KELOWNA – “We broke all our records,” says Canadian CommTech Show and Seminars organizer Jan Lee in describing the number of attendees at this year’s gathering.
She told Cartt.ca, which is also the event’s media sponsor, that the annual event drew delegates – not including exhibitors – from 68 separate companies (up from 52 last year). The delegates were treated to a dozen seminars Wednesday and can take advantage of eight more Thursday.
On the trade show floor there are approximately 90 exhibits and while the final count isn’t in yet, the total number of industry folks here are well over 400. And they’re not all just from B.C., either. There are quite a sprinkling from as far afoot as Moose Factory, Yellowknife’s Northwestel and we even chatted with Markdale, Ont.’s Dave Armstrong and the CCSA’s Paul Osmond.
Here’s a sampling of what they were able to see on the floor:
Huawei, the big Chinese telecom supplier, is growing in Canada in a big way according to Kevin Sweeting, who moved to the company last fall. It was showing its Distributed Node B, an item which is currently being deployed by Bell and Telus as the two big telcos put together their 3G wireless network. www.huawei.com
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Adara Technologies was showing off a little number which was popular at last month’s Cable Show in Washington, Cisco’s soon-to-be-in production 8600 series – an HD/DVR set top box that is an IPTV and RF box, all-in-one. www.adara-tech.com
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Lindsay Broadband’s Dave Atman reported that sales on its WAZU are still boffo. The wi-fi solution is deployed around the world thanks to its robust features (surge and lightning protection), small size, inexpensive nature and flexibility and MSOs are still expanding their hot spots. www.lindsaybroadbandinc.com
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Over at Arcom, which was sharing a table with distributor Capella, Basil Dillon-Malone was singing the praises of the company’s Hunter system. The technology seeks out root causes of network issues using radar. While widely deployed Stateside as it’s a great tool to find all sorts of problems, such as corrosion, oxidation, over and under-torqued screws, Canadian operators have not bought in, in large numbers… yet, says Dillon-Malone, who’s working on that. www.arcomlabs.com
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The BTI 700-series of carrier Ethernet products was front and centre at the Power & Tel table. The new series aims to make the technology as resilient as SONET-based networks. The small demarcation box comes in four different models. www.ptsupply.ca
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Burlington, Ont.-based Evertz used the conference to show off its 3405FR SFP frame. The single RU frame has been made to house up to 16 single or dual channel SFP modules, features dual power supplies, and all components are hot-swappable through the front or the back of the frame. www.evertz.com
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Around the corner at Alpha Technologies, Dave Nolan reports renewed interest in the company’s Alphaguard. The small box (a bit bigger than two decks of cards) isn’t a battery, it’s simply a unit that equalizes charge voltage for a system’s standby batteries, which can dramatically extend the overall life of the batteries – which are a far more critical piece of the network now that cable companies are offering lifeline voice. www.alpha.com
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TVC Canada was showing off its FSM 60R fusion splicer from AFL Telecom. The splicer can now perform two to 12-strand ribbon splicing in a single step. It can also withstand a drop test of up to 30 inches and can resist dust and rain, too. Additional improvements include automatic image orientation when switching the dual position monitor, a large capacity battery option and the ability to charge the battery during splicer operation. www.tvccanada.com
