Canada in Vanguard of IP Networking Adoption

June 9, 2005

by Charles Waltner, News@Cisco

Canadian telecommunications companies, public agencies and private businesses are making the most of Internet Protocol networking technologies. And Cisco is playing a big part.

Canada's progressive use of Internet Protocol (IP) networks starts with its largest telecommunications company. Bell Canada partnered with Cisco in 2004 to triple the size of its network and convert its entire communications infrastructure to IP-based technology by 2007. Once completed, Bell Canada's IP network will be the biggest of its kind in Canada and one of the most advanced in the world.

"The potential of IP far outweighs the value of the legacy technology it is replacing," says Isabelle Courville, president of the Bell Canada Enterprise group. "The IP revolution is creating a world where voice, data and video run over a single, integrated network…a world exploding with innovative new products and services. And our partnership with best in class vendors like Cisco Systems is helping take our business to new heights."

The expanded IP network will allow Bell Canada to consolidate all of its operations onto one infrastructure while making it far easier to provide any of these services in any combination. With a converged IP network, Bell Canada can more quickly and easily deploy a virtually limitless array of applications based on customer requirements—be they consumers, small businesses or major corporations.

But Canada's innovative use of IP networking goes well beyond traditional communications industries. Canada, for example, is leading the healthcare industry with one of the most successful telemedicine programs in the world. The North Network is bringing better healthcare to the widely scattered 1.5 million inhabitants of Northern Ontario, a region roughly the size Texas and California combined.

The centerpiece of the North Network's service is live, two-way video and audio communications powered by Cisco's innovative Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS) IP communications technology. Over time the North Network has integrated medical devices such as patient examination cameras and digital stethoscopes into the system for long-distance exams. The advanced multimedia network allows patients in remote towns to access physicians and healthcare services they might not otherwise be able to reach.

The North Network recently expanded to more than 80 sites while supporting more than 70 medical specialties, such as cardiology, neurology, and radiology. Since starting more than six years ago, the network has made possible more than 15,000 physician consultations. It now averages more than 1,000 consultations a month. North Network is now generating more interactive patient consultation and educational activity for its size than any other network in the country. And thanks to North Network, the Canadian government is now helping patients trim more than $250,000 a month from their transportation expenses. Earlier this year the North Network won the prestigious President's Award from the American Telemedicine Association, which recognizes contributions to the development and advancement of telemedicine worldwide.

Besides boosting healthcare, Cisco recently helped the Toronto Pearson International Airport take flight with a state-of-the-art converged IP network that runs throughout its new $4.5 billion terminal. The terminal's network is a showcase for some of the industry's most advanced IP-based technologies. It uses optical backbones with MPLS, virtual private networks (VPNs), and SONET services, in addition to a wide-ranging wireless infrastructure and IP phone system. The comprehensive wired and wireless IP network lets the airport management and its tenants access their own data and private communications systems from virtually anywhere in or near the facility.

"By integrating more than 14 different communications systems and numerous applications onto a single, secure IP-based local area network, we've made the promise of converged, mobile, integrated communications a reality," says James Burke, chief information officer for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), the managers of the Toronto Airport.

Some of the different uses for the IP network will include passenger check-in and baggage tracking, video surveillance, and telephone service. The new network is letting the airport, airlines and other tenants far more easily move and reconfigure their booths, passenger processing gates and other operations, helping the airport more cost-effectively accommodate the wide-ranging needs of its tenants.

Private Canadian businesses are also making the most of Cisco's IP technology. Richardson Partners Financial Ltd., Canada's fastest growing independent wealth management firm, is using Cisco IP Communications to enhance customer service and improve productivity by seamlessly linking its 210 employees in eight offices across Canada. Since all of its Cisco IP phones connect via a wide-area IP network, any employee, regardless of location, has the same communications capabilities of employees at company headquarters. Richardson Partners estimates the Cisco IP phone network requires only half as much overhead as a traditional analog office phone system.

The Cisco IP Communications system also offers Richardson Partners new possibilities. Traveling employees can use their laptops like their office phones anywhere they can access a high-speed connection. Advisors also have tremendous flexibility in customizing how the phone system works for their team of sales people, such as grouping advisors into small units based on specialties.

"The phone is the lifeblood of any investment shop," says Stan Eng, chief technology officer for Richardson Partners. "The flexibility of the IP communications platform has opened up a world of possibilities for us."

Multinational companies working in Canada, such as Virgin Mobile, are also tapping into Cisco's IP networking technologies to make their businesses better. By using a flexible Cisco IP Communications network, Virgin Mobile was able to quickly and cost-effectively set up its new Canadian operations. It has also provided Virgin Mobile the ability to easily scale its operations as staff levels change with seasonal business fluctuations, such as back-to-school sales and Christmas shopping.

So no matter the task, Cisco and Canada are setting the pace in developing IP networks for the Information Age.

Charles Waltner is a freelance journalist in Oakland, Calif.