With telecom affordability, political parties wade into fierce debate

telecom | 10/04/2019 11:42 am EDT

As politicians take aim at telecom affordability in this fall’s election...

Leaders talk Netflix taxes, privacy in TVA election debate

Media | 10/02/2019 10:51 pm EDT

During the first French-language debate of the federal election campaign,...

MediaTube asking Supreme Court to review Bell Fibe case

telecom | 10/01/2019 5:44 pm EDT

Six years after first filing suit alleging BCE Inc. infringed on its patent...

Telus purchase of Canadian ADT business a good move: analysts

telecom | 10/01/2019 2:32 pm EDT

Telus Corp.’s announcement that it is buying ADT Security Services Canada, the Canadian arm of the U.S. home security services company, for $700 million is a wise move that will position Telus for...

Liberals, Conservatives promise new rules for Netflix

Media | 09/30/2019 5:27 pm EDT

The Liberal Party platform, released Sunday, includes promises of new regulations for Canadian content on streaming services — while the Conservatives gear up to announce new taxes affecting foreign digital giants, the specifics of which are still unclear. As Heritage...

TekSavvy sticking to lower internet prices despite wholesale rate stay

telecom | 09/30/2019 12:13 pm EDT

The temporary nature of the decision by the Federal Court of Appeal to...

CRTC has no jurisdiction over site-blocking request, big telecoms argue

Media | 09/26/2019 5:31 pm EDT

BCE Inc., Quebecor Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. are arguing in...

Telecoms say oral hearing on wholesale rate not necessary

telecom | 09/26/2019 3:21 pm EDT

After an urgent plea by BCE Inc. requesting the Federal Court hold an oral hearing on the deadline of a CRTC order to implement new wholesale internet rates that it is protesting, Bell and other...

Unlimited plans ‘premature,’ will hurt ARPU: Bell CFO

telecom | 09/25/2019 5:43 pm EDT

For BCE Inc. the industry-wide lurch toward unlimited data plans in the...

Federal Court could hold wholesale rate hearing on Friday

telecom | 09/25/2019 4:33 pm EDT

A Federal Court judge is asking BCE Inc. to explain why it should hold an oral hearing about whether it should review and freeze a CRTC decision that slashed wholesale internet rates big telecoms...

Site-blocking is domain of CRTC, TekSavvy tells court

telecom | 09/24/2019 9:16 pm EDT

Even if the large telecoms satisfy the court’s threshold to move forward with forcing internet service...

IP addresses don’t necessarily link to individuals, CIPPIC argues

Media | 09/23/2019 6:37 pm EDT

In asking the Federal Court to deny certifying a class of defendants in a copyright infringement case, an advocacy group is arguing that an IP address is insufficient in proving an individual has...

Liberals promise access for ‘qualified’ MVNOs, spectrum auction changes

telecom | 09/23/2019 2:29 pm EDT

In this fall’s election campaign, the Liberal Party is setting the goal...

Investors too focused on Rogers wireless division: analyst

telecom | 09/20/2019 4:59 pm EDT

Investors are overly preoccupied with the wireless divisions of telecom companies, and as such have been overly punitive toward Rogers Communications Inc. this summer, according to a look in on the telecom industry published Thursday by National Bank Financial Markets analyst Adam Shine. In mid-June, when Rogers introduced its “unlimited” data plan, the other big telecom companies quickly followed suit, introducing or announcing their own unlimited plans. Prices then dropped across the industry, according to Consumer Price Index data from Statistics Canada released in August. ...

Distributel asks court for ability to challenge future site-blocking

Media | 09/19/2019 7:22 pm EDT

In the event Federal Court allows a site-blocking application brought by...

CRTC tells Federal Court TVA info request akin to ‘fishing’

Media | 09/18/2019 5:01 pm EDT

The CRTC is objecting to a document-collection request Quebecor Inc. is...

Telecoms say CRTC wholesale decision violates Harper-era directive

telecom | 09/17/2019 5:13 pm EDT

In their Friday appeal of the CRTC decision on wholesale internet rates, the affected cable companies are asking the Federal Court of Appeal to defer to a 2006 Harper-era directive that advised the...

Telecoms ‘caught off guard’ by allegations piracy promoted at retailers: Super Channel

Media | 09/16/2019 6:38 pm EDT

Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc.’s Super Channel...

Green Party platform: no anonymous social media, 5G rollout on hold

telecom | 09/16/2019 5:14 pm EDT

The Green Party election platform includes promises to ensure only individuals whose identities have been verified can set up social media accounts and indicates a Green...

Big telecoms go to court over wholesale rates

telecom | 09/13/2019 5:26 pm EDT

In a widely anticipated move, several of the country’s biggest telecom companies have filed for leave to appeal a CRTC decision establishing a new rate regime for wholesale internet broadband.  The decision, issued August 15...

WSP customer service reps lacking accessibility knowledge: CRTC

telecom | 09/13/2019 4:52 pm EDT

The country’s largest wireless service providers have “significant room for improvement” when it comes to providing important and timely information to customers who are elderly or live with...

NDP price caps would apply to all wireless plans, be set by the CRTC

telecom | 09/13/2019 4:35 pm EDT

The NDP’s promised telecom service price caps would apply to all wireless...

Ordering pirate site blocking would ‘leapfrog’ BTLR: TekSavvy lawyer

Media | 09/13/2019 3:42 pm EDT

OTTAWA — On the second and final day of a potentially precedent-setting court hearing on site-blocking, a Federal Court judge gave the parties until Wednesday to negotiate a revised draft site...

Telecoms’ site-blocking court request ‘draconian,’ TekSavvy argues

Media | 09/11/2019 6:10 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Lawyers representing BCE Inc., Quebecor Inc.’s Groupe TVA, and Rogers Communications Inc. asked a Federal Court judge this morning for a court order that would force a number of internet...

Bell and Rogers execs say change to MVNO rules unlikely

Media | 09/11/2019 11:10 am EDT

Whatever the outcome of next month’s federal election, there will be no...

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...

Analysts divided on wholesale rate appeal outcome

telecom | 09/09/2019 6:10 pm EDT

As analysts predict the CRTC’s decision on wholesale internet rates is likely to be appealed, they are divided on what impact the new rates would have on the industry as a whole.   In a note released Monday morning,...

CRTC resolves issues in Gatineau access dispute

telecom | 09/06/2019 5:11 pm EDT

The CRTC has set guidelines for how the country’s largest telecoms and the city of Gatineau should delegate responsibilities when it comes to municipal rights-of-way access, following a two-year impasse between the disputing parties.  Since April 2017, BCE Inc., Rogers...

Scheer promises new privacy committees, rules for data collection and AI

telecom | 09/06/2019 4:29 pm EDT

The Conservative Party is promising new rules for electronic data collection and technologies like the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence if it wins in this fall’s federal election....

CRTC asking GoDaddy for personal info in CRA text scam

Media | 09/05/2019 5:12 pm EDT

The CRTC has served a web hosting provider with an order to produce a...

OneWeb says it will begin LEO service in Canada next year

telecom | 09/04/2019 7:23 pm EDT

OneWeb’s constellation of low-earth orbit satellites will offer service in Canada’s North starting in 2020, the company said Wednesday. It will launch with 16 hours of service a day by the end...

Patrick Jutras in new role at Quebecor

Media | 09/03/2019 4:28 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. announced in a release Tuesday that Patrick Jutras would take over as senior vice-president and chief advertising officer of Quebecor and its TVA Group subsidiary.  Jutras was previously vice-president of digital...

CRTC says Bell cannot cut roaming service to Videotron customers

telecom | 09/03/2019 1:45 pm EDT

In the latest development in the months-long conflict between BCE Inc. and Quebecor Inc., the CRTC has decided that Bell cannot suspend its wholesale roaming service to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron, until the regulator decides on Bell’s Part 1 application. Bell had filed its application with the CRTC back in June, alleging that many of Videotron’s customers -- the exact number was redacted in the submission -- were permanently roaming on Bell’s network. The commission said Friday that if Bell were allowed to cut off roaming service to Videotron’s customers, “many of its...

PIAC says 3-year device plan review could force Wireless Code change 

telecom | 08/30/2019 5:26 pm EDT

If the CRTC finds that device financing options beyond two years do not...

Government seeking crowdsourced spectrum usage data

telecom | 08/29/2019 5:10 pm EDT

As major spectrum auctions considered important for 5G networks grow nearer, Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) wants to know more about how spectrum is used in Canada, and is looking at Victoria, B.C.-based...

Court pauses decision in Bell v CloudWifi until CRTC decision

telecom | 08/28/2019 5:12 pm EDT

The Federal Court of Appeal has decided that it will delay making a decision on whether or not to grant BCE Inc.’s leave to appeal a June CRTC decision giving CloudWifi Inc. access to Bell wiring...

Telecoms discussing CRTC wholesale rate appeal: Videotron chief

Media | 08/28/2019 4:23 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is in talks with other telecom companies about...

NDP skeptical about Liberal campaign telecom plans

telecom | 08/28/2019 2:50 pm EDT

The NDP is already throwing cold water on reports that the Liberals are considering a price cap and mandated access for mobile virtual network operators as part of the incumbent party’s campaign plank. In a Tuesday evening...

Telecom reaction to CRTC wholesale decision was expected: analyst 

telecom | 08/27/2019 4:44 pm EDT

Analyst notes published this week confirm much of what was already known about the impact of new CRTC wholesale broadband rates on incumbent carriers. Namely, the new wholesale rates will hit the...

Telus warned gov’t of Huawei ban’s ‘far-reaching impacts’: secret docs

telecom | 08/27/2019 3:18 pm EDT

Telus Corp. told the federal government that prohibiting Huawei...

Simon Kennedy replaces retiring Knubley at ISED

telecom | 08/26/2019 2:53 pm EDT

The Office of the Prime Minister announced late last week that Simon Kennedy would become deputy minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development starting September 3.  Kennedy will be replacing John Knubley, who retired in June after seven years at ISED and 39 years in public service. Kennedy has been deputy minister of health since...

Wireless service prices dipped with ‘unlimited’ plans: StatCan

telecom | 08/26/2019 2:37 pm EDT

The price of wireless plans is going down slightly, but the price of phones is skyrocketing, according to Consumer Price Index data released last week by Statistics Canada.  In July, telephone services customers paid 2.5 per cent less than they did in June, but the “multipurpose digital devices index,” which Statistics Canada says includes prices for smartphones and tablets, rose 42.5 per cent. “The decline follows an industry-wide shift in the pricing structure of cellular data...

Telus considering challenge of court ruling on cancellation fees

telecom | 08/23/2019 5:57 pm EDT

Telus Corp. is contemplating asking the Supreme Court of Canada to review a...

Bell asks court to put appeal on hold in CloudWifi case

telecom | 08/23/2019 11:50 am EDT

BCE Inc. still wants the Federal Court of Appeal to grant it leave to appeal a June CRTC decision, but the company is content to wait until the CRTC concludes its own internal process, according to an...

Eastlink says it consulted community on opposed Moncton tower build

telecom | 08/22/2019 3:40 pm EDT

Bragg Communications Inc.’s Eastlink followed public consultation protocol when it advised New Brunswick residents that it was planning to build a cell tower in a residential area, according to...

Disclosure cost to Rogers based on ‘irrelevant’ evidence: Voltage counsel

Media | 08/22/2019 2:51 pm EDT

Counsel to Voltage Pictures LLC and a number of movie studios is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to review a case that found Rogers Communications Inc. is owed $67.23 to disclose the personal...

Unclear who owns set-top box data, broadcasters argue

telecom | 08/21/2019 5:48 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. hasn’t established that it actually owns the set-top box data at the centre of a new court case filed by the telecom appealing a CRTC decision, a group of broadcasters has told the Federal Court of Appeal. In late June the CRTC ordered Quebecor’s...

On wholesale rates, companies cry foul, but analysts aren’t convinced

telecom | 08/21/2019 5:07 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron and Shaw Communications Inc. added their voices...

ISED using CIRA speed test to inform Universal Broadband Fund design

telecom | 08/21/2019 11:44 am EDT

Innovation Canada is asking Canadians to use a tool designed to test internet performance in order to inform how it designs its $1.7-billion Universal Broadband Fund. The initiative, announced...

Japanese comics publisher wants info on alleged infringer from ISPs

Media | 08/20/2019 5:17 pm EDT

Shueisha Inc., a Japanese publisher of comic books, has filed an...

New wholesale rates to cost Rogers $140M, Cogeco $25M, companies say

telecom | 08/19/2019 7:29 pm EDT

Cogeco Inc. said Monday that the new wholesale broadband rates set by the CRTC will cost the company $25 million in retroactive payments, while Rogers Communications Inc. said it "expects to record a...

Feds put $151 million toward new fibre cable for Nunavut

telecom | 08/19/2019 3:19 pm EDT

The federal government is spending $151 million to lay some 1,700...

Telecoms asking SCC to review Quebec bylaw case

telecom | 08/19/2019 2:22 pm EDT

The country’s biggest telecoms are asking the Supreme Court of Canada to review a decision by a lower...

Bell cuts rural broadband investment in response to new wholesale rates

telecom | 08/19/2019 1:32 pm EDT

BCE Inc. has responded to lower wholesale rates for internet service...

New rates to have marginal impact on big telecom bottom lines: analyst

telecom | 08/16/2019 3:18 pm EDT

The new wholesale tariffs for internet service announced by the CRTC Thursday are unlikely to have a large impact on the big publicly traded telecoms, though their profits will be affected marginally,...

New aggregated wholesale rates ‘fair,’ ‘reasonable’: smaller ISPs

telecom | 08/15/2019 6:16 pm EDT

Wholesale-based ISPs are praising a decision by the CRTC to lower the rates they pay for wholesale access under the aggregated regime, though whether the regulator will issue...

Unifor rejects latest Sasktel offer, in strike position

telecom | 08/14/2019 6:25 pm EDT

The union representing employees at Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. has rejected the latest contract offer from the telecom and are in a legal strike position.  That means Unifor can...

PIAC joins media groups’ fight against OMNI decision

Media | 08/14/2019 6:11 pm EDT

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has endorsed a number of petitions to the Governor in Council, joining the call for the government to send the CRTC’s June decision granting a mandatory...

Bell offering cheaper unlimited plans in Quebec, Prairies 

telecom | 08/14/2019 2:54 pm EDT

BCE Inc. has quietly dropped prices for its new “unlimited” data plans across the country, with residents of Quebec and, to a lesser extent, Saskatchewan and Manitoba seeing even lower prices. ...

Telus dives deeper into digital health sector with new buy

telecom | 08/14/2019 11:57 am EDT

Continuing its expansion into the digital health services sector, Telus...

CBSA moving data to Amazon cloud amid security concerns 

telecom | 08/13/2019 6:52 pm EDT

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is seeking assistance in moving certain data on Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud services, just as the e-commerce giant comes under scrutiny after a hack of its servers leaked millions of personal data records at an American bank.  Late...

Government investing in new cyber security initiatives

telecom | 08/13/2019 5:45 pm EDT

The federal government announced on Monday the creation of the CyberSecure Canada program, a new certification program for Canadian businesses to further promote cyber security as a central tenet of commercial enterprise. In a release from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, the department describes the...

Fido gets in on no-overage plans by capping data

telecom | 08/12/2019 2:10 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. said its flanker brand Fido would begin offering what the company is calling...

Cloudwifi says Bell court appeal request ‘premature’

telecom | 08/09/2019 6:14 pm EDT

CloudWifi Inc. has asked the federal court of appeal to dismiss a motion...

Telecom prices down, household spending up: CRTC

telecom | 08/09/2019 3:30 pm EDT

Prices for communications services are on a downward trend, according to new data from the CRTC, but spending on those goods are also on the rise.  Those services are made up of mobile wireless (with unlimited voice and SMS...

Three-year financing, if approved, should extend to subsidy model: Péladeau 

telecom | 08/08/2019 6:27 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said he’s “happy” that...

Federal Court rules Rogers entitled to $35 per hour for subscriber disclosure 

Media | 08/08/2019 6:22 pm EDT

The Federal Court is setting at $35 the hourly rate that Rogers...

Federal Court grants injunction against GoldTV 

telecom | 08/07/2019 6:51 pm EDT

OTTAWA — A Federal Court judge has granted an interim ban on what the big telecom companies are...

Telecoms must hand over more detailed info to Comp Bureau

telecom | 08/06/2019 7:23 pm EDT

The CRTC has directed telecom companies to disclose an additional set of...

Telecoms say speed throttling doesn’t violate net neutrality

telecom | 08/06/2019 2:37 pm EDT

The big three telecoms are telling the CRTC that their practice of slowing data speeds down on the new "unlimited" plans after customers reach their data cap is not a violation of the regulator's policy on internet traffic management practices (ITMPs).  That ITMP...

‘Unlimited’ plans, financing options reducing need for regulation: Entwistle 

telecom | 08/02/2019 4:38 pm EDT

Removing wireless data caps and giving customers the option of financing...

CRTC reviewing 36-month device financing plans

telecom | 08/02/2019 4:33 pm EDT

The CRTC said Friday afternoon that it thinks the 36-month smartphone financing plans that have entered...

Telesat to detail supplier contracts for LEO constellation this year

telecom | 08/01/2019 7:09 pm EDT

A week after Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains announced an $85-million investment and a memorandum of understanding that tips as much as $600 million in federal government investments over the next...

Three-year financing an ‘affront’ to Wireless Code, Shaw says

telecom | 08/01/2019 4:24 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. is blasting the move by the wireless industry’s...

Bell says ‘unlimited’ plans put network quality in focus, will move to 3-year financing 

telecom | 08/01/2019 11:49 am EDT

BCE Inc. said the race to “unlimited” wireless data plans has placed a renewed focus on carriers’ network performance and has unleashed a competitive dynamic that will...

Bell allowed to shut down 28 broadcasting towers

Media | 07/31/2019 6:44 pm EDT

Just as it allowed Corus Entertainment Inc. to do last month, the CRTC has given approval to BCE Inc. to...

Big providers get behind Bell in CloudWifi fight

telecom | 07/31/2019 6:35 pm EDT

The country's largest telecoms are siding with BCE Inc. in its fight against a CRTC decision that ruled providers including CloudWifi Inc. can access only its fibre wires in multi-dwelling buildings. Earlier this month, BCE...

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...

Montreal 5G pilot project coming, Rogers wants in

telecom | 07/30/2019 5:34 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. is lobbying the City of Montreal to be involved in the city’s 5G pilot...

Telus now offering 36-month device financing

telecom | 07/30/2019 4:39 pm EDT

Telus Corp. has followed in the footsteps of rival Rogers Communications Inc. in making its device...

Bell asking CRTC if it can test out AI for call blocking

telecom | 07/29/2019 5:12 pm EDT

BCE Inc. is asking the CRTC for permission to conduct a 90-day-trial using artificial intelligence and machine learning for call blocking “certain known, verified, fraudulent scam voice telephony...

CTI project funding rolling out again

telecom | 07/26/2019 5:35 pm EDT

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...

Freedom plans could drive big three back to subsidies: analysts

telecom | 07/26/2019 5:33 pm EDT

The launch of new plans from Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom will...

Freedom answers to ‘unlimited’, offers $0 phones on select plans

telecom | 07/25/2019 6:41 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom is responding to the wireless industry’s recent moves toward removing data caps and offering $0 upfront financing plans by throwing-in...

‘Many’ in the North to get 50 Mbps+ speeds: Bains

telecom | 07/24/2019 8:01 pm EDT

OTTAWA — As part of its strategy to tackle rural broadband in Canada,...

ISED approves smaller, tier 5 spectrum licence areas

telecom | 07/24/2019 7:04 pm EDT

The federal government will create over 600 smaller spectrum licensing areas across the country, which...

CCSA lauds Ontario gov’t promise to review hydro rates

telecom | 07/24/2019 6:40 pm EDT

The Ontario government’s $315-million plan to improve connectivity in the...

‘Unlimited’ plans leading to 50% more data use, Rogers says

telecom | 07/23/2019 5:26 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc.’s CEO Joe Natale said there has been a 50 per...

Bell turns to Federal Court of Appeal over CloudWiFi decision

telecom | 07/23/2019 5:12 pm EDT

BCE Inc. is asking for leave to appeal the CRTC’s June decision granting CloudWifi Inc. competitor access to Bell’s service wires in multi-dwelling units (MDUs). That decision allowed internet service providers (ISPs) access to Bell’s wires — copper or fibre — for a “reasonable fee.” The CRTC also started a separate process asking for comment on why other providers shouldn’t be subject to the same rules. Bell then asked the CRTC to review that decision in a Part 1 application. The CRTC responded by launching an expedited process to consider Bell’s request for interim...

‘Unlimited’ deals give Freedom price advantage: analyst

telecom | 07/22/2019 6:18 pm EDT

Canaccord Genuity analyst Aravinda Galappatthige said the wireless frenzy unleashed by the new no-overage plans will negatively impact Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp., while benefiting Shaw...

Any gov’t ban unlikely to affect Huawei partnership: Iristel

telecom | 07/22/2019 6:04 pm EDT

OTTAWA — With the federal government’s decision on whether to ban...

Broadcasters suing pirate ‘IPTV’ provider

Media | 07/22/2019 4:33 pm EDT

Three of the nation’s largest broadcasters are suing the owners of a service that is allegedly selling...

CRTC to lead future telecom cybersecurity rules: gov’t document

telecom | 07/22/2019 1:23 pm EDT

The Liberal government plans to have the CRTC be the body in charge of developing and then enforcing telecom regulation related to future cybersecurity laws, according to a memo for Heritage Minister...

Newly-acquired WireIE helping maximize ISED CTI funding: CEO

telecom | 07/19/2019 5:28 pm EDT

WireIE Holdings International Inc., a wholesaler of enterprise telecom services, has been helping telecoms across the country deliver internet and TV services to underserved areas, an effort that will...

CRTC suspends post-CloudWiFi proceeding deadlines

telecom | 07/19/2019 1:42 pm EDT

The CRTC has suspended the deadlines it set for BCE Inc. to file tariffs on access to its fibre wire inside buildings and for other carriers to file interventions in a related proceeding. In a June decision, the regulator...

As tech gains steam, rules on facial recognition still developing

Media | 07/18/2019 5:38 pm EDT

As facial recognition becomes increasingly accessible to police and other...

Rogers to launch 5G ‘innovation hub’ in Kitchener-Waterloo

telecom | 07/18/2019 4:29 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. Monday announced what it is calling a 5G “innovation lab” with the Waterloo-based Communitech.  “Our partnership with Communitech is part of our work to bring...

BTLR panel timetable ‘unaffected’ by member exit

Media | 07/17/2019 4:03 pm EDT

Despite being “saddened” by the exit of one of its members, the panel reviewing Canada’s communications laws said it was forging ahead with its final recommendations, due in January 2020. Hank Intven, a lawyer and professor at the University of Victoria, confirmed in an email that he has left the panel for “personal reasons.” His departure was effective as of June 28. The panel is now down to six members. The exit follows the release of the panel’s “what we heard” report in late June, which outlined the submissions it received that will influence its final recommendations...