MANITOBA Telecom Services' mobile data network is about to get a serious boost in horsepower.

The Winnipeg-based telephone company announced plans in the past week to launch a new wireless high-speed network called 1xEV-DO, which will enable customers in Winnipeg and Brandon to download data five times faster than they do now on their cell phones and laptops.

Consumers will be able to get real-time access to new and advanced applications, such as streaming video, video messaging, web browsing and interactive gaming. The service will include remote access to office e-mail and other data using wireless devices.

The service isn't intended to replace high-speed Internet service at home or at work but it will let a mobile customer who is on the go receive data at substantially higher speeds.

Brian Sharwood, Toronto-based principal at the SeaBoard Group, a telecommunications consulting firm, said the system upgrade will enable customers to be connected on a wireless device at essentially the same speed as when plugged into a high-speed broadband cable.

AN ongoing boom in the construction, mining and oil and gas sectors has Wardrop Engineering on a hiring spree that could see it add up to 35 more workers in its Winnipeg office alone.

Shayne Smith, the Winnipeg-based firm's newly appointed chief executive officer said that “We're currently hiring about two new people per day and almost every office across the country has been growing, including Winnipeg."

Wardrop is an award-winning international consulting firm offering integrated, multi-disciplined, engineering, environmental and information technology services. Among the areas it specializes in are manufacturing, infrastructure, oil and gas, mining and mineral processing, electrical, nuclear, and forest products.

Smith was named as the successor last week to retiring CEO and former Winnipegger Ernie Card, estimated Wardrop has tripled in size over the last eight years. It employs more than 700 people in its 14 offices, which include 10 in Canada, one in Minneapolis, and three in Africa.

James Popel, the firm's vice-president of human resources, said the Winnipeg office alone has added 10 to 15 new employees in the last few weeks, and is looking to hire 19 more. The kinds of workers it has either already hired or is hoping to hire include engineers, environmental specialists, designers, drafters, and accounting personnel.

ANOTHER month, another record for the Winnipeg Real Estate Board.

After posting its best January ever for the dollar volume of sales, the WREB followed up with the best February in its 103-year history.

Figures released last week show $115 million worth of properties were sold last month through the board's Multiple Listing Service. That was an increase of 28 per cent from the $90 million sold in February of last year, which had been the best February on record.

Last month also tied with 1988 for the best February on record for unit sales, with 794 properties changing hands.

The strong showing is a further indication that Winnipeg's resale housing market has picked up where it left off in 2005, when the WREB set a new record for the most unit sales in a single year (12,087) and the highest dollar volume of sales in a single year ($1.62 billion).

It was also the fourth consecutive year that the board's annual dollar volume of sales topped the $1-billion mark.

AFTER more than three years of negotiations and deal making, Canad Inns celebrated the groundbreaking of its Grand Forks hotel this past week.

Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown had bet his reputation on getting the hotel and water park complex built next door to the city-owned Alerus Center arena and convention facility.

Canad Inns president Leo Ledohowski said he had expected to break ground a year or two ago.

This $50-million project represents his Winnipeg-based firm's first foray into the American market.

Even the state has a role to play with a $10-million loan from the Bank of North Dakota.

Gov. John Hoeven said it is part of his initiative to promote tourism in North Dakota. In the past, the state has emphasized the scenic western part of the state, he said, and this is a way to help the east.

The groundbreaking was purely ceremonial, with officials turning a pile of sand in the parking lot right next to an open pit where contractors have been working since December.

WAREHOUSE One is embarking on its first major expansion since coming out of bankruptcy nearly three years ago.

The Winnipeg-based jeans and clothing retailer will open the doors to four new stores in Nova Scotia this week, its first foray into the Maritimes. It also plans to open another six locations -- in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Nova Scotia -- over the next seven months. The additions will boost the company's total retail presence to 104 stores from 94.

Another seven stores will be remodelled or relocated this year, and expansion will continue next year with new locations scheduled for B.C. and Alberta.

Michael McMullen, president of Warehouse One  said the company doesn't have any new plans in its home province. He said five of the eight Winnipeg stores underwent significant renovations recently, while the other three were relocated.

He said the company has made a number of changes to position it for growth, including streamlining its management team, increasing the size of its vendor base, and migrating to a new store concept that's more customer- and product-friendly.

McMullen noted the company has also eliminated its children's clothing line in favour of improving its teen-to-adult offerings.