TAGGED AS EASTLINK
Cabinet should not intervene in non-mandated service: Rogers
telecom | 10/03/2022 4:55 pm EDT
Rogers Communication Inc. is asking the federal government to reject City Wide Inc.’s request to force Bragg Communication Inc.’s Eastlink to relocate its third-party internet access (TPIA) point of interconnection (POI) to a more central location in Halifax, N.S,...
CRTC to forbear from regulating IXPL services on 12 additional routes
telecom | 03/25/2022 4:32 pm EDT
The CRTC has added a dozen additional routes to its list of interexchange private line (IXPL) services that it is forbearing from regulation.
In a decision released Friday,...
CRTC won’t order Bragg to relocate its TPIA point of interconnection
telecom | 03/25/2022 4:17 pm EDT
The commission denied an application by City Wide Communications Inc....
Bell, Rogers, and Quebecor seek first-ever ‘dynamic’ site-blocking order
Media | 07/08/2021 6:22 pm EDT
Nearly six weeks after a Federal Court of Appeal upheld Canada's first-ever...
Federal court backs Eastlink in union expansion dispute
telecom | 03/24/2021 5:29 pm EDT
The Federal Court of Appeals handed a small win to Bragg Communications Inc. in a dispute with trade union Unifor, in which the union was seeking to enlarge a collective bargaining unit of Eastlink...
Teksavvy calls for public support in wholesale rates battle
telecom | 01/20/2020 3:47 pm EST
TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has launched a public campaign urging the federal government to reject petitions filed by the major telecommunications providers, calling on it to reverse a CRTC decision that...
Eastlink intros device switching after one year
telecom | 07/15/2019 5:45 pm EDT
Bragg Communications Inc.’s Eastlink is bringing in a program that encourages customers to upgrade their phones after 12 months -- bucking an industry trend of switching at the end of the standard two-year contract term. The “easyUP” program will allow users to return their existing device and upgrade to another after a year on a two-year contract. The eligible phones are Apple Inc.’s iPhone XS Max, XS and XR and the Samsung Corp.’s 9, 10, 10+, 10e, A20, A50, A70 and Note9. The devices cost $0 up-front on contract. The new offer comes after Rogers Communications Inc. last...
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...
STB data measurement complex task, group says
Media | 06/30/2017 2:23 pm EDT
Activity by a working group tasked with studying the implementation of an audience measurement system via...
Wireless code hasn’t had expected effect on churn: PIAC
telecom | 02/06/2017 11:59 pm EST
GATINEAU, QUE. — The Wireless Code has been a positive development for consumers in the three years since its implementation, consumer groups said on the first day of the CRTC's hearing on...
Tie tax change to rural broadband: finance committee
telecom | 12/14/2016 10:39 pm EST
A House of Commons committee has recommended that if changes to the tax structure for telecom expenses are implemented in next year’s budget, they be tied to rural broadband investment. In a report tabled in Parliament Dec....
Iristel files complaint over Eastlink’s competition refusal
telecom | 11/22/2016 10:24 pm EST
Iristel Inc. has filed a complaint with the CRTC over what it says is a “refusal” of Bragg Communication Inc.’s Eastlink to “implement local competition”...
Wireless Code could use tweaks, providers tell CRTC
telecom | 10/04/2016 8:55 pm EDT
While the general consensus among the industry’s biggest players is that the Wireless Code has been an effective tool over the past three years, it could do with few upgrades, according to submissions made to the CRTC’s review of the regulation. Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. argued a return to three-year contracts is in...
Eastlink launches TV Everywhere app
Media | 09/08/2016 6:41 pm EDT
Bragg Communications Inc.’s Eastlink unveiled its new TV Everywhere offering Thursday, Eastlink Stream, offering a one-stop-shop for television subscribers to access content from multiple networks and over-the-top (OTT)...
Eastlink expanding rural N.S. broadband access
telecom | 08/25/2016 2:51 pm EDT
Bragg Communications Inc.’s Eastlink is investing $6.5 million to expand high-speed Internet services to rural Nova Scotia, the company announced Thursday. “We appreciate that when it comes to Internet in rural Nova...
Rogers’ OMNI application a ‘band-aid’ solution, critics say
Media | 08/18/2016 7:14 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc.’s proposal for a new national ethnic programming service is neither innovative nor appropriate in today’s TV environment aimed at providing consumers more choice, critics of the application said in interventions filed with the CRTC. “Rogers, with their correct assertion that there exist many options for Canadians to choose from to access ethnic programing, prove the point that OMNI is not unique, not rare, and certainly not...
CRTC ‘rebalances’ TV system funds; up to $90M available for local news
Media | 06/15/2016 10:44 pm EDT
The CRTC has established new funding for local television news in a decision on its local and community TV hearing, though advocates expressed concern that the changes won’t happen quickly...
Commission hears data cap debate
telecom | 04/27/2016 7:59 pm EDT
CRTC commissioners presiding over the basic services hearing continued to hear conflicting opinions over the effectiveness and necessity of including data caps in Internet packages Wednesday. The idea of enshrining a minimum...
Customers say skinny basic not worthwhile: study
Media | 04/15/2016 4:57 pm EDT
More than 66,000 Canadians have signed up for a skinny-basic TV package since its rollout on March 1, according to the CRTC. In a Friday press release, the regulator said a third of those who signed up also took...
CACTUS complaints result in 4 CRTC proceedings
Media | 01/25/2016 4:45 pm EST
The CRTC has grouped 61 complaints by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) into four Part 1 proceedings, giving Shaw Communications Inc., Cogeco Cable Inc., Rogers...
Ericsson renews contract with Eastlink for 3 years
telecom | 12/17/2015 3:31 pm EST
Ericsson AB announced Thursday that it has renewed its agreement with Eastlink to expand and upgrade its LTE and HSPA networks, as well as continue to be the exclusive supplier for radio access network equipment for another three years. It said in the press release that the renewed agreement will allow Eastlink to provide its customers with a suite of services that will include bundling options with TV, Internet and landline phone services. It added that LTE and HSPA expansion will be deployed through new routers that will provide operators with “highly scalable, consolidated platform...
Future CraveTV prices unclear for non-Bell customers
telecom | 12/08/2015 9:56 pm EST
Subscribers to BCE Inc.’s TV services will pay more for CraveTV starting in February, though the company isn’t saying how much customers who get the streaming service through other TV-service providers, or those...
How do Shaw’s decisions on Canwest, mobile look today?
Media | 12/07/2015 8:30 pm EST
Yesterday's actions can have a profound influence on tomorrow. Such a notion might apply to a couple of decisions Shaw Communications Inc. has made in the last half-decade. The first of those was its 2010 move to spend $2 billion to purchase the broadcasting assets of Canwest Global Communications Corp., which included...
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...
Bell holds out on distributing Bloomberg TV
Media | 11/19/2015 7:11 pm EST
When Channel Zero Inc. announced the launch of its Bloomberg TV Canada channel this week, it listed every TV-service provider that was carrying it and absent from that list was Canada's biggest provider of TV service. Channel...
CRTC to release ISP performance results in spring
telecom | 11/18/2015 4:31 pm EST
The CRTC said Wednesday it will, in spring 2016, release a preliminary report on the results of an ongoing study of the broadband performance of various Canadian Internet service providers (ISPs). The regulator said in a press...
CRTC denies TFO’s must-offer application
Media | 11/12/2015 6:58 pm EST
The CRTC denied an application by Groupe Média TFO, Ontario’s French-language public broadcaster, for a must-offer order that would have required TV providers to offer its French-language educational TV service in English-language and French-language markets across the country. TFO had argued in its application that “maintaining and...
CraveTV first original series to premiere in February
Media | 11/09/2015 5:19 pm EST
BCE Inc.'s Bell Media said Monday that its streaming service, CraveTV, will debut its first original series — a comedy called Letterkenny — on Feb. 7. Bell Media noted in a press release that this happens to be...
Bell Media launches Discovery GO
Media | 10/26/2015 8:49 pm EDT
BCE Inc.’s media division has launched a TV-everywhere app for five Discovery Canada channels, and said Discovery GO would soon begin offering 4K content. The company said in a press release Monday that programming from...
Eastlink to launch gigabit Internet
telecom | 10/14/2015 3:08 pm EDT
Eastlink said Wednesday that it will begin offering Internet service with gigabit speeds to its residential customers in Halifax next month. The move follows similar launches by companies including Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc., and Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron in recent months. In a press release Wednesday, Eastlink said the Gig Internet service would have intial speeds of up to 950 Mbps. After Atlantic Canada, Eastlink said it will expand the service in other areas of Canada in 2016. Eastlink CEO Lee Bragg said in the press release that the move positions the company "to...
Shomi’s open access doesn’t equal white flag for TV services: expert
Media | 08/20/2015 8:21 pm EDT
As of Thursday, any Canadian with Internet was able subscribe to Shomi without being a customer of other services from its owners, Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc., though one industry observer said this does not mean these companies have given up on their TV services. Shomi announced Thursday in a...
CNOC fights Eastlink on wholesale prices
telecom | 08/11/2015 6:58 pm EDT
The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC), representing independent Internet service providers, has asked the CRTC to prevent Eastlink from changing the way it calculates wholesales costs for use of its network. CNOC said...
CRTC’s hybrid-VOD category takes effect
Media | 08/06/2015 8:02 pm EDT
The CRTC on Thursday released final rules for a new category of video-on-demand (VOD) services in which operators can avoid regular broadcast regulations, even if the service is offered through a broadcast-distribution...
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...
Credential sharing could help, or harm, OTT services
Media | 07/17/2015 7:47 pm EDT
The practice of sharing passwords so that more than one person or household can access a streaming service has financial ramifications for the industry, according to a new report, though it could also provide new services with a boost in the market, said 3Macs analyst Troy Crandall. “In a way, sharing credentials can sometimes be somewhat of a marketing tool, especially if you’re just starting out,” he said in a phone interview. “Over time, obviously you do have to get a better handle on it.” He added that “it actually can be beneficial for them when...
Bell’s CraveTV to go pure OTT
Media | 07/13/2015 10:28 pm EDT
BCE Inc. will make its CraveTV streaming service available to all Canadians as of Jan 1., 2016, it said in a press release Monday, in what marks a change in strategy for the company. Bell Media president Mary Ann Turcke said...
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...
Fibre Internet customers more satisfied, says market study
Media | 06/24/2015 7:22 pm EDT
The proportion of Canadians connected to the Internet by fibre is rising and these people are more satisfied with their Internet service than others, according to market research data released...
Set-asides, caps at issue in upcoming auction of unsold spectrum
telecom | 06/22/2015 8:41 pm EDT
Large wireless carriers are arguing for the elimination of set-asides and spectrum caps in the upcoming auction of unsold AWS-3 and 700 MHz spectrum, while smaller competitors say those measures...
Carriers ordered to comply in Apple competition case
Media | 06/19/2015 6:29 pm EDT
The Federal Court has ordered wireless carriers to provide information being asked for by the Competition Bureau as it looks into whether Apple Inc. engaged in anticompetitive practices related to sales of its iPhone. BCE Inc.,...
BDUs worried about wording in new cancellation regulation
Media | 06/15/2015 8:16 pm EDT
Canadian TV providers are worried the wording the CRTC proposed to prohibit policies requiring 30-day notice to cancel TV services could be interpreted to apply to the cancellation of individual...
PIAC says evidence shows undue preference with Shomi
Media | 06/12/2015 4:34 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) told the CRTC that evidence presented by other parties supports its case that Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.'s Shomi has not been distributed in line with...
Eastlink offers improved home-automation service
telecom | 05/27/2015 8:01 pm EDT
Eastlink on Tuesday announced it is offering a new and improved security-and-automation service for homes. Among other things, the new service called Winston can detect when the home occupant is approaching the residence and...
Quebecor adds spectrum, still non-committal on national expansion
telecom | 05/12/2015 2:43 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc. is still publicly sitting on the fence when it comes to expanding its wireless service throughout Canada despite bidding $187 million on 2500 MHz spectrum, including for licences outside Quebec, in an auction for which results were announced Tuesday. After Telus Corp., Quebecor was the second-biggest spender in the auction, acquiring 18 licences in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Industry Canada said the purchases increased Quebecor's spectrum holdings by 28 per...
CraveTV now on Apple TV, still requires TV subscription
Media | 05/05/2015 4:02 pm EDT
BCE Inc. announced Tuesday that its CraveTV streaming service is now available to Canadians on Apple TV, but subscriptions to a participating TV service provider are still required to access the...
Eastlink to cover early-cancellation fees for new subs
telecom | 03/23/2015 2:39 pm EDT
Eastlink will provide up to $200 to buy out the contracts of new customers switching to its wireless services from competing providers, the company said in a press release Monday. The company said in...
Online video factors into cord-cutting: CIRA survey
Media | 02/24/2015 9:43 pm EST
Newly released results from a Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) survey show the availability of online video content is a factor for four in 10 Canadian Internet users who do not subscribe to cable TV. The data,...
CTV Go now works with Google Chromecast
Media | 02/12/2015 3:47 pm EST
BCE Inc.'s CTV network announced Thursday that its TV everywhere service, CTV Go, has become the first of its kind in Canada to work with Google Inc.'s Chromecast streaming device. Chromecast is a thumb-sized device that...
Shomi, CraveTV could be pulled if PIAC challenge succeeds: analyst
Media | 02/06/2015 10:02 pm EST
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) on Friday asked the CRTC to prohibit Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. from restricting the availability of their streaming services, a move that could lead the companies to kill the services outright if it succeeds, according to Cannacord Genuity analyst Dvai Ghose. Rogers and Shaw’s Shomi is only available to Rogers and Shaw’s Internet or TV customers, while Bell’s CraveTV is offered to those who...
Videotron launches original content for Club Illico streaming service
Media | 02/02/2015 9:29 pm EST
MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron hopes that producing original content exclusively for its Club Illico streaming service will help the company attract and keep subscribers, said...
Eastlink to fully subsidize iPhone 6 series
telecom | 11/05/2014 8:10 pm EST
Eastlink said Wednesday it will start offering the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus for no money down with two-year contracts to customers on Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island starting Friday. The company said in a press release...
Eastlink launches wireless TV
Media | 10/16/2014 4:45 pm EDT
Eastlink announced a wireless TV service Thursday that will allow customers to use the company’s Maestro DVRs wirelessly on up to six different TVs. The company said in a news release the DVRs will record up to six programs...
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...
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....
Cogeco to discuss wireless services on Thursday
telecom | 09/23/2014 7:54 pm EDT
Cogeco Cable Inc. said Tuesday it will hold a conference call with journalists on Thursday to discuss "the future of mobile services in Canada." Cogeco has indicated an interest in launching wireless service, and it is...
Another Church report blasts efforts to ‘enhance’ mobile competition
telecom | 08/19/2014 9:01 pm EDT
University of Calgary economists Jeffrey Church and Andrew Wilkins are back at it, criticizing government attempts to bring more competition to Canada's wireless sector and insisting those efforts amount to a subsidization of non-viable companies by taxpayers with no justifiable benefit to consumers. In Church and...
Eastlink no longer buying Bruce Telecom
telecom | 08/15/2014 5:34 pm EDT
Bragg Communications Inc., which operates Eastlink, won’t be buying Bruce Telecom, the Competition Bureau said Friday. The bureau said in a press release that it reviewed the proposed acquisition and concluded that had it “proceeded as proposed, it would have likely resulted in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the towns of Port Elgin and Paisley, [Ont.], where the two firms are the only providers of wireline telecommunications services.” The two companies “ultimately decided to abandon the proposed transaction,” it added. The...
Lower prices for AWS-3 auction ‘attractive’ for new entrants: analyst
telecom | 07/28/2014 9:37 pm EDT
The minimum opening bids for the entirety of the available spectrum in the upcoming AWS-3 auction total $162.45 million, with a $97.45 million minimum for the blocks set aside for smaller carriers, Industry Canada said Monday as it launched a consultation on its proposed auction framework. In a Monday research...
Savings, simplification cited in BCE takeover of Bell Aliant
telecom | 07/23/2014 8:38 pm EDT
Saving money, simplifying operations and creating a stronger telecom competitor in Atlantic Canada were among the reasons cited for why BCE Inc. is seeking ownership of all parts of Bell Aliant Inc....
Telecoms owe money for CRTC proceeding on cancellation notice
telecom | 07/03/2014 4:15 pm EDT
The CRTC said on Thursday both the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the DiversityCanada Foundation are owed costs they incurred to make submissions in a CRTC proceeding on whether wireline...
Main wireless carriers lost subs in Q1: CWTA
telecom | 06/26/2014 8:40 pm EDT
Wireless subscribers declined during the first quarter among Canada's publicly traded carriers, according a compilation posted on the website of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). According to the...
BeIN Sports gets carriage on Eastlink, Videotron
Media | 05/13/2014 2:43 pm EDT
BeIN Sports Canada, the sports specialty television network owned by Qatari Sports Investments, said Tuesday that it is adding its channel to the East Coast and Quebec markets through Eastlink and Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron. BeIN Sports announced its launch in Canada last year, and was previously only available in France and the United States in the summer of 2012. "It is comforting to see how fast it is growing. In addition to the channel's current distribution on Rogers, Bell TV, Bell Fibe and MTS, we are proud to add Eastlink and Videotron to our family of...
Federal government’s approach to wireless has failed: study
telecom | 05/06/2014 9:12 pm EDT
The federal government’s meddling in the wireless market over the past seven years and its focus on bringing a fourth carrier into every region has failed to bring about meaningful competition,...
CRTC extends deadline on wholesale-wireless review
telecom | 04/25/2014 5:08 pm EDT
The CRTC said Friday that the deadline for initial interventions in its review of wholesale wireless services has been extended to May 15 from May 1. Other dates, such as the Aug. 20 deadline for further interventions and the...
Data centres a natural evolution for telecoms
telecom | 03/21/2014 8:59 pm EDT
Consumers and businesses alike have been storing increasing amounts of data in the cloud in recent years, a movement that has precipitated the building of a growing number of secure, air-conditioned, server-filled...
700 MHz auction results coming Wednesday
telecom | 02/18/2014 10:59 pm EST
Industry Minister James Moore will announce the results of the government’s 700 MHz spectrum auction Wednesday afternoon in Ottawa, the federal government said Tuesday. The auction opened Jan. 14 and was a chance for...
Bruce Telecom bid could hint at Eastlink’s spectrum intentions: analyst
telecom | 01/23/2014 10:01 pm EST
Eastlink’s purchase of a small municipally-owned telecom provider in southwestern Ontario might indicate it intends to buy spectrum there in the 700 MHz auction that got underway last week, said...
Eastlink opens Nova Scotia data centre
telecom | 01/20/2014 7:48 pm EST
Eastlink has opened a data centre in Sambro, N.S., the company said in a release Monday. Eastlink (owned by Bragg Communications Inc.) said the Pennant Point Data Centre is currently operational and serving customers in Atlantic...
Eastlink scraps roaming fees in new plans
telecom | 11/15/2013 9:44 pm EST
Regional telecom provider Eastlink launched new mobile plans that will allow its subscribers to use their wireless devices in other parts of the country without incurring roaming fees, the company said. Eastlink (owned by Bragg Communications Inc.) said in a release Friday that its new mobile plans give its Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island wireless...
Eastlink asks to end 30-day cancellation policies
telecom | 09/11/2013 9:05 pm EDT
Bragg Communications Inc. has asked the CRTC to prohibit telecom providers from requiring customers to give 30 days’ notice to cancel their telecom services. In an application dated Sept. 3, Bragg, which operates as Eastlink, said an increasing number of telecom providers have implemented 30-day cancellation policies in recent years, causing...
Eastlink launches pick-and-pay TV add-on
Media | 08/13/2013 8:57 pm EDT
Eastlink introduced a new pick-and-pay option that will allow customers to add individual channels to their TV service packages, the company said. In a release Tuesday, Eastlink, a Bragg Communications Inc. subsidiary, said it launched a new “Personal Picks” television option on Monday, which allows its TV subscribers to “choose and pay for the channels they want.” Under the new offer, subscribers can add channels to their basic TV subscription at a cost of $3 per channel per month, the company’s website says. They can also add a bundle of any 12 of those...
Eastlink launches remote DVR
Media | 06/12/2013 9:07 pm EDT
Eastlink introduced a feature that will allow customers to use computers, tablets and smartphones to program their personal video recorder (PVR) devices, the company said. In a release Wednesday, the Bragg Communications Inc. subsidiary said the Eastlink Remote DVR will allow customers to access a TV guide, search for programs, and view, cancel or...
Rogers to launch Fido in Atlantic Canada
telecom | 05/31/2013 6:25 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. will offer its discount wireless brand Fido in Halifax and Fredericton this spring, as well as in Moncton and Saint John, N.B., the company said. In a release Friday, Rogers said it will launch the Fido brand in five kiosk locations in the four cities, and through “over 50 third-party retailers,” including some in...