Resistance to tower builds shows need to ‘rethink’ consultations: MP

telecom | 04/30/2019 4:35 pm EDT

Residents of a New Brunswick town are asking the Federal Court to review...

Spectrum licence fees are too high already: big telecoms

telecom | 04/30/2019 3:38 pm EDT

An Innovation Canada consultation asking for comment about whether it should begin adjusting spectrum licence fees to keep up with the consumer price index has drawn opposition from BCE Inc., Rogers...

Bell suing Quebecor for $150M over TVA Sports

Media | 04/29/2019 6:55 pm EDT

BCE Inc. has hit Quebecor Inc. with a $150-million lawsuit over Quebecor’s decision to cut the signal for its TVA Sports channel from Bell customers earlier this month. Quebecor pulled the TVA Sports signal at the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs in a dispute with Bell over carriage fees. The CRTC has since issued a mandatory order to keep the...

CRTC cites efficiency in denying SWIFT broadband fund proposal

telecom | 04/29/2019 5:07 pm EDT

The CRTC has denied an application by SouthWestern Integrated Fibre...

Ahead of next alert test, cities group says texts lack specificity

telecom | 04/26/2019 5:13 pm EDT

Before a second wireless emergency alert test went out in November, a group consisting of major emergency management agencies across Canada sent a letter to Public Safety...

CRTC denies Northwestel ask to change basic service standards

telecom | 04/26/2019 5:03 pm EDT

BCE Inc.’s Northwestel wasn’t able to convince the CRTC that its basic...

OPC will ask court to force changes to Facebook privacy practices

Media | 04/25/2019 5:47 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Thursday it is...

Ontario court presses pause on Iristel-Telus case

telecom | 04/25/2019 2:36 pm EDT

The Ontario Superior Court has put a lawsuit launched by Iristel Inc. against Telus Corp. on hold while the CRTC settles a related dispute. The court granted a temporary stay in a decision Monday, stating that “the court has...

Microsoft adds elections to lobbying file

telecom | 04/24/2019 6:29 pm EDT

The tech giant Microsoft Corp. last week added “elections” to its lobbying files. The move comes as the government rolls out a new regime governing the selling of political ads on tech platforms ahead of this fall’s...

Telecoms say Calgary has no grounds to appeal bylaw case

telecom | 04/23/2019 11:48 am EDT

The country’s largest telecoms are telling the Federal Court that the City of Calgary shouldn’t be allowed to appeal a CRTC decision on whether the city’s new bylaw binds the carriers on...

5G a race between countries, not carriers: Rogers’ Natale

Media | 04/18/2019 6:16 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Joe Natale emphasized the $1.7 billion the...

CRTC says no to Competition Bureau request for information

telecom | 04/18/2019 5:22 pm EDT

The CRTC has told the Competition Bureau it won’t be compelling telecoms to turn over a slew of detailed information the bureau was asking for — though the telecoms will effectively have to...

Telus appealing CRTC speed cap relief

telecom | 04/18/2019 5:00 pm EDT

Telus Corp. is going to court over the CRTC’s decision last month to grant smaller internet providers a...

CRTC issues mandatory order to keep TVA Sports available

Media | 04/18/2019 4:56 pm EDT

The CRTC will register a mandatory order with the Federal Court forbidding Quebecor Inc. from withholding the signal for TVA Sports from BCE Inc. subscribers — meaning that if Quebecor chooses to pull the signal again, it would be in contempt of court. If the company ignores the order, in addition to fines or other consequences the court could levy, “TVA Sports' licence will automatically be suspended for the duration of time that the signal is not provided to Bell Canada,” the CRTC said in a press release issued late Thursday. "The CRTC is very concerned by TVA Group's actions....

Bell calls for revocation of TVA Sports licence at tense CRTC hearing

Media | 04/17/2019 5:44 pm EDT

Gatineau, Que. — Quebecor Inc. CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau was unrepentant...

Small telecoms call for more forceful language in policy direction

telecom | 04/16/2019 6:19 pm EDT

The CRTC’s new, consumer-focused policy direction doesn’t go far...

Calgary recommends national digital strategy addressing 5G deployment

telecom | 04/15/2019 5:06 pm EDT

The City of Calgary says the government should develop a “modernized” national digital strategy that addresses open access infrastructure policies, municipal rights-of-way, smart city urban design...

Twitter registers social media education on lobby files

Media | 04/15/2019 4:05 pm EDT

Twitter Inc. has added a timely subject matter to its lobby files: educating federal officials on social media use during elections. The social media company updated its files last week to include...

Include ‘investment’ in new policy direction: big telecoms

telecom | 04/15/2019 1:20 pm EDT

Canada’s four largest wireless providers are asking the government to incorporate references to “investment” and the previous, market-focused policy direction in its proposed new directive, meant to foster affordability and consumer interests. “Now is not the time...

Committee sets deadline for ISED reports on rural connectivity concerns

telecom | 04/12/2019 4:45 pm EDT

The House public accounts committee is ordering Innovation Canada to...

Analysts surprised by Bell’s lack of 600 MHz, incumbent spend

telecom | 04/11/2019 5:57 pm EDT

BCE Inc. walking away from the 600 MHz spectrum auction with no licences,...

Bell will work with Comp Bureau following CCTS court order

Media | 04/11/2019 12:50 pm EDT

OTTAWA — A Federal Court judge has granted an application by the...

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...

Cogeco offering no details on MVNO strategy

telecom | 04/10/2019 4:14 pm EDT

Cogeco Inc. has long been a vocal proponent of mandated mobile virtual operators in Canada, so it’s no...

Comp Bureau investigating Bell sales practices, going to court for CCTS info

telecom | 04/10/2019 3:25 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau is going to court to compel the Commission for...

Freedom says ads intended to ‘stir the market,’ induce churn

telecom | 04/09/2019 6:51 pm EDT

An ad launched over the weekend depicting a fictitious version of the big...

OPC to monitor Equifax for six years

telecom | 04/09/2019 5:12 pm EDT

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Tuesday that it has concluded its investigation into the...

Interference related to 2019 election ‘very likely’: CSE

Media | 04/08/2019 10:01 am EDT

OTTAWA — It is now “very likely” that Canadians will face some form of cyber foreign interference, but it is “improbable” it will be on the scale of the 2016 United...

Competition Bureau doubles down on wireless carrier info requests

telecom | 04/05/2019 6:33 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau is mostly standing firm on its request to the CRTC...

BTLR commissioned research on passive infrastructure, video games

Media | 04/05/2019 2:06 pm EDT

The panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s communications laws has hired...

OPC to consult ‘shortly’ on data transiting through foreign countries

telecom | 04/05/2019 1:13 pm EDT

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner considers personal data of Canadians...

ISPs shouldn’t need government funding for rural builds, senator says

telecom | 04/04/2019 5:53 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Conservative New Brunswick senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen said...

CRTC consulting on Vancouver radio market capacity

telecom | 04/04/2019 3:28 pm EDT

The CRTC wants to know whether the Vancouver radio market can sustain another radio station, after it received an application from Rogers Communications Inc. for a new broadcasting licence. It said in the notice of consultation Thursday that any other parties interested in serving that market should speak up during the consultation process. They should also identify the frequency any proposed station would use, the CRTC said, noting that there is a scarcity of spectrum in Vancouver and the Rogers station would use a frequency it currently has a licence for, to use for a rebroadcasting...

NDP MP says gov’t must clarify if Netflix deal had any French-language funds

telecom | 04/03/2019 3:48 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Quebec NDP MP François Choquette has filed a judicial review...

CRTC wants answers on $10 customer service interaction fees

telecom | 04/03/2019 2:39 pm EDT

The $10 fees on some customer service calls and chats that have been in the headlines in recent weeks may be against the Wireless Code, according to the CRTC.   The regulator sent a letter to...

Gov’t criticized by tech companies on cloud strategy for sensitive data

telecom | 04/03/2019 1:17 pm EDT

In the lead-up to a meeting with Amazon.com Inc., the government was...

Xplornet launching new unlimited data plans

telecom | 04/02/2019 5:41 pm EDT

Xplornet Communications Inc. is now offering unlimited internet service plans across the country for...

Competition Bureau attempting to ‘hijack’ CRTC process, telecoms say

telecom | 04/02/2019 5:40 pm EDT

A request from the Competition Bureau asking the CRTC to require telecoms...

Complaints to CCTS increase again, TV issues up 500%

Media | 04/02/2019 6:00 am EDT

Complaints about TV service to the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS)...

Gov’t should encourage Canadian 5G equipment: Public Safety notes

telecom | 04/01/2019 3:49 pm EDT

Amid security reviews of Canada’s 5G infrastructure lays an...

Bell to shut down CDMA network April 30

telecom | 03/29/2019 5:45 pm EDT

BCE Inc. will finish decommissioning its legacy CDMA wireless network at the end of April, the company said Friday. Customers in areas of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces that were still on the CDMA network...

CanWISP asks BTLR for help solving disagreements with incumbents

telecom | 03/29/2019 3:19 pm EDT

There should be a mechanism in place to help resolve disputes between small ISPs and incumbents, an organization representing wireless internet service providers told the panel in charge of reviewing Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications legislation. CanWISP said that mechanism could be similar to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS), which mediates disputes between consumers and businesses. It said the small ISPs that predominantly serve rural Canada need a solution, given that after “direct discussion and attempts at resolution are...

AG’s report was ‘opportunity to brag’ about projects: ISED

telecom | 03/27/2019 6:08 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — Innovation Canada did not take a critical report of its...

Broadband Fund applications call expected for late spring or early summer

telecom | 03/27/2019 10:56 am EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — The CRTC is looking at a “late spring, early summer”...

Bell asks to shut down 28 rebroadcasting transmitters

telecom | 03/26/2019 6:15 pm EDT

BCE Inc.’s media division is asking the CRTC to allow it to shutter 28 of its rebroadcasting...

Expect industry pushback on new CRTC directive, MVNOs: experts

telecom | 03/26/2019 1:27 pm EDT

The Liberal government should expect some amount of industry opposition...

Fido to implement $10 fee for some customer service calls

telecom | 03/25/2019 3:44 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc.’s Fido flanker brand will begin charging customers $10 if they opt to complete some tasks through a customer service representative, the company has confirmed. Beginning on May 14, Fido customers will have to pay the fee if they call or...

Singh vows to ‘stand up to the rich telecommunication companies’

telecom | 03/22/2019 4:47 pm EDT

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is putting cell phone and internet affordability...

New 2030 speed target too far away for rural Canada: NDP critic

telecom | 03/22/2019 11:25 am EDT

OTTAWA — NDP industry critic Brian Masse says the new broadband strategy...

Google would be regulating media under PIPEDA: counsel

Media | 03/21/2019 6:28 pm EDT

OTTAWA — If a court determines Google’s search engine falls under the country’s private sector privacy law, then that would effectively make the internet company a media regulator, counsel to...

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...

CRTC lifts 100 Mbps wholesale internet speed cap – for now

telecom | 03/21/2019 5:39 pm EDT

The CRTC has quietly informed wholesale-based internet service providers...

‘Real’ 5G coming in 2020: Telus CFO

telecom | 03/20/2019 6:17 pm EDT

Parts of Canada will see “real 5G,” as opposed to just trials, by late 2020, Telus Corp.’s chief financial officer Doug French told an investors’ conference Wednesday. That will only be possible after the conclusion...

OPC welcomes ‘interim relief’ from budget pressures

Media | 03/20/2019 5:43 pm EDT

The 2019 federal budget is boosting funding to the office of the privacy...

CRTC rejects Vista’s bid for a new radio station in Timmins

Media | 03/20/2019 1:31 pm EDT

The CRTC has decided the Timmins, Ontario commercial radio market can’t sustain another station, rejecting an application by Vista Radio Ltd. for another broadcasting licence. Timmins has four...

Gov’t says pirate radio station has gone silent

Media | 03/19/2019 4:23 pm EDT

An illegal radio station that allegedly kept operating despite being shut down by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has been off the air since last August, the government said in a response tabled on Monday. The government was responding to an e-petition regarding an individual who lives near Trois-Rivières, Que., and who the petition said was “threatening the security of emergency radio communications in Quebec.” According to the petition, which received 1,135 signatures, the man was purposefully generating interference through his illegal radio station...

All Canadian households will have 50/10 speeds by 2030: Morneau

Media | 03/19/2019 4:03 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The Liberal government is announcing $1.7 billion in new rural...

Rural broadband, new tax rules among industry pre-budget asks

Media | 03/15/2019 5:55 pm EDT

As the Liberal government unveils its last budget before the upcoming...

TekSavvy to lobby feds on speed caps in disaggregated regime

telecom | 03/15/2019 5:14 pm EDT

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has hired a new consultant lobbyist to raise...

Ottawa bans white space tech from parts of 600 MHz band

telecom | 03/14/2019 6:20 pm EDT

Fixed ‘white space’ devices will be permitted to operate on 60-72 MHz spectrum, but they will be banned from 600 MHz commercial mobile bands, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada...

OPC, AGC oppose Google expanding deindexing reference

Media | 03/14/2019 4:49 pm EDT

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Attorney General of Canada (AGC) have filed appeals challenging Alphabet Inc.’s application to expand the scope of a deindexing case to include questions about whether forcing it to scrub its search engine infringes on its free expression rights. The OPC filed the original application last year for judicial guidance on whether the country’s private sector privacy law applies to Google’s search engine. The request came after an individual, who was charged with failing to disclose HIV status to a sexual partner, asked the OPC to order...

Small players out-flanked at ‘policy-shaping,’ BCBA tells panel

telecom | 03/14/2019 4:14 pm EDT

The British Columbia Broadband Association (BCBA) says a new legal framework for the telecom sector should simplify regulations and facilitate more regulatory participation by small operators....

ENCQOR posts 5G project call for 5 GHz whitespace tech

telecom | 03/14/2019 1:59 pm EDT

A public-private partnership has posted a call for project proposals to develop equipment that can make use of an inactive 5 GHz band for 5G technology. The notice for a whitespace project was...

Incumbent competition ‘very aggressive’ against Fizz at launch

telecom | 03/13/2019 4:25 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s company brass says its Fizz flanker brand is picking up...

ACORN asks review panel for low-income $10 internet

telecom | 03/13/2019 2:44 pm EDT

All Canadians whose earnings fall below the government’s low-income measure should have access to internet service for $10, an advocacy group is telling the panel reviewing the broadcasting and telecom acts. ACORN Canada also...

Telecoms added over 1.4 million new wireless subs in 2018

telecom | 03/13/2019 12:20 pm EDT

Canada’s publicly traded telecom companies added more than one million...

CWTA tells panel review MVNOs would hurt investment, rural access

telecom | 03/11/2019 2:20 pm EDT

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) took aim at mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in its submission to the ongoing review of Canada’s communications legislation....

Few internet giants weighed in to BTLR, submission list shows

telecom | 03/08/2019 4:13 pm EST

The panel in charge of reviewing the broadcasting and telecom acts received...

Freedom opening in Eastern Ontario markets

telecom | 03/08/2019 2:19 pm EST

Shaw Communications Inc.’s mobile division is expanding to some Eastern Ontario markets as it continues...

CRTC defends CMR practices in letter to TekSavvy

telecom | 03/07/2019 4:56 pm EST

The CRTC said it has improved the timely release of data it siphons through its communications monitoring report (CMR) and will continue to pursue shortening those timelines, according to a letter addressed to TekSavvy Solutions Inc. Last month, the Chatham, Ont.-based telecom filed a complaint to the CRTC about some of its CMR release practices, suggesting the regulator’s report lacks comparable data, doesn’t factor certain data found in its datasets and its release times have been failing industry requirements. The broadcasting portion of the CMR was released late last month. But...

Accessibility groups ask BTLR for legislative changes, new advisory office

Media | 03/07/2019 4:31 pm EST

Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications legislation should be...

Huawei sues U.S. government over equipment ban

telecom | 03/07/2019 10:12 am EST

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is suing the U.S. federal government in a bid to overturn a federal ban...

Telecom act should equalize prices across Canada: NWT gov’t

telecom | 03/06/2019 5:45 pm EST

The government of Northwest Territories says the Telecommunications Act should aim to ensure telecom services of the same quality and at the same prices are available across the country. In its...

Calgary asking to appeal CRTC decision in bylaw case

telecom | 03/05/2019 7:24 pm EST

The CRTC misunderstood the scope of the issues when it denied an application by Calgary to formally...

Bart Yabsley to head up Rogers’ Sportsnet property

Media | 03/05/2019 4:15 pm EST

Bart Yabsley has been appointed as the new president of Sportsnet, filling a role left vacant when Scott Moore stepped down from that position last fall. Yabsley was most recently senior vice-president of sports and entertainment partnerships and content distribution at Rogers Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., which owns Sportsnet. “Yabsley is responsible for leading the continued growth and evolution of sports content across all areas of Rogers,” the company said in a press release announcing his appointment Tuesday. “He oversees Sportsnet’s multiplatform...

Google won’t run political ads in 2019 election

Media | 03/05/2019 4:01 pm EST

Alphabet Inc.’s search giant Google plans to ban political advertising from its platforms during the next federal election campaign in Canada, following the introduction of tougher political advertising transparency rules by...

Telus health app to offer video doctor appointments, AI advice

telecom | 03/05/2019 3:01 pm EST

A new app launched by Telus Corp.’s health division will enable users to...

Boswell gets full term as Competition Bureau commissioner

Media | 03/05/2019 1:16 pm EST

The Liberal government has appointed Matthew Boswell on a full five-year...

Media parties dismissed in deindexing case, for now

Media | 03/04/2019 4:14 pm EST

The Federal Court has denied the CBC/Radio-Canada’s and the Media Coalition’s application to intervene in a case that will determine whether the privacy commissioner can order search engines to delist certain content -- at...

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...

Shaw Rocket Fund wants CBC to broaden children’s programming

Media | 03/01/2019 4:54 pm EST

The Shaw Rocket Fund wants CBC/Radio-Canada to expand its focus on children’s content to reflect a broader age range and is asking for new communications legislation to ensure it has the funding...

CRTC changes position on MVNOs, proposes mandated access

telecom | 02/28/2019 4:17 pm EST

The CRTC has reversed its long-held position that mobile virtual network...

ISED confirms work on releasing more specific broadband mapping data

telecom | 02/28/2019 3:45 pm EST

There is “general interest” at Innovation Canada in releasing more...

OTT video revenues comparable to conventional TV in 2017: CMR

telecom | 02/27/2019 7:23 pm EST

Internet-based video services generated enough revenue in Canada in 2017 to rival the total revenues of private and CBC conventional television stations combined, according to the CRTC’s Communications Monitoring Report. Against the $6.9 billion in revenues the traditional broadcast television sector made in 2017, the $2.4 billion generated that year by over-the-top (OTT) video services represented approximately 35 per cent, the report said, close to the $2.6 billion generated by private and CBC conventional TV stations. Including audio services, the entire OTT segment brought in...

‘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...

Cogeco selling Peer 1 data centre business for $720M

telecom | 02/27/2019 3:29 pm EST

Cogeco Communications Inc. says it’s inked a deal to sell its Cogeco Peer 1 cloud services business for $720 million. The data centre business is being sold to affiliates of the Los Angeles-based investment firm Digital...

Gov’t trending toward requiring online platforms to remove content: Gould

Media | 02/27/2019 10:32 am EST

OTTAWA -- Democratic institutions minister Karina Gould said the government...

Radio interference, 5G delays raised in new spectrum tier consult

telecom | 02/26/2019 6:10 pm EST

BCE Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., and Quebecor Inc. are warning against a...

Ottawa proposes new consumer-focused policy direction for CRTC

telecom | 02/26/2019 5:51 pm EST

The Liberal government is proposing a significant departure from Ottawa's past policy direction to the CRTC, changing the focus from market forces to affordability and consumer interests. The policy direction governs how the CRTC makes decisions, and the new order would...

‘Long slog’ to get ad registry ready for election, Facebook says

Media | 02/25/2019 5:59 pm EST

OTTAWA — Facebook Inc.’s head of public policy in Canada said the...

Goodale hasn’t heard talk about telco compensation in event of Huawei ban

telecom | 02/25/2019 5:24 pm EST

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says compensation to...

Flaws in rural broadband funding hot topic in telecom law review

telecom | 02/25/2019 12:41 pm EST

Rural broadband funding programs in Canada suffer from “significant”...

Federal Court says disclosure motions need ‘best available evidence’

Media | 02/22/2019 6:13 pm EST

Key evidence relied upon by movie studios in a substantial chunk of copyright infringement cases that have yielded vast sums of money from settlements has been ruled insufficient by a Federal Court...

CACTUS asks BTLR for $150M community TV framework

Media | 02/22/2019 12:53 pm EST

A group representing the Canadian community TV sector is asking the panel reviewing the broadcasting and...

Rural broadband spending should be priority in next budget: NDP MP

telecom | 02/21/2019 6:49 pm EST

Parliamentarians who stuck around the House of Commons for a Wednesday evening debate on a Liberal motion to take a hard look at Canada’s rural broadband gap said spending on underserved areas must...

Samsung readying 5G PR blitz in Canada: internal comms

telecom | 02/21/2019 5:23 pm EST

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is embarking this year on a massive...

CRTC asking for public input on ISP code

telecom | 02/21/2019 5:01 pm EST

The day after it released its report on misleading sales practices, the CRTC is asking for Canadians to...

‘We did not cut it’: Scott defends broadband fund speed target to MPs

telecom | 02/21/2019 3:44 pm EST

CRTC Chairman Ian Scott defended the eligibility speeds for the commission’s new $750 million rural broadband fund at a parliamentary hearing Thursday, where he faced...