TAGGED AS ROAMING
CRTC seeks info on international roaming rates
telecom | 06/05/2023 2:30 pm EDT
The CRTC has issued a request for information on the rates Canadian wireless carriers charge as roaming fees for international coverage. In a June 1 letter the commission set out four questions it wants answered by the various players in the market.
First up it wants a...
CRTC to review roaming charges after Champagne request
telecom | 03/23/2023 5:58 pm EDT
The CRTC said Thursday it was going to look into recently-announced hikes in international roaming fees after a complaint by Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne. BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Mobility and Telus Corp. said earlier this month they...
Roaming rate charge increase ‘unacceptable’: Champagne
telecom | 03/02/2023 3:09 pm EST
Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s...
PIAC and Telus support Bell’s review and vary over wholesale roaming services, Videotron disagrees
telecom | 10/07/2022 3:32 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Telus...
Bell tries again to stop Videotron’s ‘permanent roaming’
telecom | 08/30/2022 4:56 pm EDT
BCE Inc. has filed a review and vary application seeking to overturn a May...
CNOC back regional carriers’ call for roaming rates review
telecom | 06/24/2022 5:00 pm EDT
The Competitive Network Operators of Canada has filed an intervention in...
CRTC denies Bell application on Videotron roaming
telecom | 05/27/2022 3:52 pm EDT
BCE Inc.’s Bell Mobility Inc. has lost an application before the CRTC about Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron Ltd. over the Quebec firm’s use of Bell’s wholesale roaming service. In a letter Wednesday, the commission dismissed the filing and urged the parties to negotiate...
Regional wireless carriers seek review of incumbents’ roaming rates
telecom | 05/24/2022 5:43 pm EDT
A consortium of regional wireless competitors have filed an application...
Telus revenue, subs up; continued concerns about roaming
telecom | 02/10/2022 6:07 pm EST
Roaming revenue remains among the biggest headwinds for Telus Corp.’s...
PIAC says no to permanent roaming test, Telus wants new definition
telecom | 07/05/2021 5:37 pm EDT
Telus Corp. wants the CRTC to set an industry-wide definition of...
Bell renews request for CRTC to intervene on Videotron permanent roaming claims
telecom | 05/28/2021 5:57 pm EDT
Bell Mobility Inc. is asking the CRTC to put in place new measures for...
Bell suing Videotron over permanent roaming claims
telecom | 05/05/2021 6:37 pm EDT
BCE Inc. is suing Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, escalating their battle over wireless customers allegedly...
Roam Mobility shutting down
telecom | 05/27/2020 5:25 pm EDT
Otono Networks Inc.’s Roam Mobility will cease operations on June 30, the company said Wednesday. Roam Mobility previously provided prepaid SIM cards for visitors to the United States and Canada. It shut down the Canadian service in January, though it continued to provide SIM cards and service...
CRTC tells Bell and Quebecor to play nicer in Part 1 roaming decision
telecom | 02/05/2020 4:40 pm EST
BCE Inc. must keep providing Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron with wholesale roaming on an ongoing basis, the CRTC said Wednesday in a decision that also took the two perennial rivals to task for not first...
New iPhones to use eSIMs
telecom | 09/12/2018 4:27 pm EDT
Apple Inc.’s upcoming iPhones will have dual SIM capability, with a physical nano SIM and an embedded SIM, or eSIM.
The company announced Wednesday the features would...
TNW pushing ahead with Part 1 despite WiFi MVNO decision
telecom | 03/28/2018 1:19 pm EDT
TNW Wireless Inc. is still hopeful the CRTC will rule in its favour in a Part 1 complaint to force BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. to negotiate roaming plans so it can implement its proposed national WiFi-based wireless service, according to company president Lawry...
Small providers, incumbents clash over WiFi-based MVNOs
telecom | 09/12/2017 5:54 pm EDT
Mandating wholesale roaming access to Wi-Fi-based mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) will encourage innovation and competition by providing...
Telecoms at odds on mandatory-roaming licence conditions
telecom | 08/22/2017 2:15 pm EDT
The CRTC’s 2015 decision to regulate wholesale wireless roaming has made...
TBayTel asks for 1-year extension for Wireless Code changes
telecom | 08/22/2017 12:56 pm EDT
The CRTC is seeking comment on whether it should grant regional...
No merit to TNW’s roaming request, telecoms say
telecom | 08/10/2017 2:17 pm EDT
Most of Canada’s major wireless providers were of the same mind on an application by TNW Wireless...
IoT connections to factor into roaming agreements: Juniper
telecom | 08/03/2017 1:03 pm EDT
The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices means the technology will need to be included in roaming agreements in the future, according to a new report by Juniper Research. “Juniper anticipates that the IoT market will continue evolving as use cases and connections become progressively mobile, increasing the need for roaming connections,” it said in a white paper published Wednesday. Juniper said it anticipates the number of IoT devices to increase to over 46 billion globally by 2021, compared to roughly 19 billion this year. Monitoring devices, in use by the agricultural...
CRTC asks telecoms about MVNOs, plans for low-income customers
telecom | 07/28/2017 12:41 pm EDT
The CRTC is asking wireless service providers about whether they’ve been approached by potential mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and their service offerings for low-income individuals....
CRTC consulting on MVNO rules
telecom | 07/21/2017 11:07 am EDT
The CRTC has launched a consultation on changing its wholesale wireless roaming rules, following a call...
Roaming revenues to fall 11% after EU ban: Juniper
telecom | 07/18/2017 4:49 pm EDT
The European Union’s elimination of roaming charges has pushed global mobile roaming revenue numbers down, according to a new report by Juniper Research. The EU recently said it was eliminating roaming charges after it came...
TNW Wireless files Part 1 over roaming agreements
telecom | 07/04/2017 3:54 pm EDT
A Northern mobile wireless provider is asking the CRTC to compel a pair of incumbents to strike roaming...
Bains tells CRTC to reconsider MVNO rules
telecom | 06/05/2017 1:51 pm EDT
TORONTO — Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains is directing the CRTC to reconsider a March decision in...
Ice Wireless offering unlimited data, roaming plans
telecom | 03/29/2017 5:35 pm EDT
Iristel Inc.’s Ice Wireless is now selling plans with unlimited data and roaming in the United States and Mexico, the company said in a press release Wednesday. The plans “include unlimited calls, texts and...
CRTC rules against Sugar Mobile in roaming dispute with Rogers
telecom | 03/01/2017 9:21 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. doesn’t have to provide roaming services to Iristel Inc.’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Sugar Mobile, the CRTC said Wednesday in a...
Roam Mobility launches two new U.S. roaming plans
Media | 02/23/2017 6:38 pm EST
Otono Networks Inc.’s Roam Mobility is launching new monthly roaming plans for travellers in the United States. “With Roam Mobility, Canadians can get the highest value USA roaming plan with plenty of 4G LTE data, and...
Videotron introduces flat-rate roaming
telecom | 02/15/2017 8:50 pm EST
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is introducing a new service for customers to avoid bill shock when roaming internationally. The Daily Traveller Pass will allow customers to pay a flat fee — at $6 per day travelling in the United States or $10 per day in more than 100 other countries — to relieve “phone bill surprise,” a Wednesday press release said. “With this new option, travellers will know in advance exactly how much it will cost them to use their cell phone away from home,” the press release said. “They can also...
EU on verge of eliminating roaming charges
telecom | 02/01/2017 5:07 pm EST
The European Union is set to eliminate mobile roaming charges within its 28-member bloc by this summer, as EU negotiators came to an agreement Wednesday on wholesale prices that would eliminate the charges by June...
Investel to launch national Wi-Fi based wireless service
telecom | 12/14/2016 10:34 pm EST
Investel Capital Corp.’s TNW Networks Corp. (TNW) will soon start deploying a Wi-Fi-based mobile technology as part of a nationally available wireless service that the company is claiming will be...
Some concern about delay in Natale start date: analysts
Media | 10/18/2016 9:38 pm EDT
It could be mid-2017 before former Telus Corp. head Joe Natale takes over as CEO at Rogers Communications Inc., according to financial analysts, some of whom said Tuesday that...
Analysts optimistic about Natale at Rogers after Laurence’s surprise exit
Media | 10/17/2016 9:37 pm EDT
In an unexpected move, Rogers Communications Inc. has announced Guy Laurence is no longer CEO of the company and will be replaced by former Telus Corp. CEO Joe Natale, a choice...
Quebec court approves class action suit over data charges
telecom | 08/12/2016 9:12 pm EDT
Quebec’s highest court has ruled that a class-action lawsuit against wireless carriers over international roaming charges can proceed. In a Wednesday decision, Quebec Court of Appeals justices overturned a 2014 Superior Court decision that Inga Sibiga could not mount legal action against Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. Sibiga was aiming to serve as representative for “all consumers residing in Quebec who were charged international mobile date roaming fees by the respondents at a rate higher than $5.00 per megabyte after...
CRTC allowing off-tariff GSM agreements, for now
telecom | 08/05/2016 8:50 pm EDT
The CRTC has determined that a hands-off approach to regulating roaming rates on GSM networks until it approves a final set of guidelines would not put smaller carriers in a negotiating disadvantage with larger ones. The...
Sugar Mobile partners with U.S. MVNO
telecom | 08/03/2016 8:51 pm EDT
Iristel Inc.’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Sugar Mobile announced Wednesday it has partnered with an American WiFi-based service to leverage existing WiFi customers who might want some access to cellular...
Complaints, bill shock fell after Wireless Code: study
telecom | 07/14/2016 3:22 pm EDT
The Wireless Code has proved effective in the two years since its implementation, suggest the results of a CRTC-commissioned study, which reported a decline in wireless complaints as well as...
Ice Wireless can continue to roam until final decision
telecom | 07/07/2016 4:43 pm EDT
Sugar Mobile, an affiliate of Iristel Inc.-subsidiary Ice Wireless, can continue roaming on Rogers Communications Inc.’s network while the CRTC considers its final decision in a...
Rogers dropping Cuba from Roam Like Home service
telecom | 07/06/2016 5:28 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. is eliminating Cuba as a destination for its Roam Like Home service starting July 12. Andrew Garas, Rogers’ manager of media relations, said in an email Wednesday that the...
Rogers encouraging travellers to roam with their phones
telecom | 06/29/2016 9:59 pm EDT
The vast majority of Canadian travellers take their smartphones with them when they go on summer vacation, a survey by Rogers Communication Inc. suggests, as the company pushes its roaming...
Bell-MTS deal could pose regulatory risk for SaskTel: report
telecom | 06/20/2016 8:43 pm EDT
The biggest risk to Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. in the wake of BCE Inc.’s proposed $3.9-billion takeover of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. is the...
Videotron temporarily adds U.S. roaming to premium plans
telecom | 05/20/2016 7:58 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is offering Canada-U.S. roaming plans that allow customers to use their plan for up to 90 days in the United States each year without incurring roaming charges....
What does the future hold for WiFi calling?
telecom | 05/20/2016 6:47 pm EDT
Despite the fact that large wireless carriers have been offering WiFi calling for months, the emergence of WiFi calling provider Sugar Mobile, and hinted-at-plans by Shaw Communications Inc. to integrate Wind with its WiFi network, experts say the technology is unlikely to take centre stage in the Canadian wireless market. Small companies wanting to sell WiFi calling face both the cost of roaming and the challenge of dealing with companies that may be unwilling to sell that roaming in the first place — as seen in the Sugar Mobile dispute currently in front of the CRTC —...
Rogers extends $5, $10 roaming plans to Fido
telecom | 04/29/2016 3:55 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. will begin offering some customers of its Fido flanker brand the ability to roam in the United States for $5 per day and in various international destinations for $10 per day. The company said in a...
Canadians unaware of MVNO decision: survey
telecom | 04/13/2016 9:38 pm EDT
A new Angus-Reid Institute survey suggests two-thirds of Canadians were unaware of a recent CRTC decision that advocates said could affect wireless rates and competition. The study, released Monday, said 61 per cent of...
Sugar Mobile model threatens facilities-based competition: Telus, Quebecor
telecom | 03/18/2016 8:47 pm EDT
Allowing Sugar Mobile to continue roaming on Rogers Communications Inc.’s network would be a “backdoor means” to mandated mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access, and “a...
Rogers disconnection would set harmful precedent: Sugar Mobile
telecom | 02/24/2016 8:39 pm EST
Interventions filed opposing Ice Wireless' request for interim relief in its roaming dispute with Rogers Communications Inc. failed to properly address the relevant issues, instead focusing on...
Wireless competition on federal agenda: Bains
telecom | 02/22/2016 5:17 pm EST
The federal innovation minister wouldn't commit to reviewing last week's CRTC decision to not mandate access by mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to wireless networks when pressed in the House of Commons on Friday. By rejecting the application to review the wholesale wireless market framework filed by the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC), the CRTC "denied an appeal to spark real competition in the wireless sector by allowing new small players into the market," NDP MP Gord Johns said during question period, according to a transcript. "What action...
Sugar Mobile subs have no ‘right’ to roaming: Rogers
telecom | 02/19/2016 8:47 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. told the CRTC that Rogers has the right to disconnect Ice Wireless from its network because its affiliate Sugar Mobile is selling service outside of Ice...
CRTC denies call to change MVNO mandated access rules
telecom | 02/18/2016 10:15 pm EST
The CRTC is standing by its decision to not require national wireless service providers to provide wholesale access for "full" mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), denying an application filed last summer by the...
CRTC tells Rogers not to disconnect Sugar Mobile, for now
telecom | 02/18/2016 9:04 pm EST
The CRTC said Thursday Rogers Communications Inc. has to “maintain its roaming agreement” with Iristel Inc.’s subsidiary Ice Wireless and its affiliate Sugar Mobile until the CRTC...
Rogers extends Roam Like Home to China, Russia, India
Media | 01/27/2016 7:11 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. announced Wednesday that it has added more than a dozen countries to its Roam Like Home service including Russia, China, India, South Africa, Australia, Israel and Japan. Rogers spokesman Andrew Garas...
Shaw says timing, current market dynamics made Wind deal attractive
Media | 12/17/2015 3:43 pm EST
The economics of entering Canada’s wireless market through the acquisition of Wind Mobile today are better than past opportunities Shaw Communications Inc. has had to enter the mobile sector,...
CRTC consults on off-tariff roaming agreements
telecom | 12/16/2015 6:26 pm EST
The CRTC on Wednesday started a consultation that asks whether it should refrain from regulating some arrangements between incumbent wireless carriers and smaller operators regarding domestic roaming where the terms or conditions...
Old domestic roaming charges still being worked out
telecom | 12/09/2015 5:04 pm EST
The CRTC has asked Canadian wireless carriers that provided roaming access to other domestic carriers — when legislation was in effect that capped domestic roaming prices to retail rates — to file new information,...
Roam Mobility offers SIM cards for vistors to Canada
telecom | 12/04/2015 5:22 pm EST
Otono Networks Inc.’s Roam Mobility, a provider of SIM cards for out-of-Canada mobile usage, announced Friday it is launching a new SIM card for visitors to Canada. The Vancouver-based company said in a press release that...
Final domestic-roaming tariffs approved, for now
telecom | 12/03/2015 8:36 pm EST
The CRTC has accepted, for the time being, tariffs proposed by the wireless incumbents for what smaller carriers in Canada have to pay to have their customers roam on the bigger companies' networks. The commission said in a notice Thursday that the proposed tariffs from Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. are effective from Nov. 23, the day they were filed. However, the CRTC added: "Final determinations, including whether to make the final rates retroactive to 5 May 2015, will be made following the process to review the associated regulatory economics...
Wind responsible for 72.5% of code breaches last year: CCTS
telecom | 12/01/2015 10:49 pm EST
Wind Mobile had 422 confirmed breaches of the CRTC’s wireless code last year, or 72.5 per cent of the total compiled by the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) in...
CRTC says incumbents can’t change terms in interim roaming rates
telecom | 11/30/2015 8:55 pm EST
The CRTC has told Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc., and Telus Corp. that the terms and conditions in interim tariffs the incumbents filed following the CRTC’s move in May to regulate some...
James Moore named UNBC chancellor
Media | 11/26/2015 6:16 pm EST
The University of Northern British Columbia said Thursday that former industry minister James Moore has been named its next chancellor. The Prince George, B.C.-based school said in a press release that Moore, who was industry...
Incumbents seek little change in domestic data roaming tariffs
telecom | 11/25/2015 11:06 pm EST
The domestic roaming rates for voice and text services BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. have asked the CRTC to implement are significantly lower than what they currently...
SaskTel reduces roaming rates
Media | 11/24/2015 5:08 pm EST
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Tuesday it is introducing new roaming rates and five new roaming add-on plans for customers traveling outside of Canada. It said in a press release that the new rates, part of the Roam and Relax Travel plan, will take effect Nov. 26 and will automatically be added to customers’ plans when they travel across the border. Data and voice rates will be seven cents per MB and seven cents per minute when traveling to the U.S., and data rates will fall from $15 per MB to $1 per MB when travelling to Mexico, Netherlands, Australia, Portugal, Bermuda and Costa Rica, SaskTel said in the release. SaskTel also said that it will add five new add-on plans that are subscription-based for customers who require “additional voice or data coverage while traveling for extended amounts of...
Wind adds 3rd domestic roaming partner
telecom | 11/17/2015 3:28 pm EST
Wind Mobile said Tuesday it has added "a third major roaming partner" in Canada. It did not disclose which company is the new partner, though given that Wind's operating territory is Ontario, Alberta and British...
Verizon launches $2 US daily roaming in Canada
telecom | 11/12/2015 3:52 pm EST
Verizon Communications Inc. said Thursday it has introduced a new roaming service plan for U.S. subscribers that allows them to use their existing talk, messaging and data plans in Canada and Mexico for an extra $2 US a day. It...
TPP ‘consistent’ with Canadian copyright law, government says
Media | 10/05/2015 8:57 pm EDT
Details about provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that could affect Canada’s media and telecom industries remained scant Monday as the government announced the conclusion...
Regulators will eventually embrace MVNOs: Audet
telecom | 09/15/2015 6:26 pm EDT
Cogeco Cable Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Tuesday he believes Canada's telecommunications regulators will come around to mandating access for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), notwithstanding the CRTC's decision on...
Sprint provides free roaming in Canada, Mexico
telecom | 08/11/2015 2:45 pm EDT
U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp. announced Monday free roaming in Canada, Mexico and other countries. Sprint said in a press release that under its Free Open World program, which customers can access at no additional cost,...
CNOC protests wholesale-wireless ruling
telecom | 08/04/2015 3:21 pm EDT
The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) has filed an application that seeks to alter aspects of the CRTC's ruling this year on the wholesale-wireless market, specifically the lack of new regulations regarding mobile...
Big carriers defend interim tariff terms
telecom | 07/29/2015 8:39 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. took issue with a complaint by small wireless carriers that their interim tariffs include “onerous” terms and conditions, arguing the Telecommunications Act requires...
Telus launches $7-a-day U.S. roaming
telecom | 07/16/2015 5:59 pm EDT
Telus Corp. on Thursday announced a $7-a-day option for U.S. roaming. It said in a press release that the service is called US Easy Roam, and that customers opting for this option will be able to enjoy their regular allotments...
T-Mobile to provide free roaming in Canada, Mexico
telecom | 07/09/2015 3:33 pm EDT
T-Mobile U.S. Inc. announced Thursday a "Mobile without Borders" upgrade that will remove roaming charges for U.S. customers when using wireless service from Canada or Mexico, and also for customers making calls to these countries. The company announced in a news release that this upgrade will be available July 15. The company said upgrades will be made automatically for no additional cost to all new customers of its Simple Choice plans, which starts at $60 US a month for unlimited calling, texting and non-LTE data, and with 3 GB of LTE data. Existing customers can opt-in, T-Mobile...
Government repeals wireless roaming caps
telecom | 07/02/2015 3:00 pm EDT
The federal government has complied with a CRTC request by repealing caps imposed last year on how much wireless carriers can charge each other for domestic roaming. A notice in the Canada Gazette said that subsections 239(2) and...
Smaller wireless carriers cry foul on interim-tariff filings
telecom | 06/25/2015 7:24 pm EDT
Wind Mobile, Quebecor Inc. and Eastlink are asking the CRTC to require incumbent wireless carriers to re-file documents relating to interim tariffs and conditions for domestic roaming access. As part...
TekSavvy’s Abramson takes on incumbents at Telecom Summit
telecom | 06/02/2015 7:36 pm EDT
TORONTO — With a key decision from the CRTC on smaller service providers’ access to wireline telecommunications networks expected soon, three incumbents’ regulatory bosses took on...
CRTC consulting on roaming caps it wants repealed
telecom | 05/12/2015 6:46 pm EDT
The CRTC has issued a notice of consultation on domestic wireless roaming caps, despite its recommendation to the federal government that they be scrapped. The regulator on Tuesday asked for “comments to assist it in...
Wholesale decision positive for Bell, Rogers, Telus: analysts
telecom | 05/06/2015 5:45 pm EDT
Financial market analysts say Canada's incumbent wireless operators were generally left undamaged in this week's decision by the CRTC to regulate the rates they charge smaller domestic competitors for roaming access. Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan said in a research note issued Wednesday that the CRTC ruling was "favourable to the Big 3," in reference to BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. Fan noted that nothing changes immediately regarding the rates incumbents charge smaller carriers, and he expects it will take at least a year to establish the final...
Incumbents could have fared worse in wholesale wireless decision: analyst
telecom | 05/05/2015 8:10 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — Wireless incumbents are going to have to play by a different set of rules than smaller carriers when it comes to providing network access to competitors, though one industry...
Quebecor roaming plan could point to national ambition: analyst
Media | 04/14/2015 8:53 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc.’s Tuesday announcement of nationwide roaming at no charge for its Videotron wireless customers could allow the company to test the waters for a national mobile service, according...
Rogers extends Roam Like Home to Europe
telecom | 04/10/2015 5:19 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. on Friday said it will launch a Roam Like Home service for customers travelling to Europe that is similar to what's been available for travellers to the United States since November. Rogers...
MTS reports lower Q4 revenue as wholesale wireless declines
telecom | 02/04/2015 10:01 pm EST
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. on Wednesday reported lower revenue for the fourth quarter of last year, though unlike the year-earlier period, it was profitable. The company said in a press release...
Bell provides more data in roaming plans
telecom | 01/16/2015 3:45 pm EST
BCE Inc. said Friday it is now providing up to double the data for international roaming plans. In a press release, it said an example of its new offerings include boosting the quantity of data for data passes for Group 1 areas...
CRTC, spectrum auctions among major wireless issues for 2015: analysts
telecom | 12/18/2014 6:01 pm EST
As the new year approaches, Canadian wireless carriers of all sizes await a CRTC decision on domestic roaming that could, in the words of one analyst, “disrupt” the industry with...
Wind Mobile expands out-of-network coverage
telecom | 12/02/2014 9:37 pm EST
Wind Mobile said Tuesday it has struck a deal with another network operator to provide its customers with greater coverage when traveling outside Wind's core network in Canada. Wind did not name the company in the press...
Roam Mobility extends coverage to Mexico
telecom | 12/02/2014 8:39 pm EST
Roam Mobility Inc., a provider of SIM cards for out-of-Canada mobile usage, said Tuesday it has extended its service to Mexico. The Vancouver-based company said in a press release that, starting Dec. 10, it will offer seven-day...
Roam Mobility launches new U.S. plan
telecom | 11/12/2014 4:46 pm EST
Roam Mobility Inc. announced Wednesday a new roaming plan for Canadians visiting the U.S. that gives customers unlimited voice minutes, international texting and calls to Canada for $19.95 a month. Customers who want data can get unlimited talk and texting plus 2GB per month for a total of $39.95 a month, the company said in a press release. It launched LTE data for its U.S. roaming plans over the summer. “The Snowbird Plans are available exclusively to Canadians and are different from other roaming plans that claim to be the best deal for Canadian consumers,” the company said....
Videotron says national wireless expansion depends on CRTC
telecom | 10/03/2014 5:56 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — The CEO of Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron told the CRTC Friday that her company needs the regulator to lower the legislated rate for domestic roaming if it is to build a national...
Carriers ask CRTC to take powers from government
telecom | 10/02/2014 9:37 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — Two of Canada's largest wireless carriers called on the CRTC to take some regulatory power from Industry Canada at the commission's week-long hearing into the wholesale wireless market. Both Rogers...
Rogers takes aim at Telus, Bell network sharing
telecom | 10/01/2014 9:19 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — It's not always a case of the wireless incumbents battling newer entrants; Wednesday's session of the CRTC hearing into the wholesale wireless market featured one of the big three throwing its two...
Telus, Eastlink provide opposing perspectives on wholesale regulation
telecom | 09/30/2014 9:23 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — The CRTC on Tuesday got opposing opinions on the need for wholesale wireless market regulation from two wireless carriers with very different perspectives. Incumbent carrier...
Internet regulation may be template for future of wholesale wireless
telecom | 09/26/2014 2:19 pm EDT
As the CRTC prepares for a week of hearings beginning Monday on the future of wholesale wireless in Canada, the rules regarding wholesale Internet access may be a predictor of how the regulator will shape the future of the wireless market. In its 2013 decision finalizing the rules after a series of proceedings on wholesale Internet access, the CRTC cited supporting competition and protecting consumers in affirming its decisions from 1998 and 1999 that gave small ISPs such as Teksavvy Solutions...
Cogeco calls for regulated access to wireless networks
telecom | 09/25/2014 8:05 pm EDT
Cogeco Cable Inc. wants the CRTC to set up regulated access to established wireless carriers’ networks, president and CEO Louis Audet said during a conference call with media Thursday....
Carriers mostly complying with wireless code: CRTC
telecom | 09/18/2014 6:43 pm EDT
The CRTC issued an "implementation report card" Thursday that showed mobile carriers are complying with the wireless code on most rules. Out of 28 aspects of the code evaluated, the CRTC found infractions on three parts. The...
Regulators want investment-focused wireless industry: Natale
telecom | 09/18/2014 6:37 pm EDT
Telus Corp. CEO Joe Natale said Thursday he cannot predict what decisions will result from the upcoming CRTC hearings on the wireless wholesale market, though he feels Canadian regulators are likely...
Quebecor ‘still interested’ in Wind
telecom | 09/17/2014 8:21 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc. is “still interested” in Wind Mobile and is “certainly interested in talking with them” following the announced buyout of the carrier on Tuesday, Quebecor’s senior vice-president and...
Buyout puts Wind on solid ground, says Lacavera
telecom | 09/16/2014 1:51 pm EDT
Wind Mobile CEO Anthony Lacavera says his $285-million buyout of majority shareholder VimpelCom Ltd., announced Tuesday, brings stability to his company after years of ownership uncertainty. Lacavera will buy out the majority...
CRTC pushes back wholesale wireless deadline
telecom | 09/05/2014 4:49 pm EDT
The CRTC said Friday that the deadline for final submission in its wholesale wireless review has been delayed by three days. Final submissions in this proceeding, for which hearings start on Sept. 29, will be due Monday, Oct. 20,...
Politician says Telus refused to negotiate $20K bill
telecom | 08/25/2014 8:47 pm EDT
Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk said his staff was unable to negotiate a discount from Telus Corp. when, as a deputy premier in 2012, he rang up more than $20,000 in data and roaming charges...
Wind lowers domestic roaming prices
telecom | 08/21/2014 2:29 pm EDT
Wind Mobile on Thursday announced lower prices for domestic roaming as it begins using higher-quality networks for its customers travelling outside their base. The company said in a press release that data speeds will be up to...
CRTC releases figures on wireless wholesale caps
telecom | 08/06/2014 8:54 pm EDT
On Wednesday the CRTC released average domestic retail prices for wireless carriers as part of its ongoing examination of the wholesale wireless market in Canada. The CRTC declined a request from Wind Mobile to make public the figures charged by each wireless company after the institution of the government’s rate cap in June, instead opting to release an average amount for voice, texting, and data. Under the government’s formula, the maximum amount wireless carriers can charge other Canadian carriers for roaming is what they make from retail usage, determined by their revenue...