The CRTC has issued its annual telecommunications survey for 2021. Coming out of the pandemic shutdown, the numbers are generally good. The sector experienced a 3.4 per cent jump in total revenues that year, as opposed to the 1.4 per cent decline posted in 2020. That 2020 fall was the largest ever recorded in the Communications Market Reports (CMR). The only other decrease was in 2002 when the dot-com bubble burst. The chief factor in the 2021 increase was the...
Frustrated in its attempt to buy Freedom Mobile back from Shaw Communications Inc., Globalive Capital Corp. has announced it wants to acquire Manitoba spectrum licences from...
The department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) denied an application by...
Wednesday Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe...
The CRTC has issued a request for information from the incumbent wireless...
Canadians will be able to participate in public consultations regarding the installation or modification of antenna systems in the official language of their choice, after the Department of...
Xplornet Communications Inc.'s Xplore Mobile will shut down at the end of August, the company announced Friday afternoon. In a statement, the company blamed regulatory...
The Competitive Network Operators of Canada has filed an intervention in...
In a Thursday decision, the CRTC announced it was implementing regulations...
Rogers Communications Inc. and Cogeco Inc. are among competitors protesting proposed changes to the...
The Independent Telecommunications Providers...
A consortium of regional wireless competitors have filed an application...
Players in the low-earth orbit satellite (LEOs) space are casting doubt...
The Competition Bureau has filed an application...
Xplornet Communications Inc. purchased the high-speed internet business of...
The CRTC has determined that all communications service providers (CSPs), including telecommunications service providers (TSPs), Canadian carriers, and broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), must provide certain market segments with free paper billing, in an effort...
Tier 5 service areas are “too large” to meet...
Early consultations on regulations to 5G rollout affecting air traffic...
The telecoms companies that supported Innovation,...
Canada’s targets of reaching connectivity speeds...
BCE Inc. and Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. are not in favour of a proposal from Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) to adopt its 20-year 3500...
Rural broadband provider Xplornet Communications...
Xplornet Communications Inc.’s newly acquired fibre-based service...
Xplornet Communications Inc. announced Dennis Steiger as its new chief technology officer in a Wednesday press release. Steiger will lead the architecture, planning,...
New Brunswick-based rural broadband provider Xplornet Communications Inc. announced Wednesday it’s...
The Competition Bureau is asking the Federal Court...
The CRTC is seeking further information from...
Six months after it received a request to release the data it collects on a fraud process known as "SIM swapping," the CRTC yesterday sent a letter to parties involved in a proceeding on the matter saying that instances of the...
The CRTC has rejected a request from Xplornet Communications Inc. to repeal certain language from the regulator's Internet Code that raised the barrier for cutting off...
Through its newly acquired fibre-based service provider Ocdotus Inc. — which operates as Metro Loop — Xplornet Communications Inc. is expanding its fibre network in Haldimand County, Ontario. New Brunswick-based Xplornet announced the expansion Friday, saying in a release that it plans to deploy over 600 kilometres of fibre optic cable within the next two years. The expansion will bring fibre-to-the-home broadband service to 19,000 residences and businesses in the area outside of Hamilton with speeds up to one gigabit per second. "Xplornet is putting a strong focus on deploying...
Quebecor Inc. has indicated that, should the Competition Bureau force...
From the perspective of Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Joe Natale,...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has asked the CRTC to publicly disclose the information it...
James Moore, who served as industry minister in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, has joined the board of directors at Xplornet Communications Inc. The company said in a late-December press release the appointment...
A pair of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada proposals on changes to midband spectrum allocation that would affect fixed wireless service has drawn a mixed response from telecoms. In a consultation that started in August, ISED put forward numerous questions around the allocation of the 3500 to 4200 MHz bands, some portions of which need to be cleared in order for telecoms to roll out 5G networks. ISED proposed two options for the 3650 to 3700 MHz band, which is currently...
Xplornet Communications Inc. will use technology from Ericsson AB in its next-generation network, the company said Tuesday. Xplornet will begin rolling out its 5G fixed-wireless network in rural areas this summer, it said in...
A CRTC consultation on paper billing practices in the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors is continuing, with the commission requesting that all major companies respond to a series of...
At a discussion about Ottawa’s now-delayed Universal Broadband Fund with...
Major Canadian telecoms have ended one of their major relief measures for Canadians who suddenly shifted...
Xplornet Communications Inc.’s sale to U.S. based Stonepeak...
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. will become the second Canadian telecom to resume charging overage fees to home internet customers who go over their data caps, with the company announcing it will end the COVID-19...
Universal connectivity at the CRTC’s universal service objective speeds...
The familiar argument over wholesale access has made its way to a CRTC consultation on how to remove barriers to rural broadband rollouts, with smaller providers arguing the regulator should mandate...
An NDP plan for the federal government to add money raised from past and upcoming spectrum auctions to existing broadband funding could achieve universal connectivity well...
As the federal government and individual companies work on accelerating...
Cogeco Inc. will again start charging overage fees to its home internet customers who exceed their data limits as of Friday, with the company instead focusing on other measures it considers to “be more essential” to its...
The federal government will speed up its rural broadband funding in...
Telecommunication providers are closing retail stores, offering complimentary TV channels and continuing to waive overage fees on home internet plans as they respond to COVID-19. Xplornet...
Xplornet Communications Inc. has confirmed it has signed an agreement for it to be purchased by U.S. based Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. In a statement, Xplornet said Stonepeak would acquire a controlling stake in the business when the deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval, goes through. Xplornet board chair Steve Weed and his fund WaveDivision Capital will remain “material investors” in the business, the statement says. Xplornet president and CEO Allison Lenehan said he was excited Stonepeak had agreed to acquire the company, and said it remained committed to...
Xplornet Communications Inc. will be bought for some $2 billion USD by a U.S.-based investment firm, according to a report from Bloomberg News. Asked if the government was aware of the reports of the transaction, a...
GATINEAU, Que. — How threatening the prospect of mandated MVNO access is...
GATINEAU, Que. — The CRTC’s two-week wireless policy review kicked off...
Despite improvements in customer service that have lowered customer...
The forthcoming Internet code from the CRTC would make it far too hard for Xplornet Communications Inc. to disconnect customers that haven’t paid, the company argues in a filing to the regulator...
The CRTC has directed telecom companies to disclose an additional set of...
The big three telecoms are telling the CRTC that their practice of slowing...
CRTC chairman Ian Scott said the new internet code will address many of the...
The last two months have seen a glut of project funding announced under the Connect to Innovate (CTI) program, with $29 million being funneled to 13 projects: three in New Brunswick; two each in Prince Edward Island, Ontario, and British Columbia; and one each in Alberta and Nova Scotia. According to the ministry of Rural Economic Development, which was created in January and took over responsibility for the CTI fund which predates it, the cluster of announcements in the past several weeks is little more than a coincidence. Projects are approved after an appropriate period of due...
The CRTC has asked several telecoms to explain how their throttling of wireless speeds once customers exceed their data allotments doesn’t violate the commission’s regulatory policy on internet...
The House of Commons industry committee has endorsed Xplornet Communications Inc.'s call that the ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) should not claw back any of the 3.5...
In recent weeks, telecom issues haven’t escaped the increased rhetoric...
The decision by Innovation Canada to carve-out mobile use licences from the...
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Innovation Canada will give existing holders of 3.5 GHz spectrum an opportunity to apply for flexible use of the spectrum based on their proportional holdings of the frequencies, it said in a new document outlining how the band, said to be crucial for...
After the CRTC in April denied the Competition Bureau’s request for more specific telecom data for its wireless review, the commission Friday changed course and said it will go ahead and ask...
Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom, the country’s major fourth wireless player, says it is most susceptible to harm if the CRTC decides to mandate MVNO access to incumbent facilities, and that...
BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp., and Shaw Communications Inc. have responded to the CRTC’s questions about $10 fees they charge for some customer service tasks. Telecom...
BCE Inc. was among three prospective applicants who didn’t grab licenses for the coveted 600 MHz spectrum, widely considered to be the last chance to get valuable low-band frequencies. The...
Xplornet Communications Inc. is now offering unlimited internet service plans across the country for...
An application to relax eligibility requirements for the CRTC’s...
The CRTC has finally set a threshold for a metric it said will improve the quality of service (QoS) for applications reliant on the rapid transmission of data. The regulator said Tuesday that it...
Small, wholesale-based internet service providers could be forced out of...
As the new year begins, the months ahead promise a new spectrum auction, new CRTC announcements on high-profile files like telecom sales practices, and even potentially a new federal government — to be determined in an election in which the danger of hacking and social...
An industry group has created a code of conduct governing the content and application of beer...
An application by BCE Inc.’s Northwestel arguing the CRTC’s basic...
Cogeco Inc. isn’t among the list of participants in the 600 MHz auction, released by Innovation Canada...
OTTAWA — Innovation Canada deputy minister John Knubley said his...
New Brunswick-based internet provider Xplornet Communications Inc. started selling mobile subscriptions in Manitoba this week, with many watching how the small telecom operator will fare competing against larger players. Xplornet started with an existing base of just over...
An indigenous telecom vying for federal support to provide Northern Manitoba communities with fibre internet is trying to claim a share of Innovation Canada money announced in January, following a...
Manitoba customers of Xplornet Communications Inc.’s upcoming mobile service will be allowed to...
GATINEAU — TekSavvy Solutions Inc. told the CRTC Wednesday that a sales...
The CRTC is reviewing Canadian ISPs’ traffic management and differential pricing practices for compliance with its net neutrality framework, according to a letter sent out by the commission requesting specific information from...
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has met with creative groups in his first registered lobby...
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters registered to lobby the federal government on its review of the Copyright Act in July, which was otherwise a sleepy month in telecom and media government...
Xplornet Communications Inc. plans to introduce “5G-ready Internet...
Xplornet Communications Inc. will call its wireless service Xplore Mobile when it launches this fall, it...
Xplornet Communications Inc. plans to build up fibre facilities in Eastern Ontario to power a new fixed wireless network capable of delivering 100 Mbps speeds, it said in a press release on Wednesday. With a goal to connect 35,000 homes in the counties of Northumberland,...
Xplornet Communications Inc. will not be able to service thousands of its rural customers with...
The CRTC will question telecoms about their sales practices at an October hearing in Gatineau, Que., the regulator said Monday as it launched a consultation. The proceeding is in response to an order by the federal government...
BCE Inc.’s Bell MTS in Manitoba is dropping its province-wide wireless unlimited data plan option and increasing prices for upgrading or new customers, it announced Tuesday. New customers will...
Amir Bigloo, who has a history of successful spectrum purchases as CEO of...
A new organization called the Centre for Digital Rights (CDR) that is looking to create a national data strategy has registered to lobby the government after its co-founder Jim Balsillie told a House of Commons ethics committee this month that internet giants are engaging in...
Innovation Canada (ISED) released the results of its 2018 residual spectrum auction Friday, with Cogeco Inc. ending up as the big spender. The Montreal-based telecom picked up seven paired and 16 unpaired licenses in the 2300...
Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. have registered to lobby the...
The notice-and-notice regime requires internet service providers (ISPs) to...
Last week, the city of Morden, Manitoba announced a May start date for a utility-like fixed wireless internet service that will be provided to residents at no monthly cost, according to its website. Called Morenet, the service...
A decades-old organization that is pushing for a multilateral approach to decision-making on the future...
Advances in fixed wireless technology could make it a more viable option...
Canada’s telecoms are taking sides on how Innovation Canada should approach the release of more licence-exempt spectrum, including whether more should be allocated for WiFi use, as it prepares for...
Over six years after it was established, a government-funded non-profit initiative seeking to deliver...
Innovation Canada is extending both licence terms and coverage requirements following a consultation on AWS-1 spectrum renewals, it said in a decision Friday. In 2008, ISED — then Industry Canada — auctioned off AWS-1 and other spectrum for a term of 10 years using Tier 2 and Tier 3 licence areas. Following a consultation in June, which saw Canada’s largest wireless providers request a longer term period, ISED said Friday it will expand the term for AWS-1 and G Block to 20 years — I Block for 10 years — and require those providers to cover additional areas serving 172...