Pierre Karl Peladeau on Wireless Competition

Posted on September 21, 2007 by Thomas Purves

To set the scene for you yesterday at the Empire Club luncheon: Perre Karl Peladeau, CEO of Quebecor and would-be new entrant in the Canadian mobile industry, 200 investment bankers in serious suits, former prime minister Brian Mulroney of Canada sharing the rubber chicken, and one blogger/web2.0 troublemaker.

Pierre:

: I am here to talk about the future of wireless
Holds up an iphone, could cost $900/month to use all the features of an iPhone, you might have to take out a mortgage

RIM is jewel of Canadian genius, but a lot of Canadians don’t have access, because it is priced out of the market.

The very symbol of Canadian wireless success is being denied to Canadians
Why we need more competition

Status quo: restricting the growth of new media. Wireless is the future. We are impairing our capacity to compete in the world. We have fallen behind

We are asking the federal govnt to set rules to ensure competition
– Enough spectrum- existing owners have enough spectrum already, but would buy to shut out completion
– Spectrum is more valuable for any operator who wants to block access than to a company that wants to gain access because the latter needs to build infrastructure
– Monopolies carry great weight and spend millions in Ottawa
– As a Canadian, wants to see more services and lower prices 3g is essential to news gathering and is essential to all businesses in Canada.

Pierre is asking for the following rules

  1. Segment of spectrum should be set aside for new entrants
  2. Pole sharing: Incumbents should be required to share pre-existing towers and poles with new entrants.
  3. Roaming within Canada while rollout – Rollout of any new service will take time, existing carries should be required to allow

Canada deserves better let the new low cost competitive market begin. [end]

amen.

Pierre is yet cagey as weather Quebecor would expand nation-wide.

Of course, before we get too excited, remember that despite these fine words, Pierre won’t be giving away new wireless services for free. It will cost billions in spectrum + infrastructure to rollout. Pierre will have a plan to earn this back.

Still more completion is the best thing that could happen for Canadian consumers, Canadian culture and Canadian businesses (well all but a certain three Canadian Businesses). The facts on the ground are unambiguous. Canada is not competitive globally in wireless, and something needs to change.

Much more coverage of the event in the mainstream press.

Posted in accessibility, Archive, Business, mobile, quebecor, wireless | 2 Comments

Hold on to your dollars

Posted on September 21, 2007 by Thomas Purves

The Canadian Dollar reached parity with the U.S. Greenback yesterday. In on honour of this auspicious day, I thought I’d see how translates for far for tech consumers out there. Comparing prices at Apple.ca and Apple.com. Remember 1CAD = 1USD.

  CAD USD Premium
iPod Touch 329 299 10.0%
iPod Nano 169 149 13.4%
MacBook 1249 1099 13.6%
MacBookPro 2199 1999 10.0%
iMac 1399 1199 7%
iPhone *sigh* 399 Infinity

UPDATE: Given the recent strength in the Loonie has as much to do with a free-falling Dollar, you might imagine that Apple will be as apt to raise their US prices on future products rather than drop prices in Canada. So head south and bargain-shop while you can?

As Lars suggest, keep an eye on the greasy Big Mac to get a sense of how/if cross-border prices will converge.

Posted in apple, Archive, hardware, technology | 3 Comments

Google, changing of EnterpriseIT and I over at ITWorld

Posted on September 20, 2007 by Thomas Purves

Had an interesting chat with Kathleen Lau at ItWorld Canada on Googles recent moves into the enterprise and the changing roll of IT in general. Here’s what I had to say:

There is an overall trend where employees are starting to either create or bring their own IT into the enterprise, said Tom Purves, co-founder of Toronto, Ont.-based provider of enterprise social media Firestoker. “They might make the decision to say ‘I don’t feel a need to do a business case to buy this software because it isn’t a $100,000-piece of software.”

Purves said with the commoditization of collaboration and communication tools, IT’s role will change, becoming less about everyday support, backups and passwords, and more about coaching users as to the best tools to choose to enhance their performance on the job. “There is an opportunity for IT departments to add a higher level of value because as much as Google is coming out with these tools, everybody else is coming out with great tools too.

….

Those IT departments that fail to realize their changing role either risk becoming redundant or having end users work around IT policies, said Purves. Besides, the business as a whole, will become less competitive and less nimble versus those who allow their employees to dabble in the myriad tools out there.

And on the individual level, IT department staff who recognize this inevitable job shift will ultimately advance their own careers, he added. ”

Read the whole piece here: Google enterprise exec predicts IT dept shakeup

Posted in Archive, enterprise2.0, socialmedia, TheNewIT | Leave a comment