The Globe & Mail has a story on speculation the federal government may recommend that a fourth national wireless carrier be created to stimulate competition. I hate to rain on anyone's parade but it ain't going to happen. First, if Ottawa really wanted another carrier to stimulate competition it would never have approved Rogers' $1.4-billion takeover of Microcell. Second, just because the federal government  recommends another carrier be established, who's going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to do it given there are already three well-entrenched rivals in the market. If anything, Canada could do with a few more MVNOs to stir things up - much like Virgin Canada is trying to do. The MVNO model is Canada is lagging the U.S., but there doesn't appear to be much interest among Telus, Rogers and Bell given there's plenty of low-hanging fruit left to be picked.

According to The Inquirer, a small Web design company in California called Balthaser Online says it has obtained a patent for rich-media Internet applications. If Balthaser's contention is accurate, this could mean anyone who wants to use Flash, Flex, Java, Ajax and XAML may have to pay a licensing fee to Balthaser. This either looks like another U.S. Patent & Trade Office fiasco and/or a company setting itself up to be acquired and put out of its misery. In any event, it - and the patent battle between NTP and RIM - illustrates the USPTO should undergo an extensive review to assess whether the granting of patents is being done in a way that protects the rights of investors while still leaving enough flexibility to encourage innovation.
For more news coverage, check out Information Week.

I've got a story  in today's Financial Post about Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London, which is quickly becoming a popular vehicle for tech start-ups looking to raise growth capital. Unlike North American investors, who still seem skittish about tech stocks even five years after the dot-com bubble burst, European investors - including institutional ones - are enthusiastic about tech start-ups with modest revenue and limited track records. One of the companies currently pursuing a listing is Sandvine Inc., which sells intelligence hardware and software to broadband service providers. So what's AIM's appeal?: less onerous listing and reporting requirements, which makes it an attractive option for companies looking to avoid Sarbannes-Oxley rules. AIM plans to capitalize on the concerns about Sarbannes-Oxley by launching a major marketing campaign in the U.S. In Canada,  investment firm Canaccord Adams has bee particularly active leading companies to AIM through placements or IPOs.