YouTube top source of mobile traffic: Sandvine

Media | 02/18/2019 10:12 am EST

Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube makes up just over 35 per cent of worldwide mobile data traffic, making it the...

CRTC consulting on broadband fund application guide

telecom | 02/14/2019 4:53 pm EST

The CRTC has released an application guide for its $750-million rural broadband fund and is asking for comments on the preliminary document. The guide is meant to help applicants put together and submit their funding...

Telus says it can manage a Huawei 5G ban after warning of costs, delay

telecom | 02/14/2019 10:58 am EST

The head of Telus Corp. says the company would be able to “adeptly”...

Lack of clear CRTC industry data is an obstacle: small ISPs

telecom | 02/13/2019 8:47 pm EST

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has filed a complaint with the CRTC flagging a concern that the regulator’s latest data report doesn’t provide a clear picture of the industry, which could make it more...

ITPA pitches ‘sustainability component’ for rural broadband programs

telecom | 02/13/2019 4:38 pm EST

The government should create a “sustainability component” to rural broadband funding projects so they don’t dwindle in quality or eventually fail, according to an association representing independent rural incumbent local telephone businesses. The Independent Telecommunications Providers Association (ITPA) raised concerns in its written submission to an expert panel reviewing Canada’s communications laws that rural broadband funding projects currently emphasize funding up-front...

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...

CRTC sets 5 ms threshold for ‘jitter’ in basic service standard

telecom | 02/12/2019 5:41 pm EST

The CRTC has finally set a threshold for a metric it said will improve the quality of service (QoS) for applications reliant on the rapid transmission of data. The regulator said Tuesday that it...

Financial hit of a Huawei 5G ban likely ‘non-material’ to Bell, Telus: Desjardins

telecom | 02/12/2019 4:18 pm EST

If the Canadian government eventually decides to ban Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. from Canada’s 5G networks, the financial consequences suffered by Canada’s big telecom...

Language representation at CRTC raised to Yale panel

Media | 02/12/2019 2:37 pm EST

Better representation at the CRTC of official language minority communities is a concern a number of...

Bell urged Bains not to send back MVNO decision a second time

telecom | 02/12/2019 2:37 pm EST

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains weighed sending back the CRTC’s...

OPC’s deindexing position ‘indirect attack’ on CBC, lawyer says

Media | 02/11/2019 6:33 pm EST

OTTAWA — A lawyer for CBC/Radio-Canada who is asking the Federal Court to...

Rogers challenged disclosure motions after SCC ruling: court docs

Media | 02/08/2019 6:18 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. said it was surprised to see two motions for disclosure of subscriber information filed by two movie studios late last year and challenged them because they did not include...

Don’t mandate text message warning for emergency alerts: telecoms

telecom | 02/08/2019 3:29 pm EST

The majority of Canadian wireless providers who weighed in on a proposal to...

Bell grows fixed wireless plans by 400,000 homes

telecom | 02/07/2019 3:26 pm EST

BCE Inc. says it will grow its rural fixed-wireless plans by 50 per cent, thanks to new tax measures the Liberal government announced last fall aimed at promoting investments in rural areas. Company CEO George Cope announced Thursday morning on a quarterly earnings conference call that Bell will increase its rural fixed wireless expansion -- what it calls its wireless-to-the-home program -- to 1.2 million homes, up from 800,000. Cope said the move is driven by the federal government’s Accelerated Investment Incentive, a capital cost allowance program announced in the fall fiscal...

Huawei ban wouldn’t delay BCE’s 5G rollout: Cope

telecom | 02/07/2019 10:19 am EST

The head of BCE Inc. says he doesn’t expect that a ban on Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s equipment...

Maxime Bernier supports Huawei 5G ban ‘as soon as possible’

telecom | 02/06/2019 5:34 pm EST

OTTAWA — Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People's Party of Canada and...

Novus files another Part 1 for condo access in B.C.

telecom | 02/05/2019 4:34 pm EST

Novus Entertainment Inc. has filed an application to the CRTC alleging a developer of a multi-dwelling unit in British Columbia is not responding to its telecom access proposal. The Vancouver-based company provides internet,...

Odds of Huawei ban have increased in recent months: analyst

telecom | 02/05/2019 4:26 pm EST

The likelihood Canada will ban Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. equipment from...

ISPs can already resell incumbent internet to other providers, cablecos say

telecom | 02/04/2019 2:33 pm EST

Canada’s largest cable companies said they already have existing provisions that allow providers to buy and resell their services to other providers. Late last year, the CRTC asked the cablecos to show why its decision to allow Frontier Networks Inc. to resell Bragg Communications Inc.’s internet service to other providers on a wholesale basis didn’t apply to them. In fact, the bigger players -- Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Cogeco Inc. and Quebecor Inc. --...

‘Milestone’ digital content meeting to take place next week: Heritage

Media | 02/01/2019 5:39 pm EST

The federal government is organizing a working meeting next week in Ottawa...

Majority of Canadians for banning Chinese investment in telecom amid Huawei row

telecom | 02/01/2019 3:57 pm EST

A strong majority of Canadians say the country should ban Chinese investment in “sensitive industries” like telecommunications, according to a new poll by the Angus Reid Institute that focuses on...

Devices ‘no less important’ in Huawei debate: computing professor

Media | 02/01/2019 8:08 am EST

OTTAWA — Debate about whether or not to ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. from Canada’s future 5G networks has focused largely on backbone infrastructure, but a professor of...

ISED expects most Connect to Innovate agreements will be signed by April

telecom | 01/31/2019 4:18 pm EST

Only about $30 million has made it out the door so far from the Liberal government’s $500 million Connect to Innovate fund that was announced in the 2016 budget, according to documents tabled this...

Ottawa taps team to warn of foreign digital interference in elections

Media | 01/30/2019 3:49 pm EST

OTTAWA — The Liberal government has set up a new alert protocol and...

Huawei 5G decision ‘beyond weeks’ away: Goodale

telecom | 01/29/2019 4:04 pm EST

The federal government’s sweeping security review that’s examining whether to ban Chinese telecom...

Bell’s panel submission calls for CMF to get 20% of foreign OTT revenues

Media | 01/29/2019 3:25 pm EST

BCE Inc. wants to inject the Canada Media Fund (CMF) with a potentially...

Doug Burnett named president and CEO of SaskTel

telecom | 01/29/2019 1:36 pm EST

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp.’s acting president and CEO has been named to the role on...

Bernadette Jordan tasked to ‘lead work’ to improve rural broadband

telecom | 01/29/2019 12:56 pm EST

The Prime Minister’s Office has made public the mandate letter for the freshly-appointed Minister of Rural Economic Development, Bernadette Jordan. The letter taps her to...

Innovation, rural development ministers get new parlsecs

telecom | 01/29/2019 12:38 pm EST

Quebec MP Rémi Massé will replace David Lametti as the parliamentary...

US files charges against Huawei in two cases

telecom | 01/28/2019 6:49 pm EST

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a highly-anticipated criminal case against Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Monday, issuing a spate of charges against the company, two affiliates and its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou,...

YouTube limiting promotion of conspiracy videos and ‘borderline content’

Media | 01/28/2019 4:47 pm EST

Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube says it plans to tamp down on the spread of misleading, fake or conspiratorial video content that gets recommended for its users to watch by limiting the promotion of...

CRTC orders telecoms, Calgary to negotiate some bylaw terms

telecom | 01/25/2019 4:55 pm EST

The CRTC has denied an application by the City of Calgary asking the CRTC to approve its  municipal rights-of-way bylaw, which governs the telecoms’ access to “city structures, service corridors,...

New Broadcast Act should ‘unambiguously exclude’ OTT: Netflix

Media | 01/25/2019 4:51 pm EST

Netflix Inc. is defending against calls to rope foreign over-the-top players into Canada’s broadcasting framework — which could require the company to abide by CanCon...

House of Commons could face Huawei debate next week

telecom | 01/25/2019 2:26 pm EST

The Official Opposition may be gearing up to force a debate and vote in the House of Commons on a motion...

Canada investing $40M in Nokia partnership

telecom | 01/25/2019 1:56 pm EST

The federal government will give Nokia Corp. up to $40 million for a number of the company’s projects...

Rogers cost for disclosure case set for April

Media | 01/24/2019 3:47 pm EST

The Federal Court has set a spring date to determine how much Voltage Pictures LLC must pay Rogers Communications Inc. to hand over personal subscriber information after the Supreme Court found the telecom was entitled to...

Ever larger wireless data buckets belying consumption, Rogers says

Media | 01/24/2019 2:07 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. is pointing to higher data availability...

Telecoms look to overcome passive problems at 5G conference

telecom | 01/24/2019 1:34 pm EST

OTTAWA — Conflicting municipal 5G policies. Bureaucratic exhaustion from...

Might be ‘late’ for regional wireless competitors: Cogeco

Media | 01/23/2019 5:05 pm EST

Cogeco Inc.  is raising caution about the negative impact the government's...

Bell asked gov’t to ban some VPNs: documents

Media | 01/23/2019 4:40 pm EST

BCE Inc. urged the federal government to make virtual private networks (VPNs) used to circumvent...

Shaw calls for removal of 5% BDU content contribution

Media | 01/22/2019 6:17 pm EST

Shaw Communications Inc. is asking the government to drop the five per cent revenue contribution TV service providers make to Canadian content, but says if CanCon needs a subsidy then it should be a direct one from government...

Preventing LGBTQ content discrimination raised in BTLR consults

Media | 01/21/2019 4:15 pm EST

The CEO of an independent specialty TV channel is raising concerns that a lack of regulation could let foreign-based digital companies operating in Canada de-monetize or discriminate against types of Canadian content based on cultural values, such as works made by the LGBTQ community. Brad Danks, the CEO of OUTtv Network Inc., a Canadian-based LGBTQ television network, raised the point in his company’s consultation submission to the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel -- the expert group studying how to modernize Canada’s communications legal and regulatory...

FRPC wants CanCon visibility on search engines

Media | 01/21/2019 12:50 pm EST

As a rule, when Canadians search keywords on the internet, they should be presented with Canadian content...

Groups diverge on handling of net neutrality in comms laws

Media | 01/18/2019 5:25 pm EST

Canada’s current laws implicitly protecting net neutrality are sufficient...

88% concerned about ‘smart city’ privacy: poll

telecom | 01/18/2019 2:11 pm EST

A new research paper on smart cities argues municipalities should proceed with caution on ‘smart’ projects and hyper-consult over the ways citizens’ data can be collected and used. “Municipalities should tread...

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...

Fast-track OTT review, clock ticking on CMF ‘top-up’: CMPA

Media | 01/18/2019 10:41 am EST

The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) wants the government to immediately launch a review of the CRTC’s enforcement powers when it comes to regulating over-the-top (OTT) streaming services like Netflix Inc., according to its submission to a government-appointed...

‘Many’ ISPs could shut down due to wholesale regime: CNOC

telecom | 01/17/2019 4:34 pm EST

Small, wholesale-based internet service providers could be forced out of...

Big telecoms fight calls for an ‘ISP tax’, pitch new OTT rules

telecom | 01/16/2019 5:55 pm EST

Some of Canada’s biggest telecom companies rejected calls to force ISPs...

Platforms could pull out of Canadian market if regulated: Google

Media | 01/16/2019 2:17 pm EST

Alphabet Inc.’s Google already contributes to the Canadian creative...

Utilities, cities clash with telecoms over infrastructure jurisdiction

telecom | 01/15/2019 7:35 pm EST

Electrical utilities and municipalities have arched their backs over...

Freedom says data strategy attracting higher-value customers

telecom | 01/14/2019 6:30 pm EST

Shaw Communications Inc. says its wireless business has reaped the fruits...

Rural spectrum for backhaul should be cheaper than urban: telecoms

telecom | 01/14/2019 4:09 pm EST

Telecom companies are largely supportive of Innovation Canada’s efforts to update how it sets licence fees for point-to-point systems, though some are calling for that process to be sped up and...

New rural development minister to tackle broadband availability

telecom | 01/14/2019 2:33 pm EST

After the auditor general blasted the government for not having a clear...

One-in-8 ‘cord jumping’ video services: MTM

Media | 01/11/2019 5:28 pm EST

One-in-8 Canadians have suspended their TV or paid video streaming service while planning to re-subscribe to it later, according to survey information released to media this week by CBC/Radio-Canada‘s Media Technology Monitor...

Cogeco says it’s not worried about internet speed coverage

telecom | 01/11/2019 5:18 pm EST

Cushioned between a subscriber base that on average doesn’t take gigabit download speeds and a future secure with the latitude to expand to at least 10 gigabit speeds, Cogeco Inc. executives said on Friday that they are comfortable delivering whatever speeds the market...

Corus sees TV ad rebound in Q1

telecom | 01/11/2019 5:14 pm EST

Corus Entertainment Inc. reported quarterly results Friday that showed TV ad revenue increasing 3.6 per...

Scott Bradley leaves Huawei

telecom | 01/11/2019 5:04 pm EST

Scott Bradley, vice-president of corporate affairs at Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s Canadian division, has left the company. Bradley had been with Huawei for eight...

CBC calls for site-blocking provisions for ‘manipulated content’

Media | 01/11/2019 4:09 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada wants the federal government to grant the CRTC the ability...

CRTC asks Ottawa for single regulator on passive infrastructure

Media | 01/10/2019 6:28 pm EST

The CRTC is formally asking the federal government to make one regulatory...

Forbearance means CRTC has no place in rate dispute: Bell

telecom | 01/10/2019 5:31 pm EST

The CRTC has no jurisdiction to determine the outcome of a disagreement over the rates BCE Inc. charges Iristel Inc. for wholesale access, because it chose to forebear from regulating legacy services, Bell is arguing. Iristel filed a complaint with the regulator in December, saying that Bell put in place “massive and unprecedented rate increases” covering circuits used for voice legacy transport services. In its reply filed Wednesday, Bell said the CRTC doesn’t have the authority to fulfill Iristel’s request for interim relief, which is to order Bell to keep the old rates in...

ITAC pitching new ‘matchmaking’ innovation hub to gov’t

telecom | 01/09/2019 6:15 pm EST

Andre Leduc recalls introducing Microsoft Inc. Canada president Kevin...

Most Canadians would support a Huawei 5G ban: poll

telecom | 01/09/2019 3:03 pm EST

Roughly half of Canadians support banning Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd from Canada’s 5G networks but more than a quarter have yet to make up their minds on the issue, according to a Globe and Mail/Nanos Research poll. Eighteen...

Bell launches system for targeted TV ads

telecom | 01/09/2019 2:37 pm EST

BCE Inc.’s media division has launched a tool allowing its TV advertising clients to more specifically...

Don’t lift 100 Mbps wholesale speed cap: big telecoms

telecom | 01/08/2019 5:59 pm EST

Canada’s large internet service providers say granting the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) request to lift the CRTC’s speed cap of 100 Mbps for wholesale internet would eliminate the...

Bell expanding targeted ads program to all services

Media | 01/08/2019 3:38 pm EST

BCE Inc. is rolling out to more services a pre-existing program that asks its subscribers to consider giving the company their personal information to better target relevant ads to them. The program is an expansion of a...

CBC’s head of sports Greg Stremlaw to leave

telecom | 01/08/2019 12:37 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada’s head of sports Greg Stremlaw is leaving the public broadcaster at the end of the...

ARIN CEO rejects legislative ask for IP address record rules

telecom | 01/08/2019 11:25 am EST

A regional internet registry is going to walk-back a controversial request...

Quebecor CFO Pruneau to head Videotron

telecom | 01/07/2019 5:35 pm EST

Jean-François Pruneau, Quebecor Inc.’s chief financial officer, has been appointed the new CEO of its...

BlackBerry plants foot in IoT security

telecom | 01/07/2019 3:30 pm EST

BlackBerry Ltd. is stepping in to fill a security gap widely complained about in an emerging space: Internet of Things devices. The smartphone pioneer, which has focused its efforts on shoring up security for a broad clientele including businesses and governments,...

Most Canadians support ‘right to be forgotten’: poll

telecom | 01/07/2019 3:01 pm EST

Canadians appear to be generally in favour of the ‘right to be forgotten’, with most showing support for the idea and a majority saying they would support having it set out in Canadian law,...

ARIN asks Parliament to require ISPs to maintain Whois info

telecom | 01/04/2019 6:21 pm EST

The organization responsible for allocating IP numbers to intermediaries in...

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...

Harmonize all emergency alert tests: officials

telecom | 01/03/2019 5:23 pm EST

The current requirements for emergency alert tests, which specify a different schedule for...

Top telecom and media stories to watch for in 2019

Media | 12/21/2018 5:46 pm EST

As the new year begins, the months ahead promise a new spectrum auction, new CRTC announcements on high-profile files like telecom sales practices, and even potentially a new federal government — to be determined in an election in which the danger of hacking and social...

More subscribing to basic service speeds, but availability unchanged

telecom | 12/21/2018 5:41 pm EST

Canadians are increasingly signing up for home internet services that meet...

Higher-speed internet plans more expensive in 2018: report

telecom | 12/21/2018 4:41 pm EST

The prices of higher-speed wireline internet plans increased last year, and...

SWIFT asks CRTC to review rural broadband fund eligibility

telecom | 12/20/2018 11:22 am EST

The SouthWestern Integrated Fibre Technology Inc. (SWIFT) project is...

Huawei 5G decision won’t be made based on politics: Trudeau

telecom | 12/19/2018 5:14 pm EST

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will rely on expert...

CRTC orders telecoms to block calls with ‘illegitimate’ IDs

telecom | 12/19/2018 1:05 pm EST

Telecoms will have to start blocking phone calls from numbers that don’t conform to “established numbering plans,” the CRTC said Wednesday. The new rule affects calls that look like they’re...

Videotron selling data centre business

telecom | 12/19/2018 1:01 pm EST

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is selling its data centre business, 4Degrees Colocation, for $259 million, with the proceeds likely going to fund future spectrum purchases, analysts say. The telecom announced Tuesday that it...

Telus, Corus jockeying over PVR cloud storage rules

telecom | 12/19/2018 10:48 am EST

Corus Entertainment Inc. is taking issue with a request by Telus Corp. to have Parliament change the...

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...

Bell must pay $433k in ‘ineligible’ tangible benefits

Media | 12/18/2018 3:20 pm EST

The CRTC has dismissed an appeal by BCE Inc. and ordered it to pay nearly half a million dollars in tangible benefits an audit found was ineligible for a music festival...

CRTC approves telecoms’ proposed low-cost data plans

telecom | 12/17/2018 6:14 pm EST

The CRTC has chosen not to make changes to lower-cost data plans suggested...

Bell ends infringement suit against Videotron

telecom | 12/14/2018 5:01 pm EST

BCE Inc. has dropped a $100-million lawsuit leveled against Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron for allegedly broadcasting CraveTV content without a licence. Bell Media vice-president of communications Scott Henderson said in an email...

Huawei 5G ban likely ‘manageable’ for telecoms: analyst

telecom | 12/14/2018 4:38 pm EST

A ban on technology from Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in Canada’s...

CRTC tells wireless providers to offer message relay services

Media | 12/14/2018 3:27 pm EST

Wireless operators will have to begin offering message relay services (MRS) by June 2019, the CRTC said Friday. Message relay serves customers with a hearing or speech disability by allowing them...

ISED won’t free up airline spectrum for mobile use

telecom | 12/14/2018 9:55 am EST

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) says it doesn’t plan to reallocate air-to-ground spectrum bands in the 800 MHz range for mobile use or issue them on short-term licenses, rejecting a suggestion from Rogers Communications Inc. — at least for...

MPs onside with alcohol ad standards

telecom | 12/13/2018 11:57 am EST

An industry group has created a code of conduct governing the content and application of beer...

Lower CRTC latency standards, say large telecoms, northern gov’ts

telecom | 12/12/2018 2:27 pm EST

An application by BCE Inc.’s Northwestel arguing the CRTC’s basic...

Ethics committee calls for new social media rules

Media | 12/11/2018 7:27 pm EST

OTTAWA — A House of Commons committee is unanimously calling for new rules for social media companies...

ISPs can resell wholesale service to other providers: CRTC

telecom | 12/11/2018 5:59 pm EST

The CRTC has sided with a small telecom that was reselling wholesale...

Don’t give Corus tangible benefits exemption: CanCon groups

telecom | 12/11/2018 5:09 pm EST

A proposal by Corus Entertainment Inc. to shut down 44 television...

Telecoms argue extending workplace safety to third-party locations ‘absurd’

telecom | 12/10/2018 3:14 pm EST

OTTAWA -- Two of Canada’s largest telecoms and CBC/Radio-Canada told the Supreme Court on Monday that it’s “absurd” and “illogical” for a court to force them to ensure the safety of an...

More than half of the world will be online by year-end: ITU

telecom | 12/10/2018 2:04 pm EST

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says for the first time...

MP asks ISED to force CRTC internet code extension

telecom | 12/07/2018 4:40 pm EST

NDP MP Brian Masse is asking Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains to force the CRTC to extend the deadline...

Cellular search-and-rescue system RCAF’s domestic priority

telecom | 12/07/2018 9:35 am EST

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is currently testing radio technology mounted on search-and-rescue aircraft that communicates with mobile phones of lost or missing people in areas without cell coverage. The project is considered by officials to be its “highest...