Sarah Schmidt is leaving the Broadbent Institute to become the director of media relations and issues management at Rogers Communications Inc., according to a Monday report by The Hill Times. Schmidt was the Institute's director of communications after starting as the editor of its PressProgress project in 2013, according to the Institute’s website. Previous to that, she was a reporter for Postmedia News (formerly Canwest News Service) for 10 years and a reporter at the National Post for nearly two years, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also wrote...
OpenMedia has built a platform to make it easier for Canadians to connect with elected representatives in order to encourage more community-controlled broadband projects that are independent of big telecom providers. In a blog post on its website Monday, the advocacy group said by helping directly connect Canadians to their government representatives, it hopes to bring “cheaper, faster” local government-supported Internet infrastructure in more communities across Canada. The...
The American telecom regulator said it is entering the final stage of its incentive auction for repurposing 600 MHz spectrum for wireless use. In a statement Wednesday, outgoing Federal Communications Commission (FCC)...
Former Rogers Communications Inc. regulatory chief Ken Engelhart is joining StrategyCorp, the consulting company announced. In a Jan. 13 press release, the company said Engelhart — who served as senior...
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) is seeking comments on a proposal to allow the use of additional devices on 5GHz spectrum. In a consultation paper released Friday, ISED said the proliferation of...
Bragg Communications Inc.’s Eastlink is asking the CRTC to delay the imposition of lower wholesale high-speed access rates it put in place last year pending the outcome of a review-and-vary...
GATINEAU, Que. — There are unique considerations for wireless carriers when contemplating the switch to next-generation 911 (NG911) services, a CRTC panel was told on the penultimate day of a public hearing on improvements to the 911 network, including the fact they can offer more services for 911 users more quickly. On Thursday, Freedom Mobile vice-president of regulatory and carrier relations Ed Antecol said their submission aligned with that made by parent company Shaw...
The CRTC said Thursday in two decisions it has approved three channels — Stingray Brava, Bestseller and Mult — for distribution in Canada. Stingray Digital Group Inc.'s Stingray Brava is an...
A new survey has found that while the majority of United States respondents think consuming pirated video content is illegal, a chunk don’t seem to care how it impacts content creation. Despite about 69 per cent of U.S....
BCE Inc. will increase monthly prices for some of its residential services as of Feb. 1, a move it says is needed to support higher traffic on its network. On its website, the company said it spends $3.5 billion each...
GATINEAU, Que. — The costs to maintain next-generation 911 (NG911) services in Canada will not cost more than what telecoms pay to maintain current 911 services, Quebecor Inc. said on the third day of the CRTC's hearing on the issue, despite some suggesting costs will increase on the new...
Celebrity businessman Kevin O’Leary has the country’s telecom regulator in his sights as he launches his campaign for leader of the federal Conservative Party. O’Leary, who...
Forming a national consortium for the development of next-generation 911 (NG911) services would disrupt relationships formed under the current ILEC model, a British Columbia public-safety answer point...
BCE Inc.’s business customers now have access to IBM Corp.’s MobileFirst enterprise apps for devices running on Apple Inc.’s iOS operating system. “Bell will combine its expertise in...
Filling all 13 spots allotted to CRTC commissioners could go a long way in addressing what some are calling decades of ongoing disparity between the demographics of those who make decisions about the...
GATINEAU, Que. — The CRTC should take a leading role — at least temporarily — in co-ordinating the development of next-generation 911 services, the regulator heard Monday as it kicked off a week-long hearing into the future of the emergency call system. Making the transition to an environment where 911 call-takers, or public safety answering points (PSAPs), can receive communication other than voice (such as text, picture and video messages) needs outside guidance,...
Starting Monday, Twitter Inc.’s live-streaming app will host a nightly showing of a Canadian media program for the first time. The Agenda with Steve Paikin, a current affairs program produced by the publicly funded...
The growth in popularity of over-the-top (OTT) messaging services will cost global mobile network operators over a hundred billion dollars this year, according to Juniper Research Ltd., but some Canadian analysts say the impact will be dampened by increased data usage and new sources of revenue, including uptake in Internet...
Telus Corp. can’t charge Shaw Communications Inc. or any other telecom for access to its service entrance conduit, the CRTC said in a decision Friday. It said that if Telus...
A report prepared for the Privy Council Office found Canadians were generally in favour of increasing contributions to Canadian content, but don’t believe those increases should be passed down...
As Shaw Communications Inc. released its first quarterly earnings report since rebranding its wireless segment to Freedom Mobile, CEO Brad Shaw said the company is looking to have a double-digit number of handsets available by mid-year, after some analysts pegged the company’s small handset roster as a potential limiting factor to its appeal. “I think when you look at the new network, one of the key things is handsets and handset availability,” Shaw said on a conference call with media Thursday. “Right now there are a couple handsets —I think...
A branch of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it had concerns with the differential pricing practices used by Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. as it...
MONTREAL — Moves by Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. into the Canadian data centre business won’t compete directly with Cogeco Inc., which is changing its data...
The union representing members of the television and media sectors is asking the CRTC to reverse or suspend its decision banning simultaneous substitution for the Super Bowl in order for its impact to be fully considered. In...
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, will provide “his expertise and insight” to president-elect Donald Trump on private sector cyber-security issues, the transition team...
Shaw Communications Inc. has made its IPTV service, called BlueSky, available in Calgary, and plans to launch it in additional markets “in the coming months.” The IPTV service runs the same X1 platform from Comcast Corp. that Rogers Communications...
There are still many unknowns as wireless carriers move to 5G networks in the coming years, including questions about how much companies will charge for service, though prices have the potential to...
The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) has named Jay Thomson as its new CEO. Thomson, who is currently the vice-president of broadcasting policy and regulatory affairs for the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), will start effective Feb. 1, 2017, the CCSA said in a press...
Xplornet Communications Inc. has purchased “all YourLink Internet services operations in Saskatchewan” from Vecima Networks Inc., the satellite Internet service provider (ISP) said Monday. YourLink offers...
The CRTC issued a call for comments Monday on its two-month-old decision to force telecoms to implement measures to reduce caller ID spoofing and offer services to manage nuisance calls. In November, the regulator ordered telecommunication service providers to implement new measures, following a public consultation that began a year earlier. The new rules require that “spoofed,” or hidden, phone numbers be blocked at the network level and subscribers be given the ability to opt into services that would manage those nuisance calls. The CRTC is now asking...
Last month, Amazon.com Inc. announced that its data centre business was expanding into Canada, a move that illustrates what some say is the need for more data points as an increasing amount...
What began more than three years ago as a $350-million claim of patent infringement against BCE Inc. devolved into a pale imitation of its former self and will lead to...
The Competition Bureau said Friday it has discontinued an investigation into whether Apple Inc. engaged in anticompetitive practices related to sales of its iPhone. The bureau was looking at “contractual...
A group representing American telecom companies has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reconsider the broadband privacy rules the United States regulator imposed last year. When passed, the FCC said...
A former chairman of the CRTC is backing the concept of levying a new tax on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as the heritage minister mulls ways to rejig the country’s cultural institutions. In a memo published Thursday for the C.D. Howe Institute, in which he serves as a senior fellow, Konrad von Finckenstein argued that current legislation used to regulate communications won’t work in the broadband age and that “subsidization and promotion of Canadian content is the only meaningful way for government to support Canadian content.” Von Finkenstein, who led...
The initial pinch of the CRTC’s decisions on two important issues in 2016 — wholesale rates and pick-and-pay — will be felt in the new year, according to Canaccord...
Canada is in a good position to be an “early mover” of Internet of Things (IoT) adoption, but it’s still falling behind in key areas required for forward momentum, according to a new...
AT&T Inc. will test how to use 5G technology to deliver its DirecTV Now streaming service to customers. “In the first half of 2017, we plan to conduct a trial in Austin where residential customers can stream...
Shaw Communications Inc. can’t claim paper bills sent to its British Columbian customers as a tax-exempt expense, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled last month. In a decision handed down Dec. 19, judge Miriam Gropper...
Ottawa’s National Capital Freenet (NCF), a not-for-profit Internet Service Provider (ISP), has launched a $25-per-month unlimited bandwidth Internet plan for tenants of the city’s largest...
Canadian law enforcement and government agencies made over one thousand requests for customer information to Facebook Inc. in the first six months of 2016, four times more than the...
BCE Inc. has dropped its second lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against a small Internet protocol TV (IPTV) provider, following changes the company made to its service. Bell Media launched the action against Zazeen Inc. in November, alleging that the company was...
The number of Canadians surprised by the extra charges on their monthly wireless bills continues to decline, according to the latest CRTC-commissioned study on the efficacy of the Wireless Code. In a...
Iristel Inc. is asking the CRTC to “go beyond the ‘same old players’ to companies committed to competition and enhanced services for Canadians” when it comes to providing funding as part of its new $750-million program to improve Internet service in Canada. Announced as part of the commission’s basic service decision in late December, the fund will be focused on improving both wireline and wireless service in underserved communities. In a Dec. 22 press release, Iristel president Samer Bishay said that “it is critically important that the...
BCE Inc. is asking the federal government to use part of the proceeds from its upcoming 600 MHz spectrum auction for a revenue fund to support local television. In a submission filed in response to...
GATINEAU, Que. — Advocates are calling the CRTC’s new basic service requirements — which include a minimum of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds and LTE coverage —...
Despite having less than two months until the Feb. 5 kick off at the 51st Super Bowl, BCE Inc. has yet to start the process with the courts to put a stop to a decision prohibiting...
A panel of Ontario Divisional Court judges has dismissed an application from a group of telecom companies disputing the Ontario Energy Board’s handling of setting new rates for attaching communications equipment to hydro...
The government should consult industry, privacy experts and Canadians on the use of IMSI catchers in Canada, Rogers Communications Inc. said in its submission to the federal government’s national security review. Rogers said the use of IMSI catchers, also known as stingrays, is not currently detectable on a wireless network and can interfere with customers’ communications. “This is particularly concerning when considering possible interference with access to emergency and 9-1-1 services,” the company wrote in a document submitted as part of the review...
TekSavvy Solutions Inc. is lowering its Internet prices next month, and asking its customers to help press for the continuation of interim wholesale access rates. Using the hashtag...
The CRTC has granted approval for Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. to transfer its broadcast distribution licences to BCE Inc. as part of an overall $3.9-billion acquisition of the provincial provider. In a...
Meant to work in concert with the federal program detailed last week, Quebec announced its own $100-million rural broadband program would be opening to applications next month. In a French press release Monday, Dominique...
The “worst case scenario” for incumbent telecom companies when the CRTC releases its decision on the basic service proceeding it held this spring will be if the commission “decides...
BlackBerry Ltd. has opened a centre focusing on connected cars within its existing Ottawa facilities. The company said in a press release Monday that the BlackBerry QNX Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Centre would “accelerate the realization of connected and self-driving vehicles by developing...
Rogers Communications Inc. has made its Roam Like Home plan available to “most customers on a consumer plan,” the company said Monday. The service allows customers to use the data bucket and voice...
Yahoo Inc. is facing a potential class-action lawsuit in Canada following security breaches, the most-recent of which was revealed last week, involving more than one billion user accounts. A notice of claim filed Dec....
One of two new satellites on which Xplornet Communications Inc. has purchased capacity has launched successfully, the company said in a press release Monday. The EchoStar XIX is the “highest capacity broadband satellite...
Mitel Networks Corp. said Monday it is getting out of the mobile business, selling its mobile division for $350 million. In a press release, the Ottawa-based telecommunications company said it was off-loading its mobile division to Xura Inc.’s parent company, a holding firm called Sierra Private Investments L.P. Mitel purchased mobile software provider Mavenir in 2015. According to the release, Xura “offers a portfolio of digital services solutions that enable global communications across a variety of mobile devices and platforms.” “Today’s announcement reflects a strategic decision made during Mitel’s recent annual business review to refocus the company exclusively on the Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) market as digital transformation accelerates demand for...
There isn’t much disagreement between some of the country’s biggest media and telecom service providers over whether foreign entities, such as over-the-top providers like Netflix...
BCE Inc. has signed on to test a platform developed by AT&T Inc. that would allow it to carry more, and better manage, traffic on its network. The software — called...
Two MPs are asking the CRTC to reverse its decision on simultaneous substitution for the National Football League's (NFL) Super Bowl, a week after four United States congressmen demanded the same,...
Rogers Communications Inc. has abandoned the development of its own IPTV platform and will instead launch an IPTV service using a platform from Comcast Corp., a plan analysts...
The government should ensure that any changes to powers granted to law enforcement should not undermine the innovation economy and the privacy of Canadians, the association representing the information and communications technology industry argued in a submission Thursday to the government’s national security consultation. A background document used for the consultation by Public Safety Canada, which ends Thursday, highlighted issues for investigators, including...
WAKEFIELD, Que. — The federal government’s new rural broadband program will focus on making high-speed connections, as opposed to simply forging Internet connections for rural and remote...
The anglophone generation that is in, or nearing, retirement is consuming more traditional TV than their younger counterparts, as less than a tenth of boomers has cut the cord, according to the latest MTM report...
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler is leaving his post as head of the United States regulator on Jan. 20, 2017. Wheeler said in a written statement Thursday that serving as chairman...
BCE Inc. has named Rob Farina head of iHeartRadio, syndication and strategic initiatives at Bell Media Radio. Farina was previously brought in by the company to help advise on the launch of iHeartMedia Inc.'s free...
Yahoo Inc. has found a new security breach that has compromised more than one billion user accounts, a figure that is double the breach it discovered only a couple of months ago, according to...
A House of Commons committee has recommended that if changes to the tax structure for telecom expenses are implemented in next year’s budget, they be tied to rural broadband investment. In a report tabled in Parliament Dec....
Investel Capital Corp.’s TNW Networks Corp. (TNW) will soon start deploying a Wi-Fi-based mobile technology as part of a nationally available wireless service that the company is claiming will be...
Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Prime Video has entered the Canadian market, as part of a worldwide launch for the streaming service, the company announced in a press release Wednesday. The...
Canadians are “generally satisfied” with the speed of their home Internet service, according to a new report from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). “More than 80 per cent of those surveyed said they’re satisfied, although just 34 per cent claim to be very satisfied,” the annual CIRA Internet Factbook report, released Tuesday, said. When asked about the Internet bandwidth included in their home package, 78 per cent of respondents said they are satisfied, with half being “very satisfied.” Less than 10 per cent were dissatisfied,...
Iristel Inc. has responded to a Part 1 application by Rogers Communications Inc. accusing it of “traffic stimulation,” stating that “the entire factual basis for...
A group of parliamentarians has suggested that the future of the country’s postal service may lie with its entrance into the world of telecommunications. On Tuesday, the House of Commons...
Zazeen Inc. is facing legal action from BCE Inc. over its Internet protocol TV (IPTV) service, with the incumbent calling the small provider’s service copyright infringement. In...
The Radio Advisory Board of Canada (RABC) says broadcasters should be compensated for the cost of changing channels due to the repurposing of 600 MHz spectrum for wireless use. In a reply filed in response to...
The 600 MHz spectrum auction in the United States has again been delayed after bidders failed to meet minimum prices for spectrum, and Canada could see similar problems in its own upcoming auction, Desjardins Capital Markets analyst Maher Yaghi said in a note Friday. “The [Federal Communications Commission] will thus have to go back to TV channels for a fourth time in order to set new prices for spectrum,” Yaghi wrote. “Our view is that there could be similar hurdles in...
Canadians are broadly in support of making domestic film and TV productions successful internationally and being provided the funding to do so, but don’t share a consensus on where that money...
The CRTC has suspended a Part 1 application by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) asking the commission to declare as unconstitutional a Quebec law that would force providers to block certain online gambling...
Amazon.com Inc. has expanded its data centre services into Canada with the introduction of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Montreal. It is the first AWS in Canada, joining four other regions in North America (in Northern Virginia,...
BCE Inc. is asking the CRTC to hold off on requiring the company to build new infrastructure as part of the regulator’s new disaggregated wholesale wireline regime, something small Internet...
Investel Capital Corp., the investment fund that owns Téliphone Navigata Westel Communications Inc. (TNW), has acquired RuralCom Capital Corp., which it said is a “significant...
Shaw Communications Inc. is allowing customers of its Freedom Mobile to connect to its network of Wi-Fi hotspots. Freedom Mobile subscribers will have access to more than 65,000 hot spots in Western Canada, Shaw said in a...
The CRTC is making changes, including trimming roles and services at its regional offices for what it’s calling a “digital first” initiative, according to an emailed memo circulated by the regulator. On...
OTTAWA — The federal government hasn’t made its case for why law enforcement and intelligence agencies need stronger powers to intercept, decrypt and share citizens’ information, the...
OTTAWA — Canada’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday on whether a court in Canada can order a worldwide ban on websites appearing on Alphabet Inc.’s Google search engine, with counsel for Google arguing that such a ban would infringe on its free expression rights to rank its search results and devalue the quality of its search results. The case involves Equustek Solutions Inc., the plaintiff in a case that alleges its former distributors, Datalink Technologies Gateways Inc., have been designing and selling counterfeit versions of their...
A branch of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is engaging in a “wild goose chase” by investigating a pair of companies’ zero-rating offers, according to one commissioner....
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has clarified its rules around whether telecom companies have to tell customers if they have disclosed their personal information to other parties. The...
Heavy handset promotions during Black Friday and Cyber Monday last month hint at a December that is shaping up to be “hyper competitive” for the wireless market,...
The pick-and-pay options launched by Canada’s TV providers last week aren’t likely to appeal to either current subscribers or those without traditional TV service, according RBC Capital...
OTTAWA — Canada is involved in international discussions about how to address the issue of foreign digital vendors not being subject to domestic sales tax, a parliamentary committee learned Thursday, as it prodded at a long-standing question of whether American companies such as Netflix Inc. are benefiting to the disadvantage of Canadian media companies. “The challenges related to the proper collection of sales tax on digital supplies by foreign-based vendors are not unique to Canada. It’s a difficult issue for all jurisdictions with a sales tax,” Sean...
As the CRTC’s rules requiring all TV providers to allow customers to sign up for channels individually came into effect Thursday, the regulator emphasized that consumers have to take...
GATINEAU, Que. — The question of whether news stations owned by vertically-integrated (VI) companies need safeguards for journalistic independence came up at the CRTC’s...
The CRTC is collecting feedback on Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc.’s plan to transform into a privately held company. In a notice of consultation posted to its website Wednesday, the commission said it...
Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan won’t pursue a second challenge regarding the ability of the CRTC chairman to name panels, after a judge dismissed a similar application last month....
Telus Corp. has named Shane Sabatino as president of Telus sourcing solutions, its division focusing on “fully integrated human resources, payroll, wellness and employee contact centre technology” products. ...
OTTAWA — Canadians need to see the value of, and get behind, 5G technologies before politicians can be persuaded to take action on helping launch the technology on a broad scale, a...
Glen LeBlanc, BCE Inc.’s executive vice-president and chief financial officer, told an investor’s conference hosted by RBC Tuesday that the company is on track to have its...
GATINEAU, Que. — BCE Inc. has to take both offensive and defensive positions when facing off against international competitors, the company told the CRTC Tuesday, as it took its...
CBC/Radio-Canada is asking the federal government for an increase in its funding so that it can eliminate advertising on its platforms. In a submission made as part of a government review of Canadian content in a digital age, CBC asked for an increase of $12 per person in funding, to $46. “This would enable CBC/Radio-Canada to remove advertising from its services, complete its transformation, and strengthen Canada's creative economy,” the public broadcaster said in a press release Monday, noting that figure is “still well below comparable public...
