are becoming more intelligent, the pace is picking up. Does anyone really understand all the shifts going on in telecommunications?
We wrote about network intelligence in November, pointing to an article that also spoke of reasons for networks to demonstrate awareness of the applications.
Where are networks heading? What are the applications, technology and policy implications of such network evolution? We’ll be exploring all this and more at The 2008 Canadian Telecom Summit in June.
For the second year in a row, Future Shop had trouble handling the initial crush of traffic for its Boxing Day blow-out.
I had trouble getting into the system on December 24 at 8 pm when the sale began, but was able to get in early December 25 to place my order. I actually went back to the site later in the morning to buy some SD memory cards without any trouble. Based on the order numbers, it looks like the website handled about 18,000 orders in 2 and a half hours Christmas morning.
I wasn’t the only person who initially had some problems. Last year’s blog post about Future Shop’s problems attracted a lot of web traffic and even a comment, asking me to update the blog to reflect the recurrence.
This year, Future Shop had a standby web-page, letting people know they are in the queue for the e-commerce engine. On one hand, it is a good sign that consumers are lining up to shop on-line.
On the other hand, it is a shame that one of Canada’s top electronics retailers still isn’t able to keep up with the demand.
The CRTC has scheduled its hearings to decide on whether to approve the privatization of Bell Canada. The hearings will commence February 25.
I have to admit I missed the CRTC’s announcement when it was first released. The big news in Thursday’s daily announcements was the approval of the CanWest / Alliance deal. The Commission also approved the new telecommunications consumer complaints agency.
But buried under the title Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing, was this little notice:
2007-19 The Commission will hold a public hearing commencing on 25 February 2008 at 9:30 a.m., at the Conference Centre, Portage IV, 140 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau, Quebec, to consider a broadcasting application.
It is only when you click on the link that you see that this is the $40B BCE transaction.
Comments for PN 2007-19 are due January 24.
Website traffic has already begun its annual year-end wind-down, reflecting people starting to switch their minds to holiday mode – whether you are remaining at work or taking off to spend some time with family and friends.
For the next couple weeks, I will post a lot less frequently – with plans to be back at a more normal schedule beginning on January 7.
Since I started writing this blog 22 months ago, I have written nearly 900 postings. I hope that I have been able to help you look at issues from slightly different perspective. Thanks for your support, your comments, your calls and emails over the past year.
Enjoy some downtime.
I hope we can all look forward to a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead.