Iristel blossoms from Montreal apartment to national carrier

telecom | 09/26/2024 12:07 pm EDT

Samer Bishay was working for the Canadian Space Agency in Saint-Hubert,...

CTS panelists criticize asymmetrical fibre access regime, urge national approach

telecom | 06/20/2024 11:40 am EDT

TORONTO—Industry experts on the Canadian Telecom Summit’s “regulatory...

On outages, Rogers exec calls for ‘regulatory humility’ at CRTC

telecom | 11/23/2022 2:37 pm EST

MISSISSAUGA – When it comes to CRTC chair Ian Scott's Monday announcement of the regulator's upcoming proceeding on network outages, Rogers Communications Inc.’s chief regulatory officer Ted...

Iristel loses appeal over tax assessment

telecom | 10/26/2022 2:15 pm EDT

Iris Technologies Inc. had its appeal to prevent the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) from collecting tax...

Iristel to launch low-cost portability service 

telecom | 06/14/2021 5:09 pm EDT

Iristel Inc. is launching a service that will allow Canadian phone numbers to be paired with less expensive plans offered by U.S. telecom companies. On Monday the company announced its $6 per month "Mobifi" service, which it said will be available on its website in late-June. In a press release the company said the service “is ideal” for entrepreneurs re-locating in the United States and for snowbirds who live in the U.S. or Mexico for part of the year.   Mobifi, the release said, will forward voice and data from a Canadian phone number to a phone with an American SIM card,...

Federal Court affirms order compelling CRA to hand over documents in Iristel tax fight

telecom | 06/03/2021 5:30 pm EDT

A Federal Court judge has dismissed a challenge from the Canada Revenue Agency to a February court order compelling the country's tax collectors to turn over a set of...

Court orders CRA to turn tax audit docs over to Iristel

telecom | 02/17/2021 5:31 pm EST

A federal court has ordered the Canada Revenue Agency to hand over to Iristel Inc. "all materials" in its possession related to the tax authority's decision not to release tens of millions of dollars worth of tax returns to the company. In an order released Monday, the court agreed with Iristel's September filing for the...

CRTC proposes fines for Iristel, Telus over ‘self-serving’ conduct

telecom | 08/14/2020 3:24 pm EDT

The CRTC has proposed enforcing a financial penalty of between $750,000 and...

Iristel calls for caller ID manipulation to be outlawed

telecom | 08/04/2020 6:20 pm EDT

Iristel Inc. has asked the CRTC to issue an order explicitly prohibiting...

CloudWifi says other small ISPs need access to in-building fibre

telecom | 01/09/2020 1:49 pm EST

CloudWifi Inc. has gone to bat for other small internet service providers...

Bell offers to reveal AI call blocking system to critics

telecom | 10/28/2019 5:11 pm EDT

BCE Inc. says it is willing to share information with critics of its plan...

Bell opts out of 600 MHz, Rogers nabs 52 licenses for $1.7B

telecom | 04/10/2019 5:30 pm EDT

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...

CRTC to ‘let market forces operate’ in Bell-Iristel rate dispute

telecom | 03/21/2019 6:01 pm EDT

BCE Inc. doesn’t have to implement a freeze on rates it charges Iristel Inc. while the CRTC decides how to settle a dispute between the two regarding the rates, the regulator said Thursday. In...

MVNO access proposal ‘burst of oxygen’ to some potential entrants

telecom | 03/04/2019 3:21 pm EST

As the CRTC signals it’s ready to make an about-face on its approach to mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) network access, prospective MVNOs are eyeing the regulator’s...

Iristel getting into cybersecurity

Media | 01/18/2019 1:08 pm EST

Iristel Inc. is becoming a provider of cybersecurity services, the company said in a press release...

Iristel complains to CRTC about Bell rate increases

telecom | 01/04/2019 12:44 pm EST

Iristel Inc. says BCE Inc. has put in place “massive and unprecedented rate increases” for access to some of its infrastructure and is asking the CRTC to intervene. According to a Part 1 application filed with the CRTC in...

Iristel buys wireless operator specializing in remote areas

telecom | 10/12/2018 2:06 pm EDT

Iristel Inc. has acquired Télécommunications de l’Est (TDE), a small Quebec telecom that provides service to industries operating in remote areas with limited cellular service, such as forestry...

Traffic stimulation in front of CRTC again with Iristel, Telus fight

telecom | 08/08/2018 5:22 pm EDT

Iristel Inc. and Telus Corp. are sparring in a pair of Part 1 applications...

Making net neutrality law redundant: telecom execs

Media | 06/05/2018 9:37 pm EDT

TORONTO — If there was a single point of agreement among panelists representing both small and big internet service providers (ISPs) on a panel discussing regulatory issues at the Telecom Summit in Toronto, it was on what they said is a redundancy in imposing net...

Iristel to launch wireless service in parts of Ont., Que.

telecom | 05/28/2018 4:39 pm EDT

Iristel Inc. has acquired a small wireless provider with spectrum in eastern Quebec and northern Ontario and plans to launch wireless service in those areas next month, the company said Monday....

CRTC calls out Iristel, but says no new regs in traffic stimulation case

telecom | 12/20/2017 5:40 pm EST

In separate decisions on Wednesday, the CRTC ordered Iristel Inc. to cease...

High interim tariffs, logistics still mire disaggregated system

telecom | 08/31/2017 5:13 pm EDT

The CRTC's goal of fuelling wireline competition by jumpstarting the...

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...

Ice Wireless offering unlimited data, roaming plans

telecom | 03/29/2017 5:35 pm EDT

Iristel Inc.’s Ice Wireless is now selling plans with unlimited data and roaming in the United States and Mexico, the company said in a press release Wednesday. The plans “include unlimited calls, texts and...

Kepler and Iristel partner on IoT devices

telecom | 03/22/2017 8:20 pm EDT

Iristel Inc. is partnering with satellite company Kepler Communications Inc. to help Internet of Things (IoT) devices seamlessly connect between cellular networks on the ground and satellites in the sky. The...

CRTC rules against Sugar Mobile in roaming dispute with Rogers

telecom | 03/01/2017 9:21 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. doesn’t have to provide roaming services to Iristel Inc.’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Sugar Mobile, the CRTC said Wednesday in a...

Iristel to launch VoLTE

telecom | 02/22/2017 9:27 pm EST

Iristel Inc. plans to launch Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service in about two months, Iristel president Samer Bishay said in an email. The company will use technology from software company Metaswitch Networks Ltd., Metaswitch said in a press release Wednesday. “The Ice Wireless...

Iristel buys two small telecoms

telecom | 11/22/2016 10:28 pm EST

Iristel Inc. said Tuesday it has acquired two small telecoms, Toronto’s Trutel Inc. and Montreal’s Exelia Inc. "Our culture is not one filled with 'old phone guys' and neither is Trutel's or Exelia's. These two companies are strong strategic fits," Iristel president Samer Bishay said in the release. The release added that Trutel president Frank Auciello would join Iristel as vice-president of networks and infrastructure, while Exelia co-founder Dimitri Stathis would become vice-president of enterprise strategy and operations and co-founder Harry Villeneuve would become vice-president of enterprise sales. ...

Rogers accuses Iristel of ‘traffic stimulation’

telecom | 11/22/2016 9:39 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. is turning to the CRTC in another dispute with Iristel Inc., which it’s accusing of deliberately driving up the volume of phone calls to the Northwest Territories in order to benefit from...

Iristel to roll out ehealth project

telecom | 09/27/2016 9:30 pm EDT

Iristel Inc. and its subsidiary Ice Wireless are rolling out a northern ehealth initiative in partnership with an Ontario-based health products company. In a Tuesday press release, Iristel said that it was teaming...

Ice Wireless boosting northern LTE network

telecom | 08/23/2016 9:01 pm EDT

Ice Wireless, a subsidiary of Iristel Inc., said it is rolling out a HSPA/LTE network in 14 northern Quebec communities. A Tuesday press release from Tecore Networks, which supplies mobile network infrastructure,...

Sugar Mobile partners with U.S. MVNO

telecom | 08/03/2016 8:51 pm EDT

Iristel Inc.’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Sugar Mobile announced Wednesday it has partnered with an American WiFi-based service to leverage existing WiFi customers who might want some access to cellular...

CRTC considers regulations after lost telephone service case

telecom | 06/08/2016 6:00 pm EDT

The CRTC said it might consider preventative regulations after a dispute involving two phone service providers resulted in lost telephone service for 27,000 Canadian phone number holders. On Jan. 15, Iristel Inc. disconnected service used by NetTalk.com Inc. customers following a dispute between the companies due to non-payment. Service was restored on Jan. 20 with the help of commission staff. A letter from Chris Seidl, executive director of telecommunications at the CRTC, said the commission is “still exploring whether regulations are required in order to address similar...

Rogers disconnection would set harmful precedent: Sugar Mobile

telecom | 02/24/2016 8:39 pm EST

Interventions filed opposing Ice Wireless' request for interim relief in its roaming dispute with Rogers Communications Inc. failed to properly address the relevant issues, instead focusing on...

Sugar Mobile subs have no ‘right’ to roaming: Rogers

telecom | 02/19/2016 8:47 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. told the CRTC that Rogers has the right to disconnect Ice Wireless from its network because its affiliate Sugar Mobile is selling service outside of Ice...

Service restored to NetTalk customers through Primus

Media | 01/21/2016 8:52 pm EST

NetTalk.com Inc. announced Wednesday evening that its VoIP service has been restored to all its customers in Canada. The Florida-based company said in a Facebook post that all Canadian telephone numbers and services are...

CRTC working to resolve Iristel, NetTalk connection issue

Media | 01/20/2016 3:29 pm EST

Iristel Inc., a Markham, Ont.- based telecom company, announced Tuesday it is working with the CRTC to resolve an ongoing dispute with Florida-based VoIP provider NetTalk.com Inc., in order to...

Sugar Mobile releases WiFi mobile service

telecom | 01/13/2016 4:15 pm EST

Sugar Mobile, a Toronto-area based company owned by Iristel Inc., announced Wednesday a new mobile service that's based on WiFi. It said in a press release that the service operates through an app that is paired with a...

Ice Wireless upgrades mobile network in Yellowknife

telecom | 03/28/2014 7:22 pm EDT

Ice Wireless, a subsidiary of Iristel Inc., said Friday it has upgraded its mobile network in Yellowknife to HSPA+ and called it “the most advanced 3G network in Northern Canada.” The carrier said in a news release...

CRTC review should look at support for mobile, new technologies: Northwestel

telecom | 12/18/2012 3:02 pm EST

One of the top issues for the CRTC's upcoming review of Northwestel Inc. and telecom services in the North will be how to better support newer technologies like advanced mobile services, said Paul Flaherty, Northwestel’s president. “Lots of people are going to talk about the interest of having more wireless...