PUBLIC MARKS from teleclick with tags telephone & news

The nation’s biggest telecommunications provider, Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE) has announced a 13% decline in revenue from long distance phone service during the third quarter of 2005.

As a result of ongoing labour action by unionized Telus workers, the number of complaints about the company’s customer service has risen dramatically.

Sources indicate that the government of Canada is pushing the telecommunications industry to integrate a higher level of wiretapping technology into their networks, allowing for round-the-clock surveillance of all telephone and (for the first time) email use of up to 8,000 people at once.

Ever since the strike begun at Telus, Vonage has had a surge in new subscribers from Alberta and British Columbia (Telus’s primary service areas).

Several announcements by VON (Voice On Net) vendors over the past week indicate that the focus of this VoIP testing may be switched from testing equipment in labs to monitoring the quality of live network calls.

The research firm In-Stat has just released a study, which suggests that some cell phone users may be receptive to mobile advertising, if it were properly executed.

RailNet, the UK rail industry’s biggest telecommunications network, serving over 230 private branch offices across that country, is about to undergo a major technological upgrade.

Although Apple and Motorola’s new iTunes cell phone is a great concept, and probably one that has significant potential, the recently reduced ROKR has, in many ways, failed to live up to the anticipation surrounding its release.

Among rising tensions in the increasing ugly labour dispute between Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union, British Columbia’s supreme court has passed judgement ordering striking union members to stop “molesting, assaulting, intimidating, obstructing, threatening, or interfering with” those employees who are reporting to work.

Last Thursday saw a major announcement by Bell Canada, the country’s largest telephone company, regarding the company’s plans to launch a new VoIP telephony service.

There is no doubt that the so-called “iPhone”, which is expected to be unveiled on September 7, is in for some tough competition when it hits the market.

France Telecom has decided to bundle together its mobile phone and broadband services. Existing customers of the Orange UK mobile phone service will have the option to subscribe to 2Mbps ADSL broadband internet access for an extra £9.99/month.

Recent reports indicate that the FCC has approved Motorola’s much anticipated iTunes cell phone, however, the future of the device is still uncertain.

The telecommunications industry is once again back into profitable territory these days, but landline and mobile providers can’t afford to ignore the increasing popularity of VoIP telephony, warns the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in a new report today.

After failing to file their second quarter report on time, Warwick Valley Telephone Company has received notification that their stock is in danger of being de-listed from the Nasdaq stock market.

Interesting news about the telecommunications industry.