Last week the Federal government announced their latest plan to improve Canadian telecom and Internet infrastructure.

Mediacaster put together a nice overview of what it all of it means but this is the key segment for Worldline:

Among the commitments contained in the Digital Canada 150 document, a pledge to connect over 98 percent of Canadians to high-speed Internet by 2019, with speeds of at least five megabits per second.

While that does include nearly 300,000 Canadian households, mostly in rural and remote communities, that will have access to high-speed Internet for the first time, it also marks a change in the broadband commitments previously made.

The government had set similar speed and access targets for 2015 for all Canadians; nevertheless, broadband connectivity projects will be eligible for federal funding under the Building Canada Fund.

Allowing more Canadians access to the broadband telecom infrastructure means more Canadians with have better options, more choice, and the ability to go with companies like Worldline who believe we’ve all been overcharged for far too long.

Canadians are understandably frustrated by their lack of access to broadband Internet. It’s a huge country, and providing access to the communication tool of this and next century requires a massive investment.

This most recent injection is a nice boost, but obviously much more is needed. The only reason every Canadian doesn’t have broadband access, or has to pay through the nose to get it, is a lack of political will. To get Canada on pace with the rest of the modern world, more programs like Digital Canada 150 need to be introduced.

The telecom advocacy group, OpenMedia.ca agrees:

“The government has had years to get this right – which makes [the] unveiling all the more disappointing”, says OpenMedia.ca Executive Director Steve Anderson. “This reads like the digital strategy for the last 5 years – not for the 5 years ahead. Although there are some positive proposals here, all in all Canada will still be left playing catch-up with the rest of the industrialized world when it comes to Internet access and affordability.”

Worldline is one of the fastest growing residential telecom services in Canada and to keep our current and future customers happy, (and all of us who work here sane), we’re adding to our staff. If you have a handle on finances, and are looking for a job with one of the up and comers in Canada, and enjoy working in a fun, casual environment (we may be getting a slide!), you are invited to apply for:

FINANCE MANAGER

The Role

The Finance Manager will have the opportunity to manage the accounting and administration functions of the wholesale and residential division. Monthly, quarterly and annual functions are very timeline driven and require accuracy while remaining true to accounting guidelines. This position offers you an excellent and challenging opportunity to gain experience in regards to telecommunications and all that it entails, from acquisition integration to automation and streamlining of processes.

Responsibilities:

• In charge of developing and implementing accounting policies and procedures related to wholesale and residential services
• Identify and resolve accounting issues
• Coach and mentor two direct reports in accounts receivable and collections
• Responsible for recruiting, training and team management for accounting staff
• Revenue recording for residential entities, including deferred revenue
• Monthly working paper preparation for Residential and Wholesale entities
• Wholesale invoice/credit batch review and posting
• Liaise with various departments within the organization to help facilitate a collaborative work environment
• Coordinate special projects that arise that involve residential customers
• Proactively develop key financial analysis and insights to help enable the company meet its quarterly and annual targets, and strategic objectives
•  Understand and communicate financial results and trends to business management, and recommend appropriate course of action when results differ from plan
•  Play a key role in all aspects of monthly, quarterly and annual closes

Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in related field
• Working towards CGA, or other designation preferred
• 3-5 of years previous relative experience
• Knowledge of sophisticated ERP systems
• Microsoft Dynamics GP experience an asset
• Experience managing others as part of a team
• Telecommunications’ industry knowledge is highly recommended

Our Company

We are one of Canada’s fastest growing telecommunications companies and one of Waterloo Region’s emerging start-up success stories! Our rapid success has been leveraged by a marriage of established legacy systems with emerging internet protocol based technologies. This success has translated into growth and many new career opportunities and therefore we are looking for talented people to join our team!

We offer a high energy, professional yet casual work environment with the opportunity to make a difference every day. It’s an environment where everyone’s contribution is valued and rewarded. We take pride in our ability to have fun and celebrate our successes together. In return, we are looking for people who are creative and passionate about their work. Successful employees have an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for technology. If we are describing you, then consider becoming a part of the Fibernetics team!

To apply please submit your resume to careers@fibernetics.ca

Apple’s First Home

Garages. That’s once place where they tended to happen. Google, Apple, Intel… they all started up in a garage. Or a basement, like in the case of Fibernetics.

Every successful business had to start someplace, and in the past the one thing in common they all seemed to share were the places were dark, dank and dirty. But above all cheap.

When a company is in startup mode, the last thing they want to spend money on is a slick looking lobby and executive suite. All money goes to development and marketing, and those “nice things” hopefully come later. Today, starting up a business has changed for the better. The garage is out, and business incubators are in, and in the tech triangle, the No.1 hatcher of small businesses is the Communitech Hub.

Next weekend (April 4-6) Communitech is holding its Startup Weekend – Waterloo Region Community Edition – for the next generation out to change the world. The focus is on creating companies that —in some way, shape or form— enhance community life.

They’ll have lots of help. The key to their success is access to those who have been there before. Entrepreneurs who have successfully transformed their vision of a successful service or product into reality. These are the mentors, and this extraordinary group includes Fibernetics Co-Founder John Stix:

Co-Founder John Stix

“Being apart of Start up weekend is more than a chance for me to give back, it’s also a chance for me to be immersed in the total entrepreneurial experience which I love.  Such great young minds show up every year and I come out of it inspired myself.”

“I intend to broaden my mentoring because this is where positive change can really happen, not only for the motivated entrepreneur but the community at large.  I can say that Fibernetics at one point only existed on a bar napkin and now we employ over 200 great team members.”

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation.

The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback. Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups.

If you want to work with business leaders like John, and put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur, register HERE.

Michael Geist published an important post on his blog yesterday, focusing on what is behind the recent price increases the wireless carriers dropped on Canadians without the benefit of an explanation or even a press release.

Geist’s opinion?

“The carriers increased prices because they can.”

Money quote:

Indeed, this is precisely what the Competition Bureau of Canada concluded could and would happen in its analysis of the wireless environment in Canada.  In its  January 29, 2014 submission to the CRTC, it stated:

In the Bureau’s view, mobile wireless markets in Canada are characterized by high concentration and very high barriers to entry and expansion. Furthermore, Canadian mobile wireless markets are characterized by other factors that, when combined with high concentration and very high barriers to entry and expansion, create a risk of coordinated interaction in these markets. Given these factors, the Bureau’s view is that incumbent service providers have market power in Canadian retail mobile wireless markets.

And what is market power? As the Bureau notes, “market power is the ability of a firm or firms to profitably maintain prices above competitive levels (or similarly restrict non-price dimensions of competition) for a significant period of time.”

Where ISPs like Worldline helped slow down the runaway pricing for home phone and Internet, (although they still charge a ton more), the Big Three don’t have any real competition when it comes to wireless so the only thing that is reigning them in is, “what is the maximum we get away with without starting another revolt?”

With the wireless marketplace seemingly set as is for the next few years, there is another way to generate more competition, and one that is being actively lobbied for by companies like Worldline.

It’s something called a Regulated Mobile Virtual Network Operator market. MVNOs typically do not own spectrum or wireless network infrastructure. Instead, they purchase network access at wholesale rates from existing operators and offer it to consumers with their own retail pricing.

By setting wholesale price, the government could use regulation to create a new batch of MVNO competitors in Canada.

Ting mobile is having some success as an MVNO operating in the States and they are also looking to open up shop here in Canada. In fact they’d love to as they are a Canadian company – however one that’s not allowed to operate here due to outdated regulations.

Elliott Noss from Ting wrote:

If the government took the resources they are spending on television ads telling us about how they want fairness in the mobile phone market and spent it on effectively executing a mandated wholesale regime, then Canadians would have real change. In places where this has been executed well, like the UK or Israel, users have immediately enjoyed lower prices and higher levels of service.

Sounds like a good idea, and then, when all the Worldline customers who are begging us to provide wireless service call, instead of saying to them, “We’d love to, but we can’t.”, we’d get to say, “Sure, what do you need?”