The federal budget will be presented March 22, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced Tuesday. Morneau will rise to give the budget speech at 4 p.m. that day in the House of Commons, marking the Liberal government’s second financial plan of its mandate. Speaking to reporters after question period Tuesday, Morneau said the budget “will be about how we can help Canadians get the skills that they need in a dynamic and changing economy. It’ll be really about thinking about how we can turn challenges into opportunities. That’s our goal this year: to make our economy more innovative and to prepare Canadians for that… exciting opportunity.” In pre-budget submissions to the House of Commons’ finance committee last year, telecom companies and industry groups repeated many of the...
Four CRTC job postings have been extended for a second time, with prospective chairperson, vice-chairperson and regional commissioners having until March 15 to apply. The four jobs were first posted on the federal government’s appointment opportunities website in late January, with a deadline of Feb. 20. That deadline was pushed to March 6 and, on Tuesday, again extended to midnight March 15. Two of the jobs are currently vacant: former regional commissioner for Saskatchewan/Manitoba Candice Molnar finished her five years in January, while former Ontario commissioner Raj Shoan was fired in September. Shoan’s dismissal is currently being appealed in federal court. Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais’ five-year term expires in June, though he hasn’t publicly indicated whether he is gunning for a second term. Current vice-chair of broadcasting Judith LaRocque was appointed to an interim six-month term in November after the position was left vacant for a year....
The premier of Saskatchewan said Monday that the province will not pursue the sale of its telecommunications crown corporation, according to a report in the Canadian Press. Brad Wall said last year that the province...
Corus Entertainment Inc. is now selling to advertisers users’ cookie data to better target audience members, the company announced Monday. In a press release, Corus said it’s the “first major Canadian...
The CRTC should deny a proposal by BCE Inc. for a new regime governing traffic pumping that would allow telecoms to unilaterally put in place penalties that “inflict substantial...
In a move that it says positions it as the “leading 4K content provider on TV,” Stingray Digital Group Inc. announced it purchased NatureVision TV, which specializes in nature programming. In a press...
Rogers Communications Inc. is offering a cable and Internet package that includes speeds of 1 Gbps at a heavily discounted price in what Barclays Capital says is a surprising move. At $100 per month for its gigabit Internet and Extra Plus TV, with over 100 channels including BCE Inc.’s HBO Canada, on a two-year price promotion, Rogers is “leveraging its superior broadband capability to further highlight its competitive advantage and lock up customers as its main telco...
Canada has one of the “world’s most open cultural markets” and the CRTC’s decision to ban simultaneous substitution during BCE Inc.’s broadcast of the National Football League’s...
Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) is consulting on licence requirements for non-geostationary satellite orbit systems (NGSO). In a consultation document released Thursday, ISED...
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.'s president and CEO will leave the company following the closing of its acquisition by BCE Inc. MTS said in a press release Friday that Jay Forbes will leave after the deal closes on March 17. The $3.9 billion acquisition received...
Technologies identified by the CRTC as potential tools to combat spoofed and nuisance calls have promise, but barriers to their deployment mean they’re not likely to be put in place any time...
Former Rogers Communications Inc. senior official John Boynton is the new president and CEO of Torstar and publisher of its Toronto Star newspaper, the company announced Friday. As of March 31, Boynton...
About half of Canadians who watch TV online are cord-cutters, but there are more of their ilk among those who have chosen to rely on over-the-air (OTA) transmission, according to the latest report from Media Technology Monitor...
An American acquisition could create an opening in the Canadian fibre market, according to Desjardins Capital Markets. In a Thursday note, analyst Maher Yaghi highlighted the recent...
The CRTC has released aggregate data that shows wireless service providers earned $37.7 million in revenue by unlocking phones last year. That’s up from $28.5 million in 2015 and $21.6 million...
The United States’ telecom regulator is holding off on elements of privacy rules for Internet service providers (ISPs) adopted last year. In a Wednesday order, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it was granting a stay to the data security aspects of the rules that were scheduled to come into force March 2. The order was adopted on Oct. 26 and by Jan. 3 “the Commission had received eleven separate timely petitions to reconsider that order,” the FCC said, adding that nine trade associations filed a petition for a stay of...
The Attorney General of Canada is arguing in a memorandum of fact and law that the CRTC investigation that led to the dismissal of former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan was “procedurally...
Canada ranks first for Internet affordability, but closer to the middle of the pack when it comes to individuals’ capacity to use the Internet, according to a new study...
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...
Parm Sandhu was named vice-president of enterprise sales at Urban Communications Inc., the company announced Wednesday. In a press release, the Vancouver-based telecom said Sandhu “has managed large revenue...
Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube will be launching a live and on-demand TV service that will enable subscribers to watch more than 40 traditional TV channels online without the need for a subscription from a telecom provider, it announced on its blog Tuesday. The company said the contract-less $35 per month Internet service, dubbed YouTube TV, will give subscribers access to more than 40 networks, including sports and live TV streaming content from CBS Corp., Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., Comcast Corp.’s NBC Universal and The Walt Disney Co.’s ABC and ESPN....
Appellant Voltage Pictures LLC is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to reverse a decision it made earlier this month forcing it to pay the court costs for the respondent if he wins his...
A Swiss corporation and two of its subsidiaries are alleging that Shaw Communications Inc.’s new IPTV service is infringing on a handful of its patents, according to a statement of claim...
Randy Lennox has been named the new president of BCE Inc.’s media division following the departure of Mary Ann Turcke, the company announced Monday. In a press release, Bell Media...
Greater flexibility allowed by the federal government for market forces to shape the wireless industry would benefit most of the big players but negatively affect Shaw Communications...
Nearly 85 per cent of Canadians believe approval for additional costs in family phone plans should be made by those who pay the bills, not those who use the phone, according to a survey commissioned...
OTTAWA — When talking about CBC/Radio-Canada’s role in the media landscape, the public broadcaster is a “pygmy amongst giants,” and more focus should be aimed at large...
SSi Micro Ltd. is claiming a BCE Inc. subsidiary is engaging in delay tactics with its recent request for the CRTC to revise a decision setting rates for its Wholesale Connect service,...
The CRTC is asking for input on its competitor quality of service regime, used to monitor the services provided by incumbent telcos to smaller providers and ensure their quality is sufficient to...
Otono Networks Inc.’s Roam Mobility is launching new monthly roaming plans for travellers in the United States. “With Roam Mobility, Canadians can get the highest value USA roaming plan with plenty of 4G LTE data, and don’t have to worry about tapping in their Canadian monthly plan’s data,” the Vancouver-based company said in a Wednesday press release. The new plans include unlimited talk, text and data service with two different 4G LTE data options — 1GB for $39.95 and 4GB for $64.95. Both plans include “unlimited 2G speed data when...
The federal government should require foreign providers of digital services to remit tax on sales in the jurisdiction where the final customer is located, the C.D. Howe Institute said. In a report...
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...
OTTAWA — Fines levied against companies who breach privacy rules in Canada need to be increased to help prevent breaches in the future and to come in line with European Union data...
Verizon Communications Inc. said Wednesday that it’s ready to test its 5G network, with services to 11 markets expected to start on a trial basis by the summer. In a press release, Verizon said it will pilot...
Canada now ranks 12th in the world when it comes to mobile data speeds, with average speeds of 20.26 Mbps, according to a new report from OpenSignal. It jumped two spots from 14th, with speeds at the time of 18.31 Mbps, since OpenSignal’s August report. South Korea again had the fastest average speeds at 37.54 Mbps, despite falling from 41.3 Mbps last year, while only three other countries had speeds of 30 Mbps or greater. The United States ranked 36th with average speeds of 12.48 Mbps, partly due to slower LTE networks, the report said. It measured aggregate...
The need to modernize the CRTC was one of the themes raised during Heritage Canada’s review of Canadian content in a digital age, according to a summary report released Tuesday....
The start of the new year was marked by new registrations for new and not-so-new companies and groups in the federal lobbyists’ registry. Iristel Inc. registered to lobby the federal government as of Jan....
BCE Inc. must pay $10,000 in compensation and put in place an accommodation policy for disabled customers who can’t come to a store to activate a new phone, the Canadian Human Rights...
Some investors are worried about potential disruptions at Quebecor Inc. following the return of former CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau to the company, though such concern is overblown,...
Toronto-based KnowRoaming has appointed a former BCE Inc. executive as the executive chair of its Telna-KnowRoaming subsidiary. “This addition to the executive team will help Telna-KnowRoaming deliver on...
OTTAWA — Canadians expect the federal privacy commissioner to be able to make orders and levy fines against companies that break privacy rules, Daniel Therrien told members of Parliament studying the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) Thursday, noting that the current inability to do so erodes trust in a...
The man who led Quebecor Inc. for 14 years but left to join provincial politics will return as head of the company Thursday, though despite the change in leadership, analysts expect...
Canada is years behind other jurisdictions when it comes to government attention on the development of smart cities, Bill Hutchison, president of the i-Canada Alliance, an organization focused on the...
A Carleton University professor has received a $600,000 federal grant to support research studying 5G networks, the school announced Wednesday. Richard Yu’s funding — a Strategic Partnership Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) — is for a project addressing “existing research challenges in order to make innovative 5G wireless networks more efficient and effective,” Carleton said in a press release. “With improved technology, the widespread deployment of these networks will be commercially viable. The...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is introducing a new service for customers to avoid bill shock when roaming internationally. The Daily Traveller Pass will allow customers to pay a flat fee — at $6 per day...
Amazon.com Inc. announced Wednesday a new service that provides video, voice, chat and screen sharing for meetings, called Amazon Chime. The ecommerce giant’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) said in a...
Interactive digital media companies in Ontario are set for “significant growth” within the next two years, according to a report commissioned by industry trade association Interactive...
The introduction of Xplornet Communications Inc. into Manitoba’s wireless market was a “surprise twist” to the story of BCE Inc.’s $3.9-billion acquisition...
OTTAWA — In order to roll out the infrastructure and technology necessary to make connected cars available across Canada, government funding will be needed, and it could be modeled after the Connected Canadians program that’s currently in place to target rural broadband, a Senate committee heard Tuesday. “We see there’s a need today ... where the provincial and federal government in some cases supplement the business case for the private operators to enable the rollout of the technologies,” said Martin Proulx, director general of engineering, planning and...
Kurt Eby, former director of regulatory and government affairs for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), has taken a new role with Pelmorex Media Inc. According to his LinkedIn account, Eby left the CWTA after nearly five years for the Toronto-based position as...
The CRTC’s review of the Wireless Code “generates regulatory risk across the industry,” with the biggest potential threat being mandating the separation of device costs from...
The United States and Canada will continue co-operating on cyber security and the security of critical infrastructure, the two countries said in a joint statement Monday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Washington, D.C., for the first time since the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency. Given...
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. said Monday that it is concerned about the CRTC’s December decision to eliminate the local voice subsidy in favour of a...
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. announced Friday the creation of the NSERC-Huawei Industrial Research Chair in Future Wireless Technologies at Polytechnique Montréal....
More than 13,000 Canadian households have signed up for Rogers Communications Inc.’s Internet service for low-income housing residents, the company said Friday, in announcing a new community housing partner in...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has launched an Internet service for its business customers that it says guarantees continuity of service 99.9 per cent of the time by combining its wireline and...
The Wireless Code should be amended so that it codifies data as a “key contract term” in wireless contracts, the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) argued...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has named Guillaume Sylvestre its new vice-president of technical operations for client service. He will be in charge of Videotron’s technical support teams, the company said in a French press release Thursday. His main mandate is to improve customer experience and take it to “to an unprecedented level,” the release said. Sylvestre has been with Videotron since 2004....
Like clockwork, Telus Corp. joined its competitors in reporting higher wireless numbers in its fourth quarter of 2016, but decreased profits due to restructuring costs tugged on the...
In a departure from the positions of its fellow wireless providers, Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile suggested Wednesday the CRTC should forbid carriers from charging...
Despite a projected 1,000-per-cent increase in 5G connections between 2020 and 2021, less than half a per cent of all devices and connections will have 5G capability in that same time period, according to a new Cisco Systems Inc....
GATINEAU, Que. — Changing the rules so that the cost of a wireless device is divorced from a monthly service payment on a customer’s bill would take a considerable amount of work to...
The CRTC has approved an application by Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. to add Sky News Arabia to the list of foreign channels authorized for distribution in Canada, the commission said Tuesday. The channel is a 24-hour news service originating in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and targeted at Arabic-speaking audiences, it said. ...
A lengthy legal battle between BCE Inc. and two companies that claim Bell infringed on their IPTV patent has been extended, one month after a Federal Court judge dismissed the case. MediaTube Corp. and NorthVu...
According to a new survey commissioned by Internet advocacy group OpenMedia, while half of Canadians support creating a new revenue source for Canadian content, there is strong opposition to taxing Internet service and more...
The CRTC’s decision to ban simultaneous substitution for the National Football League’s Super Bowl has had a significant effect on viewership, as BCE Inc.'s media division reported an audience drop-off of...
GATINEAU, QUE. — The Wireless Code has been a positive development for consumers in the three years since its implementation, consumer groups said on the first day of the CRTC's hearing on...
Almost 100 tech companies in the United States have filed a brief in a court case against U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking entry of citizens from seven countries and all refugees into the United States....
Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is leading the charge in pushing for the presence of “cultural diversity,” or domestic content, on foreign digital platforms like the over-the-top (OTT) service provided by Netflix Inc. — despite other countries already having regulations and tax...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said Friday it won’t “focus on denying Americans free data” going forward, as it ended its investigation into zero-rated offerings. New chairman Ajit Pai said in...
The CRTC has revoked basic international telecommunications services (BITS) licences of 21 small telecoms after they violated their licence conditions. The companies didn’t comply with annual reporting...
A Federal Court judge on Monday ordered a foreign website to be taken down and some of the content it published removed from search engines internationally due to a violation of Canadian privacy law, adding to the number of cases in which of a Canadian court has made such an extraterritorial order. Whether judges have the right to order such removals is up in the air. While the precedent was set in trademark infringement case involving Alphabet Inc.’s Google and a B.C. company, the Supreme Court of Canada is currently deciding on the legality of that order. According to...
OTTAWA — If Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly was clear about anything during a Thursday afternoon appearance at the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) Prime Time in Ottawa conference, it was that the...
BCE Inc. continued the industry-wide trend of strong wireless numbers, as its fourth quarter earnings report showed a surge in data usage over the year and a better view of when it...
The federal government is extending the deadline for applications to be made to its new rural broadband program. During question period on Thursday, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, in response...
The CRTC is collecting feedback on whether wireless service providers should be required to provide message relay service (MRS) for customers with a hearing or speech disability. In a notice of consultation posted to its...
Ten-digit dialling will officially roll out in Newfoundland and Labrador next summer after the CRTC approved a new area code for the province. Already served by 709, the province will add the 879 area code as of Nov. 24, 2018. Ten-digit dialling will begin Aug. 17, 2018, the CRTC said in a decision Thursday. In a separate decision Thursday, the CRTC also said it approved an ad-hoc committee’s recommendation to add a new area code to the area of eastern Quebec currently served by the 418 and 581 areas codes. The new 367 code will also come into effect Nov....
The CRTC has changed the deadline for interventions in its consultation on measures to reduce caller ID spoofing and other ways of managing nuisance calls. Originally set for Feb. 8, the new deadline for...
BCE Inc. wants the CRTC to implement new rules governing traffic pumping, which would put the onus on any telecom accused of artificially inflating traffic to prove they’re not engaged in...
The European Union is set to eliminate mobile roaming charges within its 28-member bloc by this summer, as EU negotiators came to an agreement Wednesday on wholesale prices that would eliminate the charges by June...
OTTAWA — Lawyers representing a defendant in a reverse class action case over a copyright infringement claim are asking a federal court judge to give their client an opportunity to recover costs...
BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Telus Corp., and Zayo Group Holdings Inc. plan to challenge the constitutional validity of Calgary’s municipal rights-of-way bylaw....
Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED), has responded to concerns about the availability of equipment and manpower that will be needed as Canada and the United States both...
In November 2016, a group of Internet experts met in Toronto to discuss how to address the issue of Canadian Internet traffic travelling to the United States, which some say raises data privacy...
More than 1,700 people representing a variety of tech and telecom companies have signed on to an open letter opposing U.S. President Donald Trump’s weekend executive order blocking entry of...
Conservative members of Parliament from Quebec are asking the federal government for an extension to the application deadline for its Connect to Innovate program, saying the two-month turnaround is too short for small municipalities that want to take advantage of the new rural broadband funding envelope. Bernard Généreux, the Opposition critic for economic development in Quebec, said in a phone interview Friday that he’ll be sending a letter to Innovation, Science...
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holdings Corp. said Thursday that its newest data centre is now operational. The 24,000-square-foot Tier III facility, first announced in 2015, “significantly...
The Ministers of Canadian Heritage and Innovation, Science and Economic Development have new understudies. In a Thursday press release, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a makeover to his roster of parliamentary...
Rogers Communications Inc. incoming president and CEO Joe Natale will take the helm in July, the company announced as it reported fourth-quarter numbers that showed continuing growth in data usage among its wireless...
A new report has found that BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. are essentially tied when it comes to the performance of their wireless networks, concluding...
Phasing out CBC/Radio-Canada’s sale of digital ads and tweaking tax laws to prevent companies from claiming exemptions for advertising on foreign digital platforms are among the recommendations put forward by the Public Policy Forum following a six-month study on the state of Canadian news media. In a report released Thursday, the Canadian think tank made a dozen recommendations “aimed at ensuring the news media and journalists continue in their role as the watchdogs over our elected representatives and public institutions and the connective tissue within our...
Wireless service providers aren’t necessarily adhering to Wireless Code rules mandating that customers receive paper copies of their privacy policies, according to a new CRTC-commissioned report. The report, published on the CRTC’s website Friday, is part of the ongoing Wireless Code review,...
The federal government is making available $250,000 to improve Internet service in Eastern Ontario. The money will be administered through the Connecting Canadians program implemented by...
Heritage Canada has issued a series of help-wanted ads for the CRTC — including for the not-yet vacant position of chair. Four new job openings are now on the government’s appointments website for the roles of chair,...
An application by BCE Inc. asking the CRTC not to require the implementation of meet-me points through which smaller companies could connect to the telco’s network, if granted, would...
Lawyer Geoff White has joined the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) as director and regulatory counsel, commissioner Howard Maker has confirmed. White is listed on the Law Society of Upper Canada...
Ajit Pai has been picked by the new U.S. president to lead the United States' telecom regulator, Pai announced on Twitter Monday. In a statement, Pai said he looks “forward to working with the new Administration,...
The federal and Ontario governments are making available $2.53 million in funding to improve Internet service in two areas of the province, the federal government announced in a press release Monday....
The United States is officially withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, after president Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday. Advocacy group OpenMedia said in a press release following the announcement that Canada should also reject the deal. In Canada, the...
Telus Corp. led the telecom pack in December for government relations activity, according to the federal lobbyists’ registry, logging 14 monthly communication reports. In addition to getting in touch with the policy advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Justin To, Telus also bent the ears of members of the prime minister’s cabinet. According to the communication reports, which are filed by the 15th of every month for the previous month’s activity, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains were...
