In mid-2003, AT&T Canada changed its name to Allstream. The new company name is explained on the Allstream website:
Allstream is a new beginning for a new company. Our name change from AT&T Canada signals our new status as a fully independent company with a fresh new outlook. We understand that the continuous flow of information that travels through networks is more than just data - it's the value people create.
We are now focused more than ever on providing communication solutions that enable your company to communicate, collaborate and compete more effectively.
Unfortunately, the communication solution they chose for themselves neither communicates or competes effectively. A cursory search for other corporations in the digital information sector with "stream" in their names turns up:
Stream, CapitalStream, On Stream, I-Stream, Bean-Stream, Silver Stream, Rapid Stream, Stream Theory, Health Stream, Digital Stream, Island Stream, Stream Down, Stream Logic, Streamlogics, Data Stream, Stream Soft, Jet Stream, Stream Software, Metric Stream, Packet Stream, Stream Box, Vital Stream, Code Stream and X-Stream Audio.
The use of words such as "stream" that have already reached saturation in the culture illustrates why we begin all projects with a thorough competitive analysis, to not only understand which potential product or company name directions have been mined already in a given sector, but to quantify the language usage in all relevant messaging.
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