TAGGED AS JOHN LAWFORD
PIAC, FRPC demand strengthened CRTC participation fund
Media | 04/21/2021 6:19 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC) are urging the CRTC to come up with an interim plan to “stabilize the finances” of the Broadcasting Participation Fund as they anticipate a shortfall in money for...
Focus on competition at ‘day of action’ following Rogers-Shaw deal
Media | 03/16/2021 6:10 pm EDT
As news of Roger’s Communications Inc.’s deal to acquire Shaw Communications Inc. sparks discussions on what it may mean for the wireless market in Canada, advocates say competition and other considerations will be important for the public’s best interests in the future. During an “Affordable Internet Day of Action” panel discussions hosted by multiple groups Tuesday, the day’s conversations centred around affordable Internet access for all and the state of the national market,...
PIAC, CMG criticize CBC’s request for digital flexibility
Media | 01/26/2021 6:13 pm EST
The new digital initiatives from CBC/Radio-Canada like the English-language Gem and its French counterpart ICI Tou.tv have not yet shown themselves to be good enough to fulfill the broadcaster's...
PIAC calls for $50 internet subsidy for lower-income Canadians during pandemic
telecom | 01/14/2021 4:12 pm EST
Canada should follow the lead of the United States and put in place a $50 “broadband benefit” throughout the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says. The...
Create a broadband czar to coordinate funding: PIAC
telecom | 12/08/2020 6:05 pm EST
The disparate broadband funding programs administered across different federal government departments...
OPC supports PIAC call for CRTC to clarify rules for tracing apps
telecom | 12/01/2020 5:48 pm EST
While it believes the CRTC's existing definition of "customer confidential...
Gov’t tables PIPEDA reform, new consumer privacy legislation
Media | 11/17/2020 5:54 pm EST
The federal government introduced sweeping private-sector privacy law reform Tuesday, giving the privacy commissioner long-asked for order-making powers and creating new legislation and a new administrative tribunal to govern online privacy.
Bill C-11, the Digital Charter...
PIAC requests privacy review of contact tracing apps
telecom | 10/29/2020 6:24 pm EDT
Six months after the CRTC declined its request to hold an inquiry into contact tracing technologies and...
CRTC stepped back to allow telecoms to handle COVID-19
telecom | 08/13/2020 3:37 pm EDT
The CRTC largely played a hands-off role during the COVID-19 pandemic in a...
Canadians complaining about wireless less, experiencing fewer unexpected charges: research
telecom | 08/05/2020 3:31 pm EDT
Canadians are complaining less about their wireless service and fewer consumers are receiving unexpected charges in their monthly wireless bill, according to wireless code...
Telecoms end overage fees suspension
telecom | 07/02/2020 4:52 pm EDT
Major Canadian telecoms have ended one of their major relief measures for Canadians who suddenly shifted...
Monsef tight-lipped on rural broadband funding announcement
telecom | 06/05/2020 5:01 pm EDT
Rural Economic Development Minister Maryam Monsef says “precise...
CRTC rejects request to hold contact-tracing inquiry
telecom | 05/13/2020 4:09 pm EDT
The CRTC has rejected a Public Interest Advocacy Centre request that it look into the involvement of...
PIAC calls for providers to detail COVID-19 tracing involvement
telecom | 05/04/2020 6:14 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre is asking for all Canadian...
Cogeco to bring back overage fees as of May 1
telecom | 04/30/2020 2:10 pm EDT
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...
Consider cost applications on Accessibility Canada Act regulations, CRTC urged
Media | 04/16/2020 4:58 pm EDT
The CRTC is under criticism for saying it may not award costs to groups who participate in a public consultation on regulations under the Accessibility Canada Act, with stakeholder groups arguing such a move would “contradict” the objectives of the new accessibility legislation. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications both sent letters to the regulator asking it to immediately provide clarity around funding, arguing the uncertainty...
CNOC calls for gov’t funding to keep Canadians connected
telecom | 04/07/2020 5:40 pm EDT
The federal government should guarantee internet service providers payments...
STIR/SHAKEN may create a ‘two-tiered’ wireless system: ISCC
telecom | 03/12/2020 6:03 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The CRTC's efforts to work with telecom companies to implement a...
Telus savages gov’t price directive, others more circumspect
telecom | 03/06/2020 5:30 pm EST
Analysts have provided nuanced reactions to the government’s plan to...
Fibre wire access scheme already exists, PIAC argues
telecom | 02/12/2020 5:46 pm EST
CloudWifi Inc.’s application for small internet service providers to be able to access fibre...
Election 2019: watch for price caps, Netflix regs, Huawei ban
Media | 09/10/2019 12:03 pm EDT
Even before the federal election campaign officially kicked off, telecom price caps already emerged as a proposal that, if implemented, would reverse a decades-long policy trend in Canada and diverge from international norms.
Even some of those who would welcome the idea...
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...
CRTC asks for info on device financing plans
telecom | 07/17/2019 12:17 pm EDT
The CRTC has asked the country’s wireless providers for information about new device financing plans that have appeared on the market in the last few weeks. In a letter signed by CRTC chief of consumer, research and...
Telus plans could also ‘interfere’ with customer churn: PIAC
telecom | 07/12/2019 4:42 pm EDT
The same week that concerns were raised about new device financing plans...
Rogers’ financing plans ‘might be seen as a problem’: CCTS
telecom | 07/10/2019 6:23 pm EDT
The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) said...
Ultimate impact of new ‘unlimited’ plans unclear: industry-watchers
telecom | 06/13/2019 6:29 pm EDT
As BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. reacted to Rogers Communications Inc.’s offer of a new wireless data plan with no data overage charges, analysts and experts had difficulty predicting how the new plans...
NDP intros affordable telecom plan
telecom | 06/10/2019 6:03 pm EDT
The New Democratic Party has unveiled Monday a plan to make telecommunications services more affordable,...
CRTC denies PIAC clarity on phone unlocking
telecom | 05/23/2019 6:00 pm EDT
The CRTC has denied a request by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) to state that CRTC policy...
‘Competition’ definition key to impact of new CRTC directive: experts
telecom | 02/27/2019 6:08 pm EST
The new policy direction for the CRTC announced by the federal government...
Onus is on telecoms to fix misleading sales practices: CRTC chairman
telecom | 02/20/2019 11:00 am EST
Canada’s telecommunications industry suffers from an “unacceptable degree” of misleading and aggressive retail sales practices that are “harming consumers” and...
Stick to hexagons for broadband fund, PIAC and telecoms tell CRTC
telecom | 02/13/2019 3:07 pm EST
An application to relax eligibility requirements for the CRTC’s...
Growing CRTC cost awards delays ‘problem for everybody’
Media | 12/18/2018 7:44 pm EST
Increases in how long the CRTC takes to pay public interest groups to...
More consumer groups say they won’t participate in CRTC internet code proceeding
telecom | 11/30/2018 3:59 pm EST
The list of consumer groups that say they won’t take part in the CRTC’s...
PIAC says CRTC ‘railroading’ internet code, boycotts proceedings
Media | 11/23/2018 2:33 pm EST
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre says it is boycotting the CRTC’s internet code proceedings, a move that comes after the regulator denied an application by consumer groups for a time-extension on...
Consumer groups warn MPs against site-blocking pitches
Media | 11/06/2018 1:55 pm EST
OTTAWA — Consumer advocacy groups are cautioning MPs against proposals that would make site-blocking in Canada easier, after a push for those anti-piracy policies failed at the CRTC failed last month. Representatives from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) warned MPs on the House of Commons industry committee Monday against proposals similar to FairPlay Canada’s CRTC ask for a new website-blocking regime to deal with internet piracy. John Lawford, executive director at PIAC, said “expedient judicial...
Comms acts review panel urges ‘practical’ submissions
Media | 11/01/2018 7:11 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Members of the panel tasked with providing recommendations to...
Consumer, seniors groups ask for telecom sales code of conduct
Media | 10/23/2018 6:24 pm EDT
GATINEAU — Consumer protection and seniors advocacy groups told the CRTC...
Small ISPs ‘optimistic’ about CRTC broadband fund
telecom | 09/28/2018 4:58 pm EDT
A CRTC decision outlining how its $750 million fund for rural broadband will be administered “looks quite encouraging,” according to the president of the Canadian Network Operators’ Consortium (CNOC). Matt Stein said in a...
Current witness protections sufficient in sales tactics inquiry: CRTC
telecom | 07/30/2018 5:12 pm EDT
The CRTC has declined a request from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) to offer protection against litigation to current and former employees who offer submissions to the regulator’s...
Court nixing Que. site-blocking ‘helpful’ against FairPlay: advocates
Media | 07/24/2018 5:59 pm EDT
The Quebec Superior Court has ruled against a plan by the Quebec government...
Freedom launches its own low-cost data plans
telecom | 07/19/2018 4:32 pm EDT
Shaw Communications Inc. has launched low-cost wireless data plans that trump offers proposed by its competitors to the CRTC, after the telecoms told the regulator that it should accept no substitutes what they proposed. The...
Industry should know Canadians concerned about sales practices: Bains
telecom | 06/14/2018 1:35 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said Thursday afternoon that...
Bains says spectrum auction dates to give industry predictability
telecom | 06/06/2018 6:51 pm EDT
TORONTO — Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains announced Wednesday the...
CRTC calls for ISPs to pay for CanCon, ‘equitable’ OTT contributions
Media | 05/31/2018 11:18 am EDT
GATINEAU — The CRTC is recommending the government undertake a bevy of changes to the Canadian content system, including a new approach to funding content that would include...
FairPlay meeting with legal staff, not commissioners: CRTC
Media | 05/17/2018 6:57 pm EDT
An anti-internet piracy coalition did not end up meeting with CRTC...
Big three unveil low-cost, data only plans to criticism
telecom | 04/25/2018 6:08 pm EDT
Canada’s big three wireless carriers have responded to the CRTC’s...
CRTC abdicating responsibility by declining sales practices inquiry: PIAC
telecom | 02/14/2018 11:14 am EST
The CRTC has told the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) that Canadians have other outlets for complaints about telecom sales practices in response to a request from the consumer group to open an...
BPF registers to lobby amidst consumer group funding concerns
Media | 12/14/2017 2:25 pm EST
A few months after the emergence of a proposal asking the CRTC to shift...
PIAC still over $100K short of Feb. goal despite costs awards
telecom | 12/04/2017 12:34 pm EST
With under a month left in its donation drive and three recent cost awards, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is still over $100,000 short of its goal of staying afloat by February, according to its executive director John Lawford.
The Wire Report reported in...
PIAC awarded costs from VOIS proceedings
telecom | 11/13/2017 4:59 pm EST
The CRTC has ordered VOIS Inc. to pay the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) a little over one thousand dollars for work done that eventually led to a non-compliance ruling against the Alberta-based telecom. The costs were...
CRTC cost award delays could lead to PIAC shutdown, group says
Media | 11/10/2017 5:24 pm EST
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is in danger of having to close...
Ian Scott ‘collegial’ choice for new CRTC chair: former colleagues
Media | 07/18/2017 11:49 am EDT
The choice of Ian Scott as the new chairman of the CRTC was greeted...
Blais evokes praise, criticism as he leaves CRTC
Media | 06/19/2017 5:36 pm EDT
Now that former chairman Jean-Pierre Blais has departed the CRTC after five years at the helm, he leaves...
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...
Alt TV managed service, doesn’t violate CRTC rules: Cope
Media | 05/15/2017 5:45 pm EDT
MONTREAL — BCE Inc. has launched a new TV product hoping to appeal to a segment of the market that’s less likely to subscribe to...
CRTC effectively bans most zero-rating in differential pricing decision
Media | 04/20/2017 8:04 pm EDT
As the CRTC banned most forms of differential pricing practices Thursday — including declaring that telecoms can’t pick and chose Internet content to zero-rate and...
Consumer advocates request basic services rejig for affordability fund
telecom | 04/06/2017 5:32 pm EDT
A trio of consumer advocacy groups are asking the CRTC to revise December’s basic telecom services decision, stating in a review-and-vary application filed Wednesday that the regulator...
Mixed reaction to budget viewed as long on potential, short on details
Media | 03/23/2017 9:37 pm EDT
For all the focus on the digital economy, there was little in Wednesday’s budget for digital content creators, broadband infrastructure enthusiasts or fans of long-term planning, according to consultants and advocacy groups. “There’s a lot of potential there. But what is lacking right now is the policy and funding framework in the longer term,” Stuart Jack, a partner at Nordicity’s Ottawa office, said in phone interview. The government has included all of the key words, such as...
Canada should consider ‘right to be forgotten’: former privacy commish
Media | 02/15/2017 9:32 pm EST
OTTAWA — Privacy experts raised the idea of a Canadian “right to be forgotten” in front of a House of Commons committee studying the Personal Information Protection and Electronic...
Bell-MTS deal receives final approval, includes Xplornet in ‘surprise twist’
Media | 02/15/2017 3:07 pm EST
The introduction of Xplornet Communications Inc. into Manitoba’s wireless market was a “surprise twist” to the story of BCE Inc.’s $3.9-billion acquisition...
Eliminate locked phones in Canada, Freedom Mobile tells CRTC
telecom | 02/08/2017 10:05 pm EST
In a departure from the positions of its fellow wireless providers, Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile suggested Wednesday the CRTC should forbid carriers from charging...
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...
Rural broadband program aims to bring 300 communities up to speed
telecom | 12/15/2016 10:01 pm EST
WAKEFIELD, Que. — The federal government’s new rural broadband program will focus on making high-speed connections, as opposed to simply forging Internet connections for rural and remote communities, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said Thursday, in announcing some of the long-awaited details to the Liberal commitment outlined in this spring’s budget. The new program, which will operate under the name Connect to Innovate, picks up where...
Pick-and-pay still has many ‘pitfalls’ for consumers: PIAC
Media | 12/01/2016 10:24 pm EST
As the CRTC’s rules requiring all TV providers to allow customers to sign up for channels individually came into effect Thursday, the regulator emphasized that consumers have to take...
Skinny basic best practices not enough to ‘scare’ BDUs: PIAC
Media | 11/21/2016 9:50 pm EST
The best practices for TV service providers offering skinny-basic cable packages announced by the CRTC Monday don’t amount to much more than lip service, with no real consequences for...
No proven harm from differential pricing: Bell
Media | 11/01/2016 9:41 pm EDT
GATINEAU — The CRTC shouldn’t take the non-participation in this week’s hearing by content providers who might eventually benefit from zero-rating and other differential pricing practices as non-interest, a...
Rogers intros wireless data controls ahead of Wireless Code review
telecom | 10/06/2016 10:38 pm EDT
TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence said Thursday the company will eliminate an “irritant” among its customers by giving them the ability to manage...
PIAC says customers need better skinny basic info
Media | 09/08/2016 9:12 pm EDT
GATINEAU — On the final day of a two-day hearing, consumer groups told a CRTC panel that the regulator should set standards for how companies present information about their skinny-basic packages, while CRTC commissioner...
Canada outranks peers in wireless prices: report
telecom | 08/11/2016 9:02 pm EDT
Canadians continue to pay among the highest prices internationally for wireless and broadband Internet services, according to a new report comparing telecom service prices released Thursday by the CRTC. The ninth annual...
CRTC launches review of zero-rating, sponsored data
Media | 05/18/2016 9:32 pm EDT
Net neutrality advocates welcomed the CRTC’s launch of a new consultation on “differential pricing practices” for both wireline and wireless data plans Wednesday, a process that will see a public hearing kick off...
CRTC to launch consultation on skinny basic rollout
Media | 05/13/2016 7:19 pm EDT
The CRTC will issue a notice of consultation on how telecom companies carried out its skinny basic TV package rules later this month. Spokeswoman Patricia Valladao said in an email Friday the commission had asked TV providers, as...
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 decision mandating wholesale access to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks, which could be the first glimpse into the new Liberal government’s telecom policy. The denial of the appeal to cabinet petition is a “very positive signal for consumers to let them know that this new government is serious about both maintaining telecom competition, but also about respecting the CRTC’s role and...
Experts say approval of Bell’s MTS acquisition likely
telecom | 05/02/2016 2:12 pm EDT
BCE Inc. announced Monday morning that it will purchase Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. in a $3.9 billion transaction that, if approved, will see the number of players in Manitoba’s telecom...
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...
Advocacy groups ask CRTC for subsidies, to ‘champion’ Internet access
telecom | 04/14/2016 8:02 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — CRTC commissioners drilled into what should constitute a need versus a want when it comes to access to broadband Internet Thursday, during the fourth day of a three-week hearing...
Rogers program raises pre-hearing questions about affordability
telecom | 04/07/2016 9:33 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Other major Internet service providers may be compelled to follow in the footsteps of Rogers Communications Inc. and offer cheap Internet packages for low-income earners, according to...
Relevance trumps affordability in reasons to forgo Internet: Ipsos
telecom | 12/11/2015 8:54 pm EST
Newly released survey results show that almost 10 per cent of Canadians still do not have Internet access at home, and more people cite its relevance to their personal lives than affordability as a reason why. Data released by Ipsos Public Affairs on Friday showed that 91 per cent of respondents to a survey reported getting the Internet at home. Among the nine per cent without home Internet, two per cent said they had it on a mobile subscription only, another two per cent used it outside of...
CCTS asks CRTC to keep membership mandatory for telecoms
telecom | 11/03/2015 9:45 pm EST
Representatives from the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) told the CRTC Tuesday that making telecom companies' participation in the CCTS voluntary would affect the...
Net-neutrality advocates cry foul over Videotron music service
Media | 08/27/2015 8:15 pm EDT
MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is giving itself an undue preference with a new service that allows its mobile customers to listen to music streaming without it counting against their...
As OTA leaves 600 MHz, stations set for ‘difficult transition’: expert
Media | 08/18/2015 8:34 pm EDT
Industry Canada will repurpose the 600 MHz spectrum band for mobile use and collaborate with the United States on the move, which means at least some over-the-air (OTA) television stations will have...
PIAC re-launches undue-preference complaint against Shomi
Media | 04/27/2015 11:08 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has re-launched an undue-preference complaint against Rogers Communications Inc.'s and Shaw Communications Inc.’s Shomi streaming service,...
PIAC, seniors group denied costs in CRTC proceeding
Media | 04/23/2015 4:31 pm EDT
The CRTC has denied an application by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Council of Senior Citizens' Organizations of British Columbia for reimbursement of about $13,500 for their participation in a complaint...
Bell to make targeted ad program ‘opt-in,’ PIAC still fighting it
Media | 04/13/2015 9:00 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre said it will not drop a CRTC complaint against BCE Inc.’s targeted ad program, despite the company’s plans to re-launch the program according to...
Bell looks to avoid legal showdown with privacy commish
telecom | 04/07/2015 8:30 pm EDT
Faced with a possible legal fight against another agency of the federal government, BCE Inc. on Tuesday backed down after the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said the company refused to require...
PIAC calls for affordability standards in telecom
telecom | 03/23/2015 7:14 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) released a report on Monday that calls on Canada to legislate the requirement that all Canadians have access to "affordable" telecommunications services. PIAC said in its...
Rogers includes NHL streaming, Shomi with new Internet packages
telecom | 03/04/2015 9:50 pm EST
On Wednesday Rogers Communications Inc. announced a new brand of broadband Internet, Ignite, that comes bundled with subscriptions to two of Rogers' online video-streaming services. The company said in a press release the new Internet packages will include Shomi, a joint streaming service owned with Shaw Communications Inc. that features movies and television series, and Rogers' own NHL GameCentre Live for hockey games. Individually, GameCentre costs $200 a season and Shomi is $8.99 a month. On its website, Rogers specifies that Shomi would be available for two years to Ignite...
CRTC suspends proceeding against Shomi, CraveTV
Media | 02/20/2015 9:27 pm EST
The CRTC has suspended the proceeding initiated the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and Consumers' Association of Canada (CAC) against video-streaming services CraveTV and Shomi. CRTC dispute resolution manager Tandy...
Bell asks CRTC to dismiss PIAC’s CraveTV complaint
Media | 02/13/2015 8:10 pm EST
BCE Inc. is asking the CRTC to dismiss a “frivolous and vexatious” Feb. 6 complaint from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) against the company’s CraveTV service, arguing that the case has no chance of...
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...
Mobile-TV ruling could be harbinger of streaming regulation: Klass
Media | 01/29/2015 9:53 pm EST
The CRTC’s ruling on Thursday that BCE Inc. and Quebecor Inc.-owned Videotron can no longer exempt their mobile-TV services from data charges could have implications for the regulation of...
Budget bill gives CRTC sharper teeth
telecom | 11/10/2014 7:36 pm EST
New legislation proposed by the federal government will expand the powers of the CRTC, giving it the ability to fine offenders, share information with the Competition Bureau and exert control over companies that operate telecom services but do not own network infrastructure. Amendments to the Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Act, under which the CRTC operates, are included in the government’s latest omnibus budget bill, introduced Oct. 23. Among the long-promised changes is the addition of monetary penalties to the commission's regulatory arsenal. In the proposed...
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...
PIAC says up to $600M annually at stake in paper-billing issue
telecom | 07/23/2014 9:06 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says up to $600 million a year is at stake as the CRTC gets set to meet with telecommunications companies to discuss the practice of charging customers to...
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...
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...
CRTC should have more authority in telecom, PIAC lawyers say
telecom | 05/15/2014 8:01 pm EDT
A recent paper from the lawyers representing the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) calls for changes in government structure that would give the CRTC more uncontested authority in governing the...
Capping wholesale roaming rates at retail level not enough: study
telecom | 05/12/2014 8:59 pm EDT
While the federal government’s current plan for limiting wholesale roaming rates charged within the wireless industry is a “step in the right direction,” a new study from the...
Crack down on free online services: PIAC
Media | 03/27/2014 3:47 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is calling on governments to do more to protect people from companies that offer so-called free online services. In a press release issued Wednesday, it said consumers have little...
With new roaming plans, customers still vulnerable to extra charges: PIAC
telecom | 10/07/2013 9:28 pm EDT
Some of the incumbents' new and cheaper roaming plans offer small data packages that smartphone users will quickly exceed, incurring extra charges, said John Lawford, executive director of the...
BCE supports full removal of telecom foreign ownership rules
telecom | 09/10/2013 8:58 pm EDT
BCE Inc. would support government efforts to fully remove foreign ownership restrictions for Canadian telecom companies, though the company “will never be foreign owned,” BCE chief executive George Cope said. “From my perspective, maybe it’s time to just do a foreign ownership review and just get rid of the ownership restrictions and move on,” Cope said Tuesday during a question and answer session at a BMO Capital Markets media and telecom conference in Toronto. “If that’s a place Ottawa wants to go, they’ll probably find BCE quite supportive...