TORONTO-Canadian personal communications services provider Microcell Telecommunications Inc. announced it formed a new mobile Internet services development company, Microcell i5 Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of Microcell, Microcell i5 plans to launch its first service in third-quarter 2000.
Microcell i5, with an initial $33.58 million investment, will target the 650,000 customers of Microcell’s Fido PCS service. Microcell said the first service will be a wireless portal, followed by several data services.
Within a year, the data transmission rate of Microcell’s Global System for Mobile communications network will increase tenfold, the company said. “The evolution of our GSM network will play a key role in terms of the data products and services that will be introduced,” said Andre Tremblay, president and chief executive officer of Microcell Telecommunications.
“We are negotiating with several potential partners,” said Francois-Charles Sirois, president and chief operating officer of Microcell i5. “These partnerships will make it possible for us to build a solid infrastructure in order to launch our first generation of services and support the anticipated growth in advanced mobile services.”
Microcell said studies estimate that Canadian access to Internet services using mobile terminals will reach 45 percent between now and 2005.
