TAGGED AS BRAM ABRAMSON
Website blocking has potential to combat piracy, conference hears
Media | 11/14/2017 7:19 pm EST
OTTAWA — If BCE Inc.’s suggestion in September that the federal government should consider blocking websites that host infringing material to fight content piracy was...
Bram Abramson leaving TekSavvy
telecom | 09/11/2017 5:09 pm EDT
Bram Abramson, chief legal and regulatory officer at TekSavvy Solutions Inc., is leaving the company.
Abramson joined TekSavvy in 2014, moving from Toronto law firm McCarthy Tétrault.
Abramson said in an email Monday that he is “proud to have helped amplify TekSavvy’s and independent competitors’ voices in policy debates, and will continue to serve on the [Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services] board on behalf of competitors and smaller companies.”
On Wednesday, Mozilla Corp....
Small ISPs welcome rollout of disaggregated wholesale regime
telecom | 08/29/2017 6:17 pm EDT
The CRTC kickstarted the industry’s move to a disaggregated wholesale...
FCC’s net neutrality changes could affect Canada, some experts say
telecom | 07/12/2017 4:37 pm EDT
On Wednesday, major internet and tech companies teamed up to rally against...
Incumbents defend wireless prices after Bains criticism
telecom | 06/06/2017 7:59 pm EDT
TORONTO — Representatives from the big three were on the defense a day...
CNOC asks for CRTC action on growing wholesale wireline ‘service gaps’
telecom | 03/30/2017 8:54 pm EDT
As large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) push on with the build of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks, small providers say they are encountering an increasing number of areas where they have no...
Notice-and-notice effect on piracy unclear ahead of copyright review
Media | 03/13/2017 8:39 pm EDT
As the federal government gears up to review the Copyright Act later this year, information about the rate of piracy in Canada remains elusive, two full years since the implementation of the notice-and-notice regime to combat copyright infringement. The Wire Report reached out to experts to see whether the regime has had a tangible effect on piracy rates in Canada ahead of the review, but few could provide a way to measure the notice system's effectiveness. “The Department of...
50 Mbps speeds, LTE part of CRTC’s new basic service requirements
telecom | 12/21/2016 9:14 pm EST
GATINEAU, Que. — Advocates are calling the CRTC’s new basic service requirements — which include a minimum of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds and LTE coverage —...
FTTH access plan ‘consistent’ but ‘disappointing’: indie ISPs
telecom | 09/20/2016 9:52 pm EDT
The CRTC has missed an opportunity to foster innovation among telecom competitors as it moves forward in the implementation of mandated wholesale access by smaller Internet service providers (ISPs) to...
Industry execs blast Quebec Internet-blocking, call for CRTC involvement
Media | 06/08/2016 12:29 am EDT
TORONTO — Executives from Canada’s telecom companies took aim at a new bill by the Quebec government that would force Internet service providers (ISPs) to block some gambling websites...
Quebec online gambling law would have ‘huge’ costs for ISPs: CWTA
telecom | 05/26/2016 9:57 pm EDT
New Quebec legislation forcing Internet service providers (ISPs) to block certain online gambling websites from being accessed in the province could put smaller ISPs out of business, industry reps...
Small ISPs laud government denial of Bell’s FTTH appeal
telecom | 05/11/2016 1:23 pm EDT
Independent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and advocacy groups said Wednesday they’re encouraged by the federal government’s rejection of BCE Inc.’s appeal of the CRTC...
Effect of zero-rating on competition under debate
Media | 05/06/2016 8:21 pm EDT
OTTAWA — A panel discussion on net neutrality Friday dug into whether zero-rating can help or harm market competition, with Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Telus Corp. taking issue with the...
Copyright infringement notices being used for advertising, ISPs say
Media | 04/27/2016 8:57 pm EDT
In recent weeks, BCE Inc. and HBO have begun using copyright infringement notices to steer recipients toward legal sources of TV content — but some of the Internet service providers...
Basic service should include wholesale rates: TekSavvy
Media | 04/11/2016 10:12 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — On the first day of the CRTC’s hearing on what basic telecom services should be available to all Canadians, small ISP TekSavvy Solutions Inc. asked the CRTC to...
CRTC to reconsider current wholesale Internet rates
telecom | 03/31/2016 8:40 pm EDT
The CRTC issued Thursday a new approach to how the rates small companies pay large telecoms for wholesale Internet services are set, stating that “current wholesale [high-speed access] service rates are likely not just and reasonable.” It directed large telecoms to file new cost studies relating to the rates they charge for wholesale high-speed Internet access. The new prices that come out of that costing process will apply to all wholesale high-speed access (HAS) rates, which the CRTC made interim “as of the date of this decision.” That means any changes to the rates...
Dependence on landline-phone services put Primus in creditor protection: CEO
telecom | 01/21/2016 4:02 pm EST
Too much reliance on landline-phone-service revenue, combined with a heavy debt load, has resulted in Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. being placed in creditor protection and awaiting court...
CRTC denies TekSavvy relief in Toronto wholesale issue
Media | 12/15/2015 9:02 pm EST
The CRTC has denied TekSavvy Solutions Inc.'s request for interim relief in a situation where Rogers Communications Inc. is slated to replace some legacy cable in a Toronto neighbourhood with...
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 gives 90 days for talks on wholesale Internet service dispute
telecom | 02/12/2015 9:44 pm EST
The CRTC is demanding that four of Canada’s largest cable companies and small ISPs represented by the Canadian Network Operators’ Consortium (CNOC) work out a dispute over customer service...
ISPs prepping for increase in copyright infringement notices
Media | 01/12/2015 10:11 pm EST
After "significant" investments in time and money to prepare for the notice-and-notice regime that went into effect this month, independent Internet service providers Teksavvy Solutions Inc. and Distributel Communications Ltd. say they haven’t seen an increase in the number of rights holders' requests that infringement notices be passed on to customers — but they’re expecting one. Under the notice-and-notice regime, which came into effect this month, ISPs have to forward to subscribers copyright infringement notices sent to them by rights holders. Some ISPs...
Wireline wholesale hearing to put focus on ISP access
telecom | 10/29/2014 4:55 pm EDT
The CRTC faces another major policy hearing next month, and this one has the potential to affect independent Internet service providers that depend on major telecom companies to connect them to customers. In September, the...
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...
TekSavvy asks CRTC for help to launch TV service
Media | 09/16/2014 9:15 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — Independent ISP TekSavvySolutions Inc. told the CRTC Tuesday it is considering becoming a TV distributor, on the same day that it announced a “partnership” with Hastings Cable Vision Ltd., an...
Court decision muddies lawful access rules for ISPs: Lawford
telecom | 06/13/2014 9:00 pm EDT
Friday’s Supreme Court decision requiring law enforcement to get a warrant in order to obtain customers’ personal information from Internet service providers muddies the water around...
Bram Abramson moves to Teksavvy
Media | 03/31/2014 8:59 pm EDT
Communications lawyer Bram Abramson has joined Teksavvy Solutions Inc. as chief legal and regulatory officer. Abramson left McCarthy Tétrault, a Toronto-based business law firm, where he specialized in telecommunications and regulation. Abramson received his law degree from McGill University in 2007, according to his LinkedIn page....