Mike Zafirovski can start at Nortel in two weeks after a deal
was worked out with Motorola. As expected, he will give back $11.5
million of a $16 million severance package (sweet!) and agree not to
poach any of Motorola's employees. The deal is a win-win all around.
Nortel gets the CEO it desperately needs, Mike Z. gets to be a CEO,
which he desperately wanted, and Motorola gets some cash back after
making life miserable for Nortel and Mike Z. for a few weeks. Nortel,
by the way, will release its third-quarter results on Wednesday. Orion Securities analyst Duncan Stewart
has come out with his first report on Nortel with an overweight
(speculative) rating and a 12-month target price of $4.50. "With a
shiny new chief executive officer and the expefcted Q4 budget flush, we
believe that Nortel is poised to do well in the very short term," he
said to start the 30-page report. (Update:
I was remiss in not pointing out Stewart is decidedly down on Nortel in
the long-term. In particular, he believes Nortel is late to market in
many areas or unlikely to sell enough product to generate growth.)
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Mark Evansthe blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.the person - lives in Toronto, CA with his wife and three children, and works as director of community with PlanetEye Inc. 
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Monday, October 31
Nortel, Mike Z. and Motorola Reach a Deal
by
Mark Evans
on Mon 31 Oct 2005 09:12 PM EST
Bullish on BroadVoice
by
Mark Evans
on Mon 31 Oct 2005 03:59 PM EST
 Nothing like a mention in Wired Magazine to make you feel better about your prospects - at least if you're BroadVoice,
which gets a big shot in the arm in the magazine's latest issue. In a
mini-review suitable for framing - or highlight in a press release, Wired proclaims
"For people who keep homes in Manhattan, Paris, and Madrid - or just
know those who do - BroadVoice is the cheapest full-service way to
banter, parler, or hablar." BroadVoice, which doesn't talk about its
subscriber numbers, plans to hire more people to keep up
with demand, which could receive a nice jolt once all those Wired subscribers get their hands on the new issue.
Reading Between the Lines at the CRTC
by
Mark Evans
on Mon 31 Oct 2005 02:42 PM EST
So what's the CRTC really saying in its latest - and final - report on the competitiveness of Canada's $30 billion telecom industry? What does this statement mean to you?: "The report indicates that local competition has increased since 2000, although competitors have not yet generally gained the same level of market share in the local markets as they have in the long distance, Internet or data and private line markets. They have however, made inroads in both the business and residential urban markets in several major centres." Given the CRTC is supposed to be making a decision in March on whether and/or how to deregulate the local market, does the above statement mean it's leaning towards deregulation or continue regulation? Depending on which side of the debate you support, there is evidence the CRTC is leaning your way? My read is the CRTC is leaning toward a hybrid solution in which it will deregulate certain markets while leaving other untouched. Toronto, for example, could easily be deregulated given consumers can choose between Bell (regular, VOIP), Rogers/Cogeco (cable telephony), Sprint (regular, VOIP), Primus (regular, VOIP) and VOIP service providers such as BabyTel, Vonage, Primus and AOL. Meanwhile, consumers in smaller communities where there is little if no choice will continue be protected.
Microsoft to Unveil New Web Strategy
by
Mark Evans
on Mon 31 Oct 2005 08:06 AM EST
It could be deja vu all over again tomorrow when Microsoft holds a
press briefing to discuss its strategic plans for the Web. It seems
like only yesterday (actually, 1995) when journalists were called to an
Internet Strategy Day
in Redmond to hear Bill Gates talks about how he was going to change
the direction of the Titanic to after this new fangled thing called the
Internet. If truth be told, Microsoft badly under-estimated the
Internet and scrambled to catch up - something that's possible if you
have billions of dollars to fix your strategic mistakes. As hard as it
is to believe, Microsoft is facing the same challenges it did 11 years
ago - the Web has changed how consumer use software, and Microsoft is
arguably behind the eight-ball. As Salesforce.com and Google have
demonstated, a growing amount of software and services are being
distributed online, rather than in plastic CD cases. Instead of wating
months for fixes and improvements, Web-based software/services are
continually upgraded to address problems and
consumer demands. Microsoft has little choice but to make its consumer
and corporate software (Office, etc.) more user and Web-friendly. It
will be interesting to see what Gates and his new lieutenant, Ray Ozzie,
unveil tomorrow. Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund is speculating a
new, served-based version of Office will be spotlighted, which is a
no-brainer. Also look for instant-messaging to become part of other
Microsoft applications.
Speaking of Google and the Office market, it is interesting to see that Google plans to hire some programmers to improve Sun's OpenOffice application. "We use a fair amount of open-source software at Google," said Chris DiBonna, manager of Google's open-source programs. "And we want to make sure open-source ensures competitiveness within the industry." That sounds like a shot across the proverbial bow if you ask me.
Telus Union Rejects Agreement
by
Mark Evans
on Mon 31 Oct 2005 07:46 AM EST
While the terms of Telus Corp.'s proposed collective agreement have are public due to a news blackout, it's hard to believe the Telecommunication Workers Union members
have rejected it by a narrow margin - 50.3% to 49.7%. (maybe there were
a few hanging chads that affected the outcome!?) It appeared the strike
had been settled several weeks ago when both sides agreed to a new
collective agreement after more than five years without one. One can
only suspect the TWU members balked at outsourcing language contained
the new pact given it was the contentious issue during negotiations and
the three-month strike. I'm not sure what the rejections means. Either
the TWU goes back to its membership and re-explains the terms and/or
gets the 2,000 members who didn't vote to participate in the process,
or talks start again with a few modifications made to get a majority to
support it.
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