ROGERS BELIEVES Bell Canada is less than two months away from launching its IPTV service in Toronto, beginning in the Yonge-Bloor region, according to David Purdy, Rogers Cable’s VP and GM television.
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WTBS will change its name to PeachtreeTV as of October 1st, said Turner’s Matt Tolleson. The programming will remain much the same, however. Also – with CNN HD having launched in the States on September 1st – Tolleson says he wants to see that feed in Canada soon.
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And speaking of HD, Speed is readying its high definition version, which it will have ready to go in time for Speed Week – the week before the Daytona 500 – in February.
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Each year, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance honours a member and a supplier with awards. Winning this year’s member of the year award was, fittingly enough since we’re in Quebec, Cable Axion , which serves the Eastern Townships of the province. Recognized as a dynamic business in the
communications field, Axion has been offering services to regional clients since 1984. The firm has a comprehensive team of technology specialists and customer support staff who strive to meet the needs of every subscriber within the network. Seeking to offer leading-edge services for all lifestyles and budgets, Axion will soon be adding IP telephony services to its telecommunications options. Company president Pierre Allard accepted the award from CCSA president and CEO Alyson Townsend.
Winning the supplier of the year award was TVC Canada, the first-ever equipment supplier to win the award which has traditionally gone to programmers. TVC Canada is a leading integrator and value added reseller, sup
plying the cable, telecom, broadcast and broadband industries with premium quality, brand label products and services. It supplies a wide range of products from cable and connectors to digital video transport and power solutions and operate a full RF service and repair centre.
“We have put lots on the table and we are exceedingly happy to be recognized with this award as the first hardware distributor to be vendor of the year,” said TVC Canada president Steve Quinn (pictured).
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CTAM Canada is releasing new video on demand research done in Canada for Canadian professionals in the industry. Watch Cartt.ca for more on this later in the week.
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Paul Osmond (right) is the new guy at the CCSA. He is the new manager of purchasing since the former purchasing head, Sylvia Janssen left the company to join New Brunswick’s Lottery Corporation.
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Over 270 are in attendance here and it looked like all of them hit the CCSA’s Bulk Purchasing Trade Show Monday morning. Here’s a quick look at some of the products we saw:
Lindsay Broadband was featuring its CUBO Optics CWDM (coarse wavelength division multiplexing) passive optical multiplexer – the smallest one in the market, says Kevin Sweeting, VP sales. It increases bandwidth and keeps costs down. www.lindsaybroadbandinc.com
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Adara Technologies was pumping its AdaraMAX, a solution that can deliver up to 300 high definition channels on any 550 MHz plant. Not to mention multi-room PVR and video on demand. It’s a hosted digital remote headend solution. www.adara-tech.com
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CBC’s Galaxie was showing off its brand new web site streaming its 45 channels of music 24/7. But it’s not available on the wide open Internet. Instead, it’s a value-added web service that operators can pitch to their customers who can log in and listen from anywhere they have a PC. It’s a neat looking clean site where customers can also purchase songs and CDs, too. It’s already available to Shaw customers. www.galaxie.ca
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TVC was highlighting a pair of products, its BrightPath, simple and cost-effective Fibre to the Home solution from CommScope that is designed to utilize existing plant and its Steren voice/video/data connectivity solutions. www.tvccanada.com
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On the Capella table was its RGB Broadcast Network Processor, which delivers high density digital video processing for grooming, statistical multiplexing, transrating and digital program insertion. www.capella.ca
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High speed Internet provider iBBS made its first trip to Canada and as a supplier to the U.S. National Cable Television Co-operative, it’s a company familiar with small independent operators. www.ibbs.com
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Power & Tel’s table had a number of products, highlighted by its BTI Photonic 10 G Wavelength Regenerator, Alphacell battery testing gear and JDSU digital service analysis meters. www.ptsupply.ca
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Perftech offered an interesting technology which can identify customers of ISPs and offer them useful ads while they peruse the world wide web. Useful for the operator in that the ads can request a call on a customer’s account, offer a service or deliver a message, like a bad weather report – all while they are doing their regular surfing. www.perftech.com
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Trispec’s Gary Cote was highlighting the company’s Ceragon wireless products, saying they’re working great in Europe through the company’s Euro-division – and its recent distribution agreement with Motorola for its set top boxes. www.trispec.com
