Mark Evans gives us his take from North of the border where despite all the hoopla, WiMAX is turning out to be a non starter. The much ballyhooed Manitoba Telecom/Allstream’s fixed wireless venture is seemingly not going anywhere.

MTS quietly sold its one-third equity position last month to Rogers and NR for a measly C$8.1-million. MTS said after doing an evaluation of the technology and its commercial potential, it wants to focus on being a strategic telecom service suppliers. This sounds like a vote on non-confidence in a service that was supposed to deliver IP-based services such as Internet access and voice. Rogers said it is exploring its options, while NR has been silent. It was only six months ago Allstream, Microcell and NR were confidently talking about how the new joint venture was going to disrupt Canada’s broadband market. Now, it sounds like this JV may quietly disappear into the ether.