TAGGED AS NORTHWESTEL INC.
Indigenous communities to buy Northwestel for up to $1B
telecom | 06/12/2024 12:24 pm EDT
A group of Indigenous communities from the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut announced plans to buy Northwestel from BCE Inc.
The consortium, Sixty North Unity, said in a Tuesday news release that it will acquire the northern telecom for almost $1 billion. Once...
Northwestel ordered to abandon DSL surcharge after eight years
telecom | 05/09/2024 11:48 am EDT
BCE Inc. subsidiary Northwestel has been told by the CRTC to stop charging DSL customers an extra $20 if they do not subscribe to home phone service as well. The decision was released Thursday.
The surcharge was originally approved in 2016. Northwestel said it could not...
Feds invest $2.3M to bring high-speed internet and mobile coverage in Northwest Territories
telecom | 03/01/2024 4:10 pm EST
The Government of Canada announced Friday that it...
CRTC announces funds for Nunavut and rejects Bell’s bid to amend Broadband Fund contributions
telecom | 12/20/2023 4:47 pm EST
The CRTC has denied a BCE Inc. application to...
Northwestel Successfully Transitions Services in Atlin, BC, Unveils Plans for Enhanced Connectivity
telecom | 12/19/2023 5:10 pm EST
BCE Inc.’s Northwestel announced to the CRTC...
Bell, Northwestel tell CRTC to leave billing dispute with Iristel in hands of the court
Internet and Governance | 10/30/2023 4:49 pm EDT
BCE Inc.’s Bell Canada and Northwestel have...
CRTC greenlights Northwestel Connecting Families packages
Internet and Governance | 10/24/2023 2:54 pm EDT
The CRTC has given the green light to BCE Inc. subsidiary Northwestel Inc. to offer two Connecting Families Internet Packages in a bid to provide affordable internet access to low-income households in Canada's northern regions. These packages, approved on a final basis and...
CRTC missed opportunity to hold NorthwesTel accountable to consumer concerns in Far North: PIAC
telecom | 06/01/2023 5:18 pm EDT
The CRTC presented its public opinion research...
Wholesale access in the North is essential for service improvement, Indigenous economic development: stakeholders tell CRTC
telecom | 02/17/2023 5:26 pm EST
There is a consensus forming that the CRTC should...
Northwestel may provide FTTP services 35% below price floor and discount to Wholesale Connect: CRTC
telecom | 12/20/2022 5:46 pm EST
The CRTC approved an application by BCE Inc.’s...
Far North does not need special consideration, Telus tells CRTC
telecom | 12/13/2022 6:15 pm EST
Telus Corp. told the CRTC that it is not charging more for the services it...
Wholesale HSA service not needed in Far North; LEOs will do: Northwestel
telecom | 10/12/2022 4:59 pm EDT
There’s no need for BCE Inc.’s Northwestel to introduce wholesale...
Iristel petitions cabinet to overturn CRTC traffic simulation findings
telecom | 05/02/2022 4:47 pm EDT
Iristel Inc. filed a petition to the governor in council to vary a decision...
CRTC sets new next-gen 911 implementation deadlines
telecom | 06/14/2021 4:34 pm EDT
The CRTC is setting new deadlines for the implementation of next-generation 911 networks and services after delaying due to the pandemic. The regulator said in a decision Monday next-gen or NG911 providers will have until...
SSi asks CRTC to mandate third-party access to fibre in the North, new wholesale rates
telecom | 12/09/2020 2:27 pm EST
Northern broadband provider SSi Canada is asking...
CRTC approves Northwestel’s waiving of overage fees
telecom | 03/24/2020 2:44 pm EDT
The CRTC has given interim approval to BCE Inc.’s Northwestel application for urgent relief that will allow to it waive data overage charges for its cable and fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) internet customers. The waiving of overage fees for March and April matches the moves of a number of telecommunication service providers, promised as many Canadians began working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as waiving overage fees for its cable and FTTP customers, Northwestel will grant all residential DSL internet customers an extra 100 GB of data on top of their plan amount,...
Northwestel ordered to redo temporary relief application
telecom | 03/19/2020 4:46 pm EDT
The CRTC has ordered BCE Inc.’s Northwestel to resubmit its “urgent” application for temporary relief in order to waive overage fees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic because the application...
Internet code will indirectly tackle poor sales practices, CRTC chairman says
telecom | 07/31/2019 11:01 am EDT
CRTC chairman Ian Scott said the new internet code will address many of the...
Northwestel boosting speeds threefold in October
telecom | 09/17/2018 5:00 pm EDT
BCE Inc.’s Northwestel says it will begin providing internet service at speeds three times as fast as...
New Northwestel rates could ‘finally’ lead to competition: SSi
telecom | 11/15/2016 8:54 pm EST
The CRTC’s order to BCE Inc. subsidiary Northwestel Inc. to file new cost studies last week “might finally bring effective telecoms competition to...
Northwestel can pull grandfathered Internet plans, CRTC says
telecom | 08/29/2016 6:54 pm EDT
BCE Inc. subsidiary Northwestel Inc. can stop offering “destandardized” wireline Internet packages, the CRTC has ruled. In a decision posted Monday, the regulator approved Northwestel’s application to withdraw eight grandfathered residential and business plans and move customers over to comparable modern packages. As part of the rationale the company provided in its application, it noted that it currently “offers 39 residential and small business Internet service packages, including destandardized packages, and that maintaining multiple types of packages...
High-speed Internet project completed in NWT community
telecom | 06/08/2016 8:39 pm EDT
Broadband infrastructure improvements have been completed in the remote community of Nahanni Butte, N.W.T., the federal government said in a Wednesday press release. The project to replace a...
With no network infrastructure, towns opting to build their own
telecom | 03/02/2016 9:19 pm EST
Among the arguments from BCE Inc. and those supporting its appeal to federal cabinet of the CRTC decision mandating wholesale access to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks is that the ruling will slow...
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...
Northwestel to dismantle last of radio-phone service
telecom | 07/24/2015 8:29 pm EDT
Northwestel Inc. has been given permission to dismantle its "manual mobile service" sites in the last six locations where it still offers the service, effective October 31. The CRTC approved the request to end the...
Modernization Plan network improvements at risk: Northwestel
telecom | 06/16/2015 3:27 pm EDT
Northwestel Inc. is asking the CRTC to reconsider its move in March to eliminate a $20 surcharge the company charges some customers. The CRTC had ruled that Northwestel was no longer allowed to...
CRTC to consider whether broadband should be basic service
telecom | 04/09/2015 9:22 pm EDT
The CRTC announced Thursday that it will re-examine the definition and role of so-called basic services, paving the way for potential changes to the offerings telecom companies are mandated to make...
Interim 911 service in Yukon cancelled
telecom | 03/09/2015 7:39 pm EDT
The Yukon government has cancelled an interim 911 service that would have allowed residents to dial 911, instead of a seven-digit phone number used by some responders, to reach all emergency personnel. The CRTC approved the...
CRTC cuts Northwestel Internet prices, will launch basic-services proceeding
telecom | 03/04/2015 9:13 pm EST
The CRTC on Wednesday ordered BCE Inc.’s Northwestel Inc. to lower its Internet prices for new and existing customers to address the “disparity” between the cost of Internet in the North and the rest of Canada. The decision is the latest in a series of moves by the regulator to improve telecom infrastructure in Canada’s northern territories, including its efforts to bring broadband to rural communities as well as a 2013 decision ordering Northwestel to tweak a five-year...
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 picked up by Rogers, other BDUs
Media | 02/19/2015 3:15 pm EST
BCE Inc.'s online TV-everywhere service, CTV Go, is now available to customers of Rogers Communications Inc. and four other TV service providers, CTV said Thursday. The network said in a press release that other broadcast...
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...
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...
Bell upgrades wireless service in North
telecom | 12/08/2014 7:02 pm EST
BCE Inc. said Monday it has launched 4G satellite wireless service in four Northwest Territories communities. The company said the upgrade in Gameti, Nahanni Butte, Paulatuk and Ulukhaktok was part of Northwestel Inc.’s modernization plan, noting that the Bell subsidiary transferred its wireless portfolio to Bell last year. The press release added that the federal government contributed “ a total of approximately $700,000” to the expansions, which accounted for “approximately one half of total eligible project costs.” It added...
Bell launches HSPA+ in 2 Yukon communities
telecom | 10/06/2014 4:33 pm EDT
BCE Inc. has launched 4G wireless service in Pelly Crossing and Burwash Landing, Yukon, the company said in a press release Monday. Bell spokeswoman Jacqueline Michelis clarified in an email that the service is delivered...
PIAC awarded $20K in costs by CRTC
telecom | 09/24/2014 4:01 pm EDT
The CRTC on Wednesday said it was awarding the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) almost $20,000 in costs for expenses incurred in three different proceedings, to be covered by various telecommunications companies. One of the...
Bell top payer, PIAC top recipient of CRTC cost awards so far in 2014
telecom | 09/12/2014 2:31 pm EDT
The CRTC this year has ordered telecommunications companies to pay more than $230,000 to various organizations participating in different telecommunications proceedings, of which BCE Inc. and its...
Northwestel allowed to dismantle radio-phone service
telecom | 08/13/2014 3:36 pm EDT
Northwestel Inc. has been given permission to dismantle most of its "manual mobile service" sites in the North due to declining usage and increasing difficulty in maintaining the infrastructure. The CRTC said Wednesday...
Yukon looking to implement territory-wide 911 service
telecom | 07/30/2014 4:21 pm EDT
The Yukon government is working with Northwestel Inc. to expand the 911 emergency call service to include every community in the territory, according to a Part 1 application sent to the CRTC on July 28. Currently 911 service is...
Northwestel allowed to charge extra for standalone Internet
telecom | 07/21/2014 4:31 pm EDT
The CRTC said Monday it has granted Northwestel Inc. permission to charge extra to customers who subscribe to its Internet service without its landline phone service. The commission added that it has...
Has the time come to make broadband a basic service?
telecom | 06/18/2014 7:27 pm EDT
As the CRTC is set to reconsider what constitutes a basic telecommunications service, some voices are saying that it’s about time to include broadband Internet in that definition. Under current rules, basic service includes...
CRTC allows exception on affiliate rates
telecom | 06/16/2014 5:01 pm EDT
The CRTC said Monday it has allowed an exception to its rule that telecommunications service providers' affiliates must charge identical rates to the incumbent phone company that controls them when reselling its services that...
CRTC’s consumer focus not at odds with industry: Blais
Media | 04/02/2014 9:14 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — The reviews the CRTC will be holding over the coming year, which include proceedings covering wholesale access to wireless and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks, the future of television and commercial radio, could set the direction for the CRTC over the next decade, said CRTC Chairman Jean Pierre Blais. “This fall, we’ll be doing hearings that basically review everything we regulate in one way or another,” Blais said in an interview with The Wire Report at the CRTC offices Wednesday. “Pretty much everything we are responsible for is in play in...
Affordability, not access, key to rural Internet delivery: ISPs
telecom | 02/12/2014 10:13 pm EST
The federal government’s new rural broadband funding program should help reduce the cost of connecting rural locations’ Internet services with the rest of the country and not just focus on...
Affordable transport key, CRTC says in NWTel decision
telecom | 12/18/2013 10:59 pm EST
The CRTC has ordered Northwestel Inc. to tweak its plan to modernize the North’s lagging telecom infrastructure with a renewed emphasis on fibre investments and will also launch proceedings next year to consider the high cost of Internet backhaul and how best to fund northern telecom infrastructure, the commission said. In a decision released...
Ice Wireless launches new mobile network in Iqaluit
telecom | 11/22/2013 9:02 pm EST
Ice Wireless, a subsidiary of Iristel Inc., launched a high-speed wireless service that’s well suited to accommodating the latest in smartphones and tablets, in the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit. It said in a press release Friday that its service provides an alternative to the “spotty, overpriced cellular coverage” that for years had...
Competitors: Northwestel ‘thwarting’ competition
telecom | 06/20/2013 9:19 pm EDT
Northwestel Inc.’s new modernization plan contains an “unhealthy emphasis” on delaying potential competitors from offering services in the North, competitor SSi Micro Ltd. told a panel of CRTC commissioners. “The latest iteration of the modernization plan still contains inadequate commitments,” Dean Proctor, SSi’s...
NWTel plan doesn’t meet residents’ needs, governments say
telecom | 06/18/2013 9:07 pm EDT
Northwestel Inc.’s revised modernization plan fails to meet northerners’ telecom needs, representatives from the Yukon and Northwest Territories governments told a panel of CRTC commissioners Monday. “The problem is that Northwestel still has no plan to deal with the current unmet needs for broadband and imminent explosive growth in a way that really matters,” Margaret Hollis, legal counsel for Nunavut, said in Inuvik, N.T.W. at a CRTC hearing on Northwestel and northern telecom services. She said Northwestel’s modernization plan, filed in January, fails to address the territory’s “critical” telecom needs, including “more bandwidth, more backbone and more connectivity, and cheaper backhaul.” Mike Aumond, deputy minister of...
North needs backhaul, not wireless infrastructure, small competitors say
telecom | 02/08/2013 8:14 pm EST
The CRTC should require Northwestel Inc. to improve the availability and cost of its Internet backhaul infrastructure, not its last-mile wireless services, the company’s smaller competitors said in regulatory documents this week. In an intervention filed with the commission Wednesday, SSi Micro Ltd. said the CRTC...
CRTC rejects Iristel, Ice complaint against NWTel
telecom | 02/01/2013 9:04 pm EST
The CRTC denied an Iristel Inc. and Ice Wireless Inc. request that it order Northwestel Inc. to stop launching new telecom services—and to stop reducing the rates of its existing services—until after a “holistic” review of Northwestel’s regulatory framework, the commission said. In a complaint filed with the commission in...