Bell Mobility Plans Upgrade, Sierra Wireless
Alliance (Update1)
By Steve Maich and Sean Pasternak
Toronto, Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- BCE Inc.'s wireless unit will announce plans
tomorrow to upgrade its network and to introduce new wireless Internet
services with the help of Sierra Wireless Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp.,
company officials said.
Bell Mobility, Canada's No. 2 wireless-phone company, will discuss plans to
expand its network and sell so-called third- generation services, Mobility
spokeswoman Isabelle Tremblay said. Such services include streaming, which
enables users to download video and audio from the Internet for play on
wireless handsets.
Canada's wireless-phone companies are preparing to offer third-generation
wireless products and services over the next few years to exploit advances in
handset technology. In November, Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. said
it will begin upgrading its network in 2001 so that it can offer the services in
2003.
Sierra Wireless, a Burnaby, British Columbia-based maker of wireless
modems, plans to form an alliance with Mobility, Sierra spokesman Hugh
Scholey said. He wasn't more specific.
Nortel and PacketVideo Corp., a closely held San Diego-based developer of
software for transmitting video to wireless devices, will take part in the Mobility
announcement, the companies said. They gave no additional details.
Shares of Montreal-based BCE rose 45 Canadian cents to C$40.60 in Toronto
trading. Sierra Wireless fell C$3.75, or 6.2 percent, to C$56.50. |
