The BCE and Aliant corporate rearrangements went through last week, clearing the way for the launch of Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund today.

Income trusts are seen to be a way to “unlock additional value” for shareholders by getting rid of income taxes in the corporation and issuing taxable dividends to the unit-holders.

I have some issues with the income trust gyrations. First off, I’m not crazy about the financial engineering itself – it seems like a lot of cost and effort being expended that could be rendered moot by a federal budget. Second, I am concerned about the level of inter-dependence in the ongoing operations of the regional company.

The US Senate rejected the temptation to intervene in the market for internet services. I am waiting to hear from various quarters of how this is evidence of a conspiracy of telcos and cablecos and their power to manipulate legislators.

I don’t subscribe to that view. But, I’m willing to wait for the Oliver Stone movie before forming a final opinion.

The lack of a good catchy phrase to summarize their position is one of the challenges that internet infrastructure folks have had in their efforts to communicate their position.

‘Net neutrality’ is a catchy phrase around which their opponents rally. So is ‘Save the Net.’

Who wouldn’t want to save the Internet? Shame on you if you don’t. But let’s face it, ‘save the internet’ and ‘net neutrality’ are too simplistic to accurately describe an issue loaded with far more subtle complexities.

As described in a recent article by The Heritage Foundation

In recent months, the net neutrality controversy shifted focus after several major telephone companies announced their intentions to offer priority service to content providers for a fee that would enable these providers—such as Internet phone service operators, broadband video providers, and others—to purchase express service.

The article notes the irony of Yahoo! being a member of a coalition advocating net neutrality regulation. Yahoo! plans to offer a similar “certified e-mail” service for a fee. Yahoo! has already announced a deal with Research in Motion to provide preferred access to Yahoo! services on BlackBerry wireless devices.

Randy May has used the term “Net Neutering” to describe the impact of net neutrality.

Rendering broadband providers perfectly neutral by dictating that they be nothing more than dumb pipes, unable to treat any applications or content that use their network facilities in any way differently, would, in fact, neuter the Net.

I’m sure we’d manage to get by in a world with Net Neutrality legislation. But it could get boring being stuck with just plain vanilla. It would be like life in Pleasantville in the B&W. We’ll save that metaphor for later.

In the meantime, suggestions for a positive catch phrase?

I was corresponding with a few colleagues over the holiday weekend.

Most of the other folks with whom I work are like my style – which is probably why we work so well together.

Himal Mathew runs Fathom Strategies and he (or perhaps better, one of his clients) describes himself as an ‘un-consultant’. His client writes:

We think of you as the un-consultant. You work the way we work. You add value on our terms and feel like part of our team. Consider yourself part of our (corporate) family.

That’s the way we like to work. We’re key advisors and we know that we work at will for our clients. We want to feel like part of the family, take ownership of problems and help our clients succeed.

Himal’s client writes:

Wanted to loop back and let you know that we very much appreciated the candor of your reactions to our work. It was very helpful to get that objective voice in the room with us and one with such solid business and marketing skills. . . we will likely be calling on you again in the not too distant future. . . really felt the input was worthwhile from our standpoint.

Job satisfaction in our kind of un-consulting comes from statements such as these: ‘we will be calling on you again in the not too distant future.’

We know you have a choice. Fathom Strategies one of the associated firms that we enjoy working with.

Well, 3 months ago, when the CRTC issued its Decision about Mobile TV, I suggested that XM and Sirius should be nervous about the new, unregulated competition.

Sure enough, TELUS and XM Canada announced TELUS Mobile Radio yesterday, Canada’s first streaming mobile radio service, “including 100 per cent commercial-free music and the best in comedy, talk and entertainment – all from their mobile phones.”

According to Stephen Tapp (President and COO of XM Canada):

This is another fantastic ‘first’ for XM Canada. The launch today represents the first time that satellite radio will be distributed in partnership with a wireless provider in Canada

As we noted in April, this service should fall under the CRTC’s blanket exemption for New Media.

Rogers has applied to put Sirius onto its cable network. It must go through a regulatory process to get permission to make these changes (and counter opposition from groups such as the Canadian Independent Record Producers).

For mobile services using IP delivery of the content, the CRTC has already ruled that these are new media, exempt from its oversight. Content could be available from all over the world and be targetting micro-markets.

Will Virgin tie in a suite of services to go with its Virgin Fest concert in September?

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Update: A blog-shy colleague of mine writes that he does not think Rogers or Bell will need CRTC approval to include XM or Sirius services bundled with their high speed internet services, despite the need to apply for permission to carry the same services over conventional broadcast distribution technology.

One might ask what this means for technical neutrality and why voice over broadband is treated differently.

Alex, my research associate discovered an interesting site based out of China called TVU Networks that promises to be releasing a broadband video distribution service in the near future.

Current offerings include HBO Asia and the Hollywood film channel from Taiwan as well as a number of Chinese stations.

TVU? It is a peer-to-peer application with a specialized streaming video player, delivering live channels over the internet.

This is the kind of application that should help our understanding of a number of issues for new media. Look back at our comments on the CRTC’s Mobile TV Decision.

Implications on broadband access networks and broadcasters?

This may also increase sensitivities in respect of net non-neutrality behaviour by cable companies acting as broadband internet service providers. Already under fire for consumers believing that there is cable company interference with VoIP service, what will happen when there is traffic sculpting on a more bandwidth-intensive direct competitor for TV program distribution.

I want to know if the service will be live in time to let us watch the American commercials during the 2007 Superbowl.