High Road Communications

Ok. So, I might actually be able to buy a phone I want – when I want!  I heard Roberta Fox from Fox Group on CBC radio early this week – which resparked my interest - doing a series of spots on number portability and there have been a number of blog posts in Canada looking at how Wireless Number Portability will change the Canadian wireless landscape.

Today, Bell, Rogers and TELUS will allow customers from BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec to switch cell providers and keep their cell number. In addition, other wireless carriers will be required to allow users to make this change by September 12. If you look at how Rogers and Bell have battled it out for the land line market, it will be interesting to see how WNP will affect competition within the wireless space.

With the CDMA and GSM wars still waging and high early termination fees in place, we might not be able to leave one carrier for the other as easily as we’d like. But at least now we don’t have to be at the mercy of the carrier’s choice of which phones to bring into Canada. Canadians who were locked in with one carrier did not have the option to upgrade to the latest and greatest phones.  Now at least the opportunity exists…

With half of all Canadians using a cell phone, I expect that we’ll see this help push carriers to adopt new phones faster, to try to encourage users to switch based on the device/platform.  And although I love my phone – my UTStarcom Pocket PC – I am looking forward to having more choice between some of the cool new devices with Windows Mobile that Americans can already purchase.

IT World Canada just announced that it has acquired IT Business Group from Transcontinental. That means ComputerWorld Canada and Computing Canada will be part of the same family. For how long? IT World Canada confirmed seven lay-offs in the press release but added there would be “no additional personnel changes as a result of the purchase”. No details yet on the future of all the publications and digital brands. IT World Canada’s president Andrew White made the following comment:

“Over the coming weeks, we will be finalizing the integration of the companies, and reviewing the product portfolios for future synergies. In the meantime, we will maintain all existing properties and work with our clients to ensure a smooth transition over the coming weeks and months.”

The acquisition will strengthen IT World Canada’s position in the market (I am especially interested to see what kind of digital strategy the combined powerhouse will embark on). Depending on the extent of the “future synergies”, it may also leave the Canadian IT community with less opportunity to get business technology news from different media sources. This begs the question: will we see another media company (or blogging network) step up?

Maybe one of the large American technology business sites will consider creating a Canadian site to get a share of the local online advertising dollars. Red Herring announced some kind of Canadian presence a while ago. CNET already operates international sites in Asia, Australia and several European countries. It has all the technology infrasctructure in place. Why not hire a few journalists and add Canada to the portfolio (again)?

Maybe other Canadian media properties, like Canoe or Globetechnology.com, will look at beefing up both enterprise-focused content and Canadian stories in their technology sections?

Or will we see even more independent bloggers and news sites pop up in Canada? Former National Post tech reporter Mark Evans is blogging away with his two tech blogs and a podcast series (together with Kevin Restivo). On the telecom/VoIP side, we have people like Alec Saunders and Jon Arnold covering the community. And there are many more.

IT World Canada is positioning itself for long-term success as an important voice in Canada’s thriving technology community. With more editorial staff it has the chance to provide even more breadth and depth in coverage. But there is room for more voices - corporate or independent.

Read the press release here