Later this week, we will be watching financial results from the major carriers, with Rogers and MTS Allstream reporting on Thursday and TELUS on Friday. Bell reports on Wednesday of next week and Videotron’s numbers will be in Quebecor’s release next Thursday. So, over the course of the next week or so, we’ll have a chance to compare the effectiveness of different approaches to telecom marketing in the past quarter.

Looking at the results posted by Glentel (the largest independent wireless retailer), it may have been a strong quarter.

The aggressive marketing and new enhanced phone plans for customers, first introduced by the cellular networks in the 2nd quarter, had a positive effect on sales in the 3rd quarter.

I exchanged some emails with some colleagues through the weekend. We discussed the variations in marketing mobile voice and data services. Most of the carriers have launched new devices – many of these targeting the back-to-school youth market.

One approach has been to drop prices. Another is to invest in differentiated products – some launching customized or exclusive handsets; some with unique network capabilities.

Last Friday, I wrote about Rogers’ trial of 7.2Mbps HSPA mobile data rates, among the first carriers in the world to launch this advanced capability. Rogers currently has the advantage of being the only GSM-based platform in Canada. This has given it access to a wider array of consumer handsets, generally at a lower cost than comparable CDMA devices, in addition to benefiting from global compatibility and revenues from inbound roaming.

All of these factors have contributed in previous quarters to Rogers’ strong subscriber numbers, enabling it to invest even more in higher speed services on its network. That will help attract high ARPU customers.

To those who posted comments or wrote emails directly to me in search of lower prices – be patient. I have said many times before that I like cheap prices too.

In the meantime, Rogers recent financial performance has given it the luxury of being able to seize upon an opportunity to invest in capital upgrades for which early adopters are willing to pay a premium for the most advanced services. [It hasn’t always been that way for Rogers; Rogers has borrowed heavily in the past to invest in technology, as you can read in the new biography High Wire Act: Ted Rogers and the Empire that Debt Built. Last night was the official book launch.]

Competition raises the bar on quality of service for customers of all the networks in Canada. Prices will come down, even if that happens at a slower pace than many of us would like.

Last Friday, Richard Warman won another significant human rights case dealing with the expression of hate on the internet. The case, Beaumont versus Warman, was heard before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Many papers covered the story, also seen on the CP newswire.

There are a couple of interesting points in the decision that I think are worthwhile highlighting. At the core was a finding that Jessica Beaumont, a self proclaimed “full-time” Nazi, had contravened Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act:

13. Hate Messages

1. It is a discriminatory practice for a person or a group of persons acting in concert to communicate telephonically or to cause to be so communicated, repeatedly, in whole or in part by means of the facilities of a telecommunication undertaking within the legislative authority of Parliament, any matter that is likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt by reason of the fact that that person or those persons are identifiable on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.

 

• For greater certainty, subsection (1) applies in respect of a matter that is communicated by means of a computer or a group of interconnected or related computers, including the Internet, or any similar means of communication, but does not apply in respect of a matter that is communicated in whole or in part by means of the facilities of a broadcasting undertaking.

 

Among the key points in S. 13 is the need to find repeated discriminatory communications. The Tribunal has found in the past that material communicated via the Internet is repeated communication, by virtue of the web’s nature, allowing anyone connected on-line to “surf” to a website and view the material. In this case, the offender knew the difference between web posting and private messages and the Tribunal had no trouble finding that the material was knowingly being communicated repeatedly.

There are three parts to the remedies:

1. An order to cease;
2. Special compensation of $3000 to Mr. Warman for her postings about him; and
3. A penalty of $1500.

The offender is 21 years old, lives at home and has a job as a salesperson earning $10.50 per hour. The financial penalties are significant for her (in the order of 3 months pay).

There is an interesting discussion of the order for her to cease the discriminatory posting in accordance with Section 54(1)(a) of the Act.

Mr. Warman and the CHRC sought a “permanent order to have Ms. Beaumont cease the discriminatory practice of communicating hate messages through the Internet or other federal communications undertaking”. The defendant argued that a “permanent” order would be a “penalty…for life”, that Ms. Beaumont would have to be forever careful in expressing political or religious views on the Internet for fear of finding herself in contempt and possibly going to jail. Her aide, Paul Fromm, suggested that the scope of any such order should be limited in time, to perhaps five years. He argued that otherwise, she would essentially be silenced forever from making political or religious statements on the Internet.

The tribunal disagreed.

A “cease and desist” order essentially puts respondents on notice that messages of the sort that they have previously communicated are in breach of the Act and that they should not repeat the practice. As such, the order merely reiterates what has already been articulated in the Act, i.e. that communicating messages falling within the meaning of s. 13 is a discriminatory practice. Mr. Fromm’s submission presupposes that the Act is ambiguous and that Ms. Beaumont will somehow unknowingly fall into a trap that leads to contempt charges being laid against her. These concerns are unfounded. According to the Supreme Court in Taylor, there is no ambiguity to be found in the language of s. 13, and the numerous decisions that have been rendered since, regarding this provision, should serve to inform Ms. Beaumont when considering what sort of material she can communicate over the Internet without offending s. 13. Moreover, she will have the “benefit” of a decision relating to her own prior Internet postings, to further inform her future communications.

As such, the permanent order to cease was issued.

Technorati Tags:
Richard Warman, CHRC

Last spring, Rogers brought in Captain Kirk (William Shatner) to help launch its Vision service. Vision is still the only video calling service available in North America.

Today, Rogers announced further speed enhancements to its HSPA network, the first carrier in North America to begin the conversion to 7.2 Mbps data transport on its wireless network, with trials beginning in Montreal and Brampton.

Rogers current HSPA capability, running at up to 3.6 Mbps, is already available in the top 25 markets in Canada, representing about 60% of the population.

Fewer than 1% of the world’s carriers have begun to trial this doubled speed capability.

In today’s press release announcing the 7.2 Mbps service, Rogers Wireless president Rob Bruce said:

The consumer appetite for mobile applications is undeniable in Canada and around the world. The data speeds achieved in this trial will enable Rogers to meet our customers’ needs with the most advanced, innovative services today and in the future.

Rogers has spent $500M in the past two years in upgrades to its wireless network. Tuesday’s National Post carried a story about a report from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association that forecasts mobile data usage to be on the verge of explosive growth:

With wireless service providers reporting data growth rates exceeding 50% per quarter, CWTA expects spending to triple to more than $3 billion in the next three years as Canadians increase their demand for non-voice wireless services such as e-mail, social networking, Web browsing, music downloads, mobile television, satellite radio and text, multimedia and instant messaging.

With Rogers launch of 7.2 Mbps service, mobile wireless will now be able to deliver the kinds of speeds that consumers are used to experiencing from wireline DSL and cable modem connectivity. What is the impact on demand for more spectrum?

I wrote a piece last year called 7 reasons why warrants aren’t needed in response to some of the discussion on police investigations and ISP cooperation and related matters.

One of the questions raised last year had been “what laws need to be changed” and my posting carried a response from prosecutor David Butt that said the current laws were fine, if ISPs would cooperate.

Yesterday’s National Post had an article that prominently featured my KINSA colleague, Paul Gillespie. The article suggests that a single legislative word change in PIPEDA – the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act – would rectify inconsistencies in ISP responses to police investigations. Just changing the word “may” to “shall” in Section 7(2) is said to be the magic bullet to aid investigations.

(2) For the purpose of clause 4.3 of Schedule 1, and despite the note that accompanies that clause, an organization may, without the knowledge or consent of the individual, use personal information only if

1. in the course of its activities, the organization becomes aware of information that it has reasonable grounds to believe could be useful in the investigation of a contravention of the laws of Canada, a province or a foreign jurisdiction that has been, is being or is about to be committed, and the information is used for the purpose of investigating that contravention; …

Such a change would impact the operational response from the telecom industry to police requests. Will the industry support it or fight it?

Technorati Tags:
National Post, KINSA, pedophiles

There is growing interest in the US for the FCC to look at White Space to enable more options for broadband wireless in rural areas.

What is White Space? Last weekend, the Sunday NY Times published an article about wireless services that included this description:

In many areas, not all broadcast [television] channels are in use. The unused channels are “white spaces” of high-quality spectrum that could be made available to local Internet service providers. Unlike the much higher frequency of Wi-Fi, television broadcast frequencies can travel for miles and penetrate walls, providing a much broader range for Internet service.

There is a coalition of eight technology companies driving the discussion in the US: Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Philips, Earthlink, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics. Their objective is to get FCC approval for a generic device that will detect unused spectrum to be made available for broadband internet.

There are two versions of the technology: one that is fixed mounted and installed professionally, which can include a manual verification that the spectrum is clear for non-TV applications; and the other is a flexible, portable consumer unit that would automatically sense “white space.”

The National Association of Broadcasters in the US is opposed to the portable version, citing concerns that the technology could cause interference to digital TV signals.

Over the summer, the FCC conducted tests of technology supplied by Microsoft and it wrote a negative report. However, Microsoft responded that the FCC used a broken unit and failed to try the back-up unit that had been supplied to it. The coalition has submitted new test results from working units.

NAB isn’t impressed, stating that the impact of these kinds of failures are precisely the motivation for their concerns. They argue that defective units could result in entire neighbourhoods experiencing the blue screen of death on their TV sets, with no ability to trace the source of the problem.

Once millions of unlicensed devices are in consumers’ hands, they cannot be traced or recalled. Interference may come from the next apartment or from a neighbor down the street. To protect consumers’ DTV sets and the DTV transition, personal and portable unlicensed devices should NOT be allowed to operate in the TV band.

Canada’s spectrum policy is generally that of “fast follower”, recognizing the economic advantages associated with aligning its spectrum allocation to match the purposes assigned south of the border.

White Space will be a discussion worth watching.