Shaw 2013 Annual Report Download - page 13

S
haw
C
ommunications Inc
.
MANA
G
EMENT’
S
DI
SCUSS
I
O
N AND ANALY
S
I
S
August
31
,
2013
I
n
p
rov
i
d
i
n
gi
ts Internet access serv
i
ces,
S
haw levera
g
es D
OCS
I
S3
.
0
technolo
gy
wh
i
ch ha
s
enabled the Company to increase the capabilities and reliability of its network by increasing the
capacity and throughput of both the upstream and downstream portions of Shaw’s cable
i
n
f
rastructure. U
pg
rades and enhancements o
fi
ts ca
pi
tal
i
n
f
rastructure are on
g
o
i
n
g,
strengthening the Company’s Internet backbone and decreasing the average node size
.
D
uring 2013, Shaw continued the build out of its managed carrier-grade WiFi network, Sha
w
Go WiFi, which extends a customer’s broadband experience beyond their home. The service wa
s
launched
i
n
2012
on a tr
i
al bas
i
s
i
n select c
i
t
i
es, and
i
s now ava
i
lable
i
n most areas served b
y
Shaw. In addition, Shaw reached agreements with a number of cities to expand Shaw Go WiF
i
service to public areas within those cities. WiFi is in virtually all portable consumer devices an
d
customers are act
i
vel
y
seek
i
n
g
W
i
F
i
hots
p
ots to reduce data costs and
i
m
p
rove the
i
rw
i
reles
s
broadband exper
i
ence.
S
haw operates two Internet data centres
i
n
C
algary, Alberta and several smaller reg
i
ona
l
centres. The data centres allow the Company to manage its Internet services exclusively,
p
rov
i
d
i
n
g
e-ma
i
l serv
i
ce d
i
rectl
y
to
i
ts customers us
i
n
g“@
shaw.ca” e-ma
i
l addresses,
prov
i
s
i
on
i
ng web space, and manag
i
ng backbone connect
i
v
i
ty and peer
i
ng arrangements. Th
e
centres also host Shaw customers’ most popular web content locally.
D
uring 2013 the Company continued construction of a new data centre in Calgary that will
allow
i
t to sta
y
ahead o
f
the technolo
gy
curve be
i
n
g
able to handle new
i
nnovat
i
ons as the
y
ar
e
adopted, such as the W
i
F
i
network
i
n
i
t
i
at
i
ve. The data centre w
i
ll
i
ncorporate energy e
ffi
c
i
ent
cooling systems allowing Shaw to reduce the environmental impact. The centre is planned to be
com
p
lete
i
n
fi
scal
201
5
.
Digital Phone
I
n 2005 Shaw entered the “triple play” market of voice, video and data services with th
e
launch o
fS
haw D
igi
tal Phone, a rel
i
able,
f
ull
yf
eatured and a
ff
ordable res
i
dent
i
al tele
p
hone
serv
i
ce.
Si
nce then, the
C
ompany expanded
i
ts D
i
g
i
tal Phone
f
ootpr
i
nt and currently o
ff
ers the
service to 95% of homes passed. As at August 31, 2013, Shaw had over 1.3 million Digita
l
P
hone l
i
nes
(p
r
i
mar
y
and secondar
y
l
i
nes on b
i
ll
i
n
g)
.
S
haw D
igi
tal Phone o
ff
ers
p
acka
g
es ta
i
lored to meet the needs o
f
res
i
dent
i
al subscr
i
bers w
i
th
varying levels of included long distance and calling features. Similar to the residentia
l
packages, Shaw offers a variety of Shaw Business products for home based or smalle
r
bus
i
nesses
i
nclud
i
n
g
mana
g
ed and hosted
p
r
i
vate branch exchan
g
es
(“
PBX”
)
and a
p
r
i
mar
y
rate
interface (“PRI”) service for medium and larger businesses
.
Shaw Digital Phone utilizes PacketCable technology and DOCSIS specifications. Customers
’
existing phone lines are connected into modems usually installed at the location of the centra
l
w
i
r
i
n
gi
n the customers’
p
rem
i
ses. The modem converts the vo
i
ce conversat
i
on
(
sounds waves
)
into digital IP packets that are carried to an IP-based telephone switch (“softswitch”). At this
point, the packets are transformed again into traditional telephone signals for connection to the
p
ubl
i
csw
i
tched tele
p
hone network or ma
y
be routed throu
g
h the IP network to the called
p
art
y.
U
nl
i
ke
i
nternet
p
hone
p
rov
i
ders who use the
i
nternet to route calls,
S
haw’s D
igi
tal Phone
service uses Shaw’s own private managed broadband network and the public switche
d
t
elephone network to route calls, allowing the Company to ensure a consistent level of qualit
y
and rel
i
ab
i
l
i
t
y
to
i
ts
p
hone customers.
9