Telesat tops Ottawa firms on Branham300

Published on April 5, 2011
Elizabeth Howell

Ottawa satellite firm Telesat sits atop more than 30 Ottawa-headquartered companies listed on the Branham300, an annual measure of Canadian technology firms based on worldwide revenue.

Consolidated revenues for Telesat in 2010 were $821 million, up four per cent or $34 million from 2009.

Considering foreign exchange fluctations, the increase was more like eight per cent, Telesat said when releasing the results in early March.

The firm is in reported takeover discussions that could culminate in new ownership in a matter of weeks. It currently is jointly owned by majority United States economic interests and majority Canadian voting interests.

Many of the firms in the top 20 of Branham’s list have or had significant presences in Ottawa, including RIM (which took top rank overall), BCE, Rogers Communications, Telus, MDA, OpenText and Nortel Networks.

Although Nortel is insolvent, the firm has been engaging in billions of dollars in asset sales in past years, still pushing its revenues up to the 14th rank overall on the Branham300.

Just yesterday, Nortel announced Google was the stalking-horse bidder for its last major asset – patents – for $900 million.

“It’s been a slow decline for Nortel, one of Canada’s most well know technology companies,” stated Darren Anderson, the research co-ordinator for Branham300.

“While Nortel only has skeleton operations remaining, they continued to generate sales in 2010 and as such remained on the Branham300 listing. While 2010 may be the last year that Nortel lands on the Branham300, there is no question that its influence on the tech community in Ottawa and throughout Canada will live on for years to come.”

Branham, a consulting firm, stated the technology industry as a whole had “modest” growth in 2010, with the top 250 companies seeing $73.93 billion in revenue, a nearly four-per-cent increase over $71.32 billion in 2009, but still down from $75.97 billion in 2008.

The complete list of Ottawa-headquartered firms:

– Telesat (13)

– Mitel (19)

– Calian Technologies (32)

– Zarlink Semiconductor (34)

– DragonWave (38)

– Bridgewater Systems (49)

– March Networks (53)

– Eagle Professional Resources (54)

– MOSAID Technologies (63)

– Maplesoft Group (65)

– Agda Group Consultants (65)

– Wi-LAN (89)

– Veritaaq Technology House (104)

– Nitro IT Business Solutions (115)

– CORADIX Technology Consulting (122)

– International Datacasting (132)

– Iridian Spectral Technologies (149)

– ExitCertified (151)

– 4Point (158)

– OSI Geospatial (159)

– Espial Group (178)

– Cistel (182)

– TRM Technologies Inc. (197)

– PIKA Technologies (204) – tied

– C-COM Satellite Systems (206)

– ThinkWrap Solutions (229)

– PrecisionERP (233)

– Fidus Systems (237)

– non-linear creations (242)

– In-Touch Survey Systems (250)

– Advanced Software Concepts (259)

– DataKinetics (271)

– TASKE Technology (276)

– TECSIS (279)

– The KTL Group (297)

Branham also published several other lists isolating specific industries.

Top 25 Canadian ICT Multinational Companies

– General Dynamics Canada (11)

– Alcatel-Lucent Canada (12)

– CSC (20)

Top 25 Canadian ICT Up and Comers

Gazaro (Ottawa)

Top 25 Canadian Software Companies

– Mitel (2)

– Bridgewater Systems (6)

Top 25 Canadian ICT Professional Services Companies

– Calian Technologies (9)

– Eagle Professional Resources (17)

– Adga Group Consultants (20)

– Maplesoft Group (technology division) (20)

Top 25 Canadian ICT Hardware and Infrastructure 

Companies

– Zarlink Semiconductor (13)

– DragonWave (15)

– March Networks (20)

– MOSAID Technologies (24)

Top 10 Canadian ICT Security Companies

– Cistel (9)

– TRM Technologies Inc. (10)

Top 10 Canadian Wireless Solutions Companies

– DragonWave (3)

– Bridgewater Systems (5)

Top 10 Canadian xSP Companies

– Telesat (6)

Top 10 Canadian ICT Staffing Companies

– Calian Technologies (2)

– Eagle Professional Resources (5)

– Maplesoft Group (technology division) (6)

– Veritaaq Technology House (8)

Top 20 Movers & Shakers

– Maplesoft Group (technology division) (2)

– DragonWave (5)

– Iridian Spectral Technologies (9)

– PrecisionERP (16)

http://www.obj.ca/Technology/2011-04-05/article-2401810/Telesat-tops-Ottawa-firms-on-Branham300/1