Telus Mobility in July embarked on a new project that will bring wireless connectivity to a number of dispersed communities in the company’s province of birth, British Columbia. Called the B.C. Heartland Expansion Initiative, the project will bring Telus’s digital PCS and 1X network to 10 B.C. communities this year, with an additional 10 to follow in 2004. The project, which will cost Telus approximately $20 million over the next two years, will enable such wireless capabilities as text messaging, voice and data transmission and high-speed wireless networking. The communities receiving wireless coverage over the next two years span the geography of British Columbia and include Vancouver Island.
Crossed Ts, dotted Is
PeopleSoft Inc. last month closed its deal to acquire J.D. Edwards & Co., purchasing 88 per cent of the outstanding shares of its fellow enterprise software firm, and expecting to buy the remaining shares by the end of August. J.D. Edwards stockholders who tendered their shares in response to PeopleSoft’s offer received US$14.74 in either cash, PeopleSoft stock or a combination for each share. Those that did not tender their shares will receive US$7.05 in cash in addition to 0.43 of a PeopleSoft share. The total value of the deal is US$1.8 billion, PeopleSoft said in a July press release.
Spending up in ’03
A survey of Canadian CIOs released last month indicates that IT spending will increase slightly over 2003. Of the 90 senior IT managers surveyed for the report, entitled CIO IT Spending Survey, 49 per cent said they plan to increase technology spending for the remainder of 2003. Canaccord Capital Corp., a Vancouver-based independent investment dealer, along with CIO Canada magazine, an IT World Canada publication, conducted the survey. The findings also indicated that 14 per cent of respondents said the increases in IT spending currently being planned will represent an increase of more than 10 per cent, a higher figure than previously reported in other surveys.
