TAGGED AS SAMER BISHAY
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 documents related to the CRA's decision not to release tens of millions of dollars in tax returns to Iristel Inc. while it conducts a tax audit into the company.
In February, Federal Court Judge Kevin...
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 to combat scam phone calls using artificial intelligence — as long as they don’t tell anyone else.
In its initial application to the CRTC, Bell kept most of the details of how it plans to...
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...
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...
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. I-Mobileca Inc. currently offers wireless data for machine-to-machine communications, and holds spectrum licences that allow it to provide LTE and GSM wireless services in Kirkland Lake, Ont. and in Quebec, in the regions of lower Saint-Lawrence, Gaspésie, North Shore and certain areas of Beauce, the release outlined. The spectrum covers a population area of 535,000 people, it said. The spectrum...
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 partnership, announced in a press release Wednesday, will mean machine-to-machine services — and associated IoT devices — will be able to connect to Iristel’s national network, its regional subsidiary Ice Wireless and soon Kepler’s nano-satellites, the first two of which are scheduled to launch in November, the release said. Mina Mitry, CEO of...
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...
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,...
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 "absurd" interpretations of statements Sugar Mobile CEO Samer Bishay made in media reports, the company said in a response to comments filed with the CRTC. "None of them have credibly refuted Ice Wireless' submissions to the effect that a denial of interim relief will result in irreparable harm" to the company — a subsidiary of Iristel Inc. — and its affiliate...
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 that with this upgrade customers can now access wireless Internet speeds of up to 21 Mbps, use new smartphones and tablets on the network, and make better quality phone calls. “Yellowknife has been underserved for far too long,” Ice Wireless and Iristel CEO Samer Bishay said in the release. “It’s time to bring 21st century wireless service to...
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...