Frédéric Boulanger new ITAC chairman

telecom | 07/15/2016 5:36 pm EDT

The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) said in a press release Friday that Macadamian Technologies president Frédéric Boulanger will be its new chairman of the board, replacing Softchoice president and CEO David MacDonald. “As ITAC’s Chair, Fred will continue to set...

Toronto to explore 911 texting

telecom | 07/15/2016 4:41 pm EDT

The city of Toronto will be asking its police force to look into the possibility of accepting emergency 911 text messages. Toronto’s city council voted Thursday afternoon in favour of the motion brought forward by...

FCC opens up spectrum for 5G

telecom | 07/15/2016 3:46 pm EDT

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has opened up 10.85 GHz of spectrum for the next generation of wireless networks, or 5G, the United States regulator said Thursday. That includes 3.85 GHz of licenced spectrum and...

CCTS singles out Axsit refund breach, again

telecom | 07/14/2016 8:07 pm EDT

The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) has issued a second press release in as many weeks regarding Axsit Corp.’s failure to refund a customer. On July 5, CCTS said in a...

Complaints, bill shock fell after Wireless Code: study

telecom | 07/14/2016 3:22 pm EDT

The Wireless Code has proved effective in the two years since its implementation, suggest the results of a CRTC-commissioned study, which reported a decline in wireless complaints as well as incidences of “bill shock.” In the report, produced at the end of March, market research company TNS Canada outlined the results of a more-than $48,500 contract to “determine how consumers understand their wireless service contracts and their related rights and how that has changed over time.” Among the findings was that in 2016, fewer complaints were logged with wireless service...

Michael Garbe new head of CNOC

telecom | 07/13/2016 4:35 pm EDT

Michael Garbe is taking over as chairman and CEO of the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC), while former president and chairman Bill Sandiford and former treasurer Kevin Blumberg will stay with the organization in...

Telecoms’ TV revenues declined last year: CRTC

Media | 07/12/2016 9:01 pm EDT

The television distribution revenues reported by Canada’s telecommunications companies have fallen for the first time in a decade, driven by a decline in satellite subscribers. Numbers released by the...

Infrastructure, spectrum among obstacles for connected cars

telecom | 07/12/2016 8:41 pm EDT

Traffic on the Internet of Things (IoT) is forecast to skyrocket over the coming years, and though vehicles will be part of that network, there are still a number of challenges, including...

Telus boosting Montreal FTTP network

telecom | 07/12/2016 7:25 pm EDT

Telus Corp. said it is investing $111 million in infrastructure in the greater Montreal area to expand its fibre-to-the-premise network to more than 4,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable by the end of the year. “Our...

Joly, Vennard respond to Shoan appeal, allegations of bias

telecom | 07/11/2016 7:51 pm EDT

A CRTC commissioner is refuting allegations of inappropriate conduct and racism levied by a former colleague, Raj Shoan, the recently fired representative for Ontario. Included in documents filed...

Quebec online gambling law unconstitutional: PIAC

telecom | 07/11/2016 6:41 pm EDT

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is asking the CRTC to deem as unconstitutional a Quebec law compelling Internet service providers (ISPs) to block certain online gambling websites. In a new Part 1 application...

CRTC allows less CanCon for unprofitable radio station

telecom | 07/08/2016 8:35 pm EDT

The CRTC has approved a transfer of ownership for CKJN-FM in Haldimand County, Ont. from Vista Radio Ltd. to Durham Radio Inc. In a decision Friday, it also said it approved...

Impact of Alberta fires on Shaw, Telus $5M-$10M: Barclays

telecom | 07/08/2016 5:50 pm EDT

Barclays analyst Phillip Huang said in a research note Friday that he estimates Shaw Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. lost about one month of cable revenues as a result of...

Cogeco reports higher revenues, takes a hit from Peer 1

telecom | 07/07/2016 9:20 pm EDT

Cogeco Inc. reported higher overall revenues for the third quarter, but a write-down on its Peer 1 business pulled on the reins. The Montreal-based company reported its earnings for Q3, which ended May 31, on Wednesday. Revenue increased by $16.2 million, or 2.9 per cent for the quarter, to $570 million, compared to $247 million in Q3 2015. It attributed the gain to a combination of  “improvement of its American broadband services operations” in its communications division and favourable exchange rates as compared to the same period last year. It also said it...

Rogers launches new cloud storage service

telecom | 07/07/2016 8:01 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. has introduced a new data cloud storage service for businesses, the company said in a press release Thursday. The Rogers Public Cloud “gives customers access to computing and storage space in...

Lindsay Gibson joins TextNow as COO

telecom | 07/07/2016 7:42 pm EDT

Waterloo, Ont.-based TextNow announced Thursday former BlackBerry Inc. executive Lindsay Gibson was joining the company as chief operating officer. The company, which provides WiFi-based wireless...

Bell, MTS promote investment ahead of acquisition approval

telecom | 07/07/2016 7:03 pm EDT

BCE Inc. and Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. announced another feature of their proposed merger Thursday morning in Manitoba. As part of the promised $1 billion investment...

CCSA sued for wrongful dismissal after Townsend departure

telecom | 07/07/2016 6:05 pm EDT

The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) is facing a lawsuit from former president and CEO Alyson Townsend, who is accusing the organization of wrongful dismissal. In a statement of claim filed in...

CNOC asks CRTC to refuse ‘very high’ wholesale rate increases

telecom | 07/07/2016 5:46 pm EDT

Small Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are asking the CRTC not to approve wholesale rates proposed by large telecoms, given that many of them “are subject to very high and unjustifiable increases relative to interim and final rates currently in force.” The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) said in a letter to the commission that though “CNOC is still in the very early stages of review, it is readily apparent that there are serious problems with the wholesale...

Ice Wireless can continue to roam until final decision

telecom | 07/07/2016 4:43 pm EDT

Sugar Mobile, an affiliate of Iristel Inc.-subsidiary Ice Wireless, can continue roaming on Rogers Communications Inc.’s network while the CRTC considers its final decision in a...

Coalition asks for $484K in basic service proceeding

telecom | 07/06/2016 8:36 pm EDT

The Affordable Access Coalition, whose members include the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), is asking the CRTC to reimburse it $484,123 for participating in the basic telecom services hearing. The other members of the...

Rogers dropping Cuba from Roam Like Home service

telecom | 07/06/2016 5:28 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. is eliminating Cuba as a destination for its Roam Like Home service starting July 12. Andrew Garas, Rogers’ manager of media relations, said in an email Wednesday that the...

NextRadio expands into Canada

telecom | 07/06/2016 3:31 pm EDT

NextRadio LLC is bringing its FM radio app across the border into Canada. The Indianapolis-based company said in a press release Wednesday that its app has been live in the Google Play store since the beginning of the...

Shoan appeals dismissal from CRTC post

telecom | 07/06/2016 2:06 pm EDT

Fired CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is asking the Federal Court to “urgently” intervene in the order-in-council issued last month that ended his appointment with the regulator. On Tuesday, lawyers for Shoan filed a...

Wind faces short-term turbulence, long-term opportunity: Canaccord

telecom | 07/05/2016 9:07 pm EDT

Canaccord Genuity analyst Aravinda Galappatthige said in a research note Tuesday that Shaw Communications Inc.’s Wind faces “volatility and uncertainty over the short run,” though it also has a “genuine and sizable long-term opportunity.” However, in notes issued ahead of...

Tech-product tariffs scrapped under new WTO agreement

telecom | 07/05/2016 7:32 pm EDT

Tariffs on 201 tech- and information-related products are on their way to being eliminated as the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) expanded Information Technology Agreement came into force on Canada Day, the federal international trade minister announced Monday. The agreement “will benefit Canadian exporters of many products, including...

SaskTel phasing out CDMA network next summer

telecom | 07/05/2016 7:27 pm EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Tuesday that its Code division multiple access (CDMA) network is entering its last year. In a press release, SaskTel said CDMA-reliant devices would no longer...

Public WiFi users take risks with personal info: Norton

telecom | 07/05/2016 3:38 pm EDT

Canadians are some of the heaviest users of public WiFi, according to a new study by Symantec Corp.’s Norton, which also suggests that most public WiFi users “exhibit risky public WiFi behaviours.” According to results published June 28 in Norton’s WiFi Risk Report, 89 per cent of Canadian respondents indicate they use public connections, trailing 93 per cent of Brazilians and 97 per cent of Mexicans. The report was released in conjunction with a new Norton virtual private network (VPN) app for Android and iOS devices. More than four-fifths of international...

CCTS calls out small telecom for not refunding customer

telecom | 07/05/2016 3:27 pm EDT

The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) has issued a press release reminding a small Ontario voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) provider that it must abide by its...

More set-top box providers added to legal action

Media | 07/05/2016 2:57 pm EDT

Eleven more set-top box retailers will have to make their case to the Federal Court after being named as defendants in a legal fight against set-top boxes that can be used to circumvent paid TV subscriptions. On June 20, lawyers...

Public safety roaming rules cleared up

telecom | 07/04/2016 7:01 pm EDT

Canadian and U.S. regulators have clarified the rules regarding cross-border radio roaming for public safety agencies. A statement of intent between Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated rules of a 1952 agreement that allows “certain cross-border communications by mobile...

SaskTel flipping switch on FTTH in Weyburn

telecom | 07/04/2016 6:53 pm EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. said Monday is ready to start connecting customers to its InfiNet fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Weyburn. Some residential areas of the city, located south of...

Facebook, AT&T defend differential pricing in CRTC review

Media | 06/30/2016 8:23 pm EDT

Facebook Inc. and AT&T Inc. have waded into the CRTC’s review of differential pricing practices, arguing that the commission should allow carriers to offer zero-rated services and sponsored data. In its intervention, Facebook argued that “it is axiomatic that well-functioning services offering popular consumer benefits should not be restricted without concrete proof of harm. There is no justification to impose a ban on differential pricing practices because there is no concrete evidence of harm.” The company said that it’s not inconsistent to...

AT&T closes Quickplay deal

telecom | 06/30/2016 8:13 pm EDT

AT&T Inc. has finalized a deal to purchase a Canadian video-streaming platform, the company announced Tuesday. The American telecommunications company announced in May its intention to purchase...

Sirius fined for bad telemarketing

telecom | 06/30/2016 7:45 pm EDT

Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. had to cough up $650,000 after being investigated by the CRTC for breaking telemarketing rules, the regulator said Wednesday. “Further to an investigation, the CRTC’s Chief...

First round of 600 MHz auction wraps up in U.S.

telecom | 06/30/2016 7:22 pm EDT

The first round of an auction in the United States to convert spectrum in the 600 MHz band from TV to wireless use has wrapped up, setting a price of $86.4 billion for 126 MHz of the frequency, the Federal Communications...

Cyber security consultation to be ‘launched shortly’: ISED

telecom | 06/30/2016 5:34 pm EDT

The federal government will be moving forward with another consultation in the coming months, this time as it prepares to review cyber security measures. A briefing note prepared in advance of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Minister Navdeep Bains' spring meeting with BlackBerry Ltd.’s...

Rogers encouraging travellers to roam with their phones

telecom | 06/29/2016 9:59 pm EDT

The vast majority of Canadian travellers take their smartphones with them when they go on summer vacation, a survey by Rogers Communication Inc. suggests, as the company pushes its roaming...

Advocacy groups take aim at data caps in zero-rating review

Media | 06/29/2016 6:45 pm EDT

Questions around telecoms’ usage of data caps should be at the centre of the CRTC’s proceeding on differential pricing practices, advocacy groups said in interventions, calling for the...

Localized cell signal jamming possible during presidential visits

telecom | 06/29/2016 6:42 pm EDT

A short, localized disruption of wireless service for those next to the presidential motorcade may not have been out of the question Wednesday, when U.S. president Barack Obama visted Ottawa for...

CCTS awareness low: survey

telecom | 06/29/2016 6:11 pm EDT

Awareness of the country’s telecommunications ombudsman is on par with other ombudsman agencies around the world, according to the results of a new survey by the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS). Published Wednesday, the CCTS’ first public...

CRTC rejects wholesale wireline policy review

telecom | 06/29/2016 5:49 pm EDT

The CRTC has denied three applications to review recent decisions relating to competitor access to infrastructure, according to notices posted on the regulator’s website on Wednesday. BCE Inc. had applied for review of last year’s wholesale high-speed access policy stemming from a review of wholesale wireline services because it said the CRTC erred in linking the introduction of “disaggregated wholesale HSA services to additional investment in alternate transport facilities.” The CRTC said Bell wanted the policy modified so that disaggregated wholesale HSA services are only available to competitors that have their own transport facility and where the competitor is also the provider to the end user (i.e. no resellers). Bell was also asking for...

Bell, MTS receive court approval for takeover

telecom | 06/29/2016 5:49 pm EDT

BCE Inc. and Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. have cleared yet another hurdle in their quest to combine, as the deal has now received court approval from the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, according to...

Videotron to begin offering gigabit service

telecom | 06/29/2016 3:31 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron said it will begin offering Internet download speeds of up to 940 Mbps to consumers and business costumers on July 13. The company said the roll out of its Hybrid Fibre Giga service, which...

Telecom, media ‘safe haven’ after Brexit: Barclays

Media | 06/28/2016 9:46 pm EDT

Minimal exposure to the United Kingdom and Europe will leave the Canadian telecom and media industries relatively unscathed following the U.K.’s vote to exit the European Union last week,...

CanCon review panel announcement draws mixed reaction

Media | 06/28/2016 9:19 pm EDT

Heritage Canada’s announcement of an expert advisory panel for its review of Canadian content in a digital age, which includes representatives from a number of broadcasters, was met with both praise and...

Bains in favour of ‘private sector leadership’ on Internet governance

telecom | 06/27/2016 6:06 pm EDT

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains told international counterparts at the OECD’s 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting that Canada “supports private sector leadership in the governance of the Internet, which has allowed it to develop into a powerful technology,” according to a press release. Bains was in Cancun, Mexico, last week for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development meeting, at which ministers from 41 countries and the...

Shoan out as CRTC commissioner, appealing dismissal

telecom | 06/24/2016 8:08 pm EDT

In a “highly unusual” move, Raj Shoan, the CRTC commissioner representing Ontario, was removed from his post by the federal government on Friday, capping off a 14-month period of legal strife between Shoan and the...

OECD members commit to new digital initiatives

telecom | 06/24/2016 4:02 pm EDT

Ministers from 41 countries and the EU have committed to upholding certain initiatives to adjust to the new realities of a digital economy. Members at the OECD’s 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting held in Cancun,...

Intellectual property legislative changes cheered

telecom | 06/23/2016 9:00 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Changes to the country’s patent and trademark legislation will make it easier for Canadian companies to operate on a global stage, the head of an intellectual property professional organization...

Telus allowed to dismantle radio-phone service in B.C.

telecom | 06/23/2016 7:57 pm EDT

The CRTC has given Telus Corp. permission to get rid of its radio-phone service in British Columbia. Radio-phone service is used in remote areas without landlines, the CRTC noted in its...

Shaw launches security service for small businesses

telecom | 06/23/2016 7:16 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. is now offering a network security service aimed at small and medium businesses. The company said in a press release Wednesday the SmartSecurity service will give businesses “the ability...

‘Separate silo’ approach to regulation wrong-footed in Internet age: report

telecom | 06/23/2016 7:08 pm EDT

Adjusting the existing legislation governing the telecommunications and broadcasting industries and putting more power in the hands of the CRTC could help address issues in Canada’s concentrated...

MTS shareholders back Bell acquisition

telecom | 06/23/2016 4:25 pm EDT

The shareholders of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. have nearly unanimously approved its acquisition by BCE Inc. Of the just over 43 million votes cast, 99.66 per cent were in favour of the acquisition, according to...

Vice, V Media to launch French version of Viceland

telecom | 06/23/2016 4:17 pm EDT

Vice Media Inc. has teamed up with Groupe V Média Inc. to launch the Viceland TV channel in French Canada, the companies said in a Wednesday press release. The deal includes “the creation of a television...

Mobile ads, music streaming to be a force in 2020: PwC

Media | 06/22/2016 9:31 pm EDT

Mobile advertising revenue and music streaming activity will see dramatic increases over the next four years, as technological innovation takes hold over traditional methods of media consumption, according to a new report from PWC. The Global Entertainment and Media Outlook, released Monday, surveyed the Canadian market in several categories, including Internet and television advertisements, music and radio. And while there are increases in consumption and revenue forecast for several categories, some of the largest increases will be seen in mobile ads and music streaming in 2020. “The...

Netflix hold on network traffic shrinks, but remains dominant: report

Media | 06/22/2016 8:58 pm EDT

Netflix Inc.’s over-the-top (OTT) service continued to lead peak period network traffic, but the percentage of traffic has declined since late 2015, according to a new Global Internet Phenomena...

Impartiality, authority of CRTC chairman called into question in harassment review hearing

Media | 06/21/2016 11:19 pm EDT

TORONTO — A reasonable person could make the link between the comments that CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais made as a witness during a harassment investigation...

Axia looks south for fibre expansion

telecom | 06/21/2016 5:36 pm EDT

Axia NetMedia Corp. said it is looking to see if there is enough interest in the United States to extend its fibre network south. The Calgary-based company said in a Monday press release that it’s gathering...

SaskTel expands LTE network to reach nearly all residents

telecom | 06/21/2016 4:23 pm EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. is injecting $11.8 million to expand its LTE wireless network to include “nearly everyone in Saskatchewan.” “We anticipate that...

Bell mobile-TV appeal dismissed

Media | 06/20/2016 11:43 pm EDT

The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the CRTC’s ban on BCE Inc.’s zero-rated mobile-TV plans, a year and a half after the commission ruled the company couldn’t exempt the service from data caps. In a decision issued Monday, the court dismissed Bell’s attempt to have the ban overturned. The 2015 CRTC decision stated that both mobile-TV offerings from both Bell and Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron could not be exempted from data charges. Bell launched a court appeal of that decision in February 2015. In the reasons for decision, Judge Wyman Webb agreed that based on the purpose of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts, “Bell Mobility was not acting as a ‘broadcasting undertaking’ in transmitting its mobile TV services as part of its entire bundle of voice, data and...

Wireless providers obligated to meet 911 standard: CRTC

telecom | 06/20/2016 9:09 pm EDT

All wireless service providers must provide the same basic level of 911 service, the CRTC said Monday. In a policy decision posted to its website, the regulator set out new rules stating that...

Companies seeking injunction for Bell’s IPTV technology

telecom | 06/20/2016 9:08 pm EDT

Whether a patent encompasses technology used by BCE Inc.’s IPTV service will be a central issue as a patent case two-plus years in the making gets its date in court Tuesday....

Bell-MTS deal could pose regulatory risk for SaskTel: report

telecom | 06/20/2016 8:43 pm EDT

The biggest risk to Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. in the wake of BCE Inc.’s proposed $3.9-billion takeover of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. is the...

ISED puts hold on licensing non-geostationary satellite spectrum

telecom | 06/16/2016 7:52 pm EDT

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada has put a moratorium on the licensing of satellite spectrum used by commercial non-geostationary satellites. It said in a notice on its...

SCC decision backs Rogers, federal jurisdiction in telecom

telecom | 06/16/2016 5:39 pm EDT

A nearly nine-year spat between Rogers Communications Inc. and a Quebec municipality over the location of a wireless tower came to an end Thursday, with the Supreme Court of Canada handing the company...

Stingray Digital buys 4K TV channel

Media | 06/16/2016 5:24 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. said Wednesday that it has acquired the Festival 4K television channel, which broadcasts live performances, including festivals, concerts and theatre productions, according to the press...

Broadcast licence renewal hearing set for November

telecom | 06/16/2016 3:56 pm EDT

The CRTC said Wednesday it will hold a public hearing to renew broadcast licences held by large ownership groups, including Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc., Corus Entertainment...

Club Illico announces 4K production

Media | 06/15/2016 4:56 pm EDT

Another Canadian company is joining the ultra-high-definition field, with Quebecor Inc. announcing its media division was producing its first 4K show. Videotron’s over-the-top (OTT) service Club Illico said in...

Bernard Lord leaving CWTA

telecom | 06/15/2016 4:41 pm EDT

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) will be looking for a new president and CEO following the departure of Bernard Lord. As of Sept. 1, Lord, who has helmed the CWTA since the fall of 2008, will take on a new position as CEO of Medavie, the health company said in a Wednesday press release. “I am looking forward to leading a dynamic national company with roots in Atlantic Canada and immense potential to improve health care delivery,” Lord said in the release, which noted the new CEO will be based at the Medavie corporate office in Moncton, N.B. Lord previously served on Medavie’s board of directors for eight years and was selected as the new CEO following a national search to replace the outgoing Pierre-Yves Julien, the release said. The former premier of New Brunswick “will be...

Vancouver police should be transparent about stingrays: privacy advocates

telecom | 06/15/2016 4:22 pm EDT

A group of privacy and police accountability organizations is asking the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to come clean about the use of stingrays after new information revealed the RCMP has been...

Wall prefers SaskTel sale over public offering: report

telecom | 06/15/2016 4:04 pm EDT

Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall told reporters he would rather sell Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. than take the company public and sell shares on the open market, Bloomberg...

CCSA president Alyson Townsend leaves post

telecom | 06/15/2016 3:26 pm EDT

Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) president and CEO Alyson Townsend has left the organization, vice-president of corporate and regulatory Chris Edwards confirmed Wednesday. Jenny Bosien, CCSA’s finance director,...

Tax, content requirements for foreign OTT not included in Heritage review

Media | 06/14/2016 10:08 pm EDT

When Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly said “there will be no Netflix tax,” at the end of her department’s review of cultural institutions, that leaves both the taxation of...

CRTC partners with agencies in international effort to fight spam

telecom | 06/14/2016 10:06 pm EDT

The CRTC is partnering with 10 enforcement agencies from around the world to combat unlawful spam and unsolicited telecommunications. The regulator said in a press release Tuesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the agencies and will share information and intelligence regarding unsolicited communications. It is the latest push by the telecommunications regulator to combat spam after Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) came into effect July 1, 2014. Canada will...

Innovation Agenda consultation to include digital infrastructure

telecom | 06/14/2016 9:12 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Creating an environment where Canada can compete in the digital world is a “key priority” for the government as it develops its much-touted Innovation Agenda, which...

U.S. court upholds FCC net neutrality rules

telecom | 06/14/2016 4:28 pm EDT

A U.S. appeals court has denied an industry appeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules. The court issued a decision Tuesday in favour of a framework the FCC imposed last year,...

Pre-loaded set-top boxes piracy, BDUs say as court orders temporary ban

Media | 06/13/2016 8:25 pm EDT

A trio of major telecom companies have received their first victory in a legal fight against companies selling set-top boxes allowing users to illegally access copyrighted material. On June 1, a...

RCMP using ‘stingray’ tech for past decade: report

telecom | 06/10/2016 8:12 pm EDT

Newly released court documents suggest the RCMP have been using “stingray” surveillance technologies, or IMSI catchers, for at least 10 years, Motherboard and Vice News reported Friday....

ISPs should have to offer broadband to all, 71% of Canadians say

telecom | 06/10/2016 7:28 pm EDT

According to a new survey, 71 per cent of Canadians think the CRTC should force Internet service providers (ISPs) to build “the infrastructure necessary to ensure that every Canadian...

Telecom told it can’t name and shame subs with unpaid bills

telecom | 06/09/2016 8:25 pm EDT

The office of the privacy commissioner has forced a cable provider to censor the names of customers with overdue accounts it made public, according to an incident summary posted on its website...

Wearable adoption slow, app use declining: study

telecom | 06/09/2016 6:53 pm EDT

The adoption of wearable devices is sluggish in Canada, with only 10 per cent of Canadians indicating they own one, suggest the results of a new Catalyst study. “While the advent of wearables, particularly the Apple Watch,...

Zero-rating hearing generational chance to end data caps: OpenMedia

telecom | 06/09/2016 5:21 pm EDT

Advocacy group OpenMedia is calling on the CRTC to end data caps, which it says are a result of a “broken telecom market,” ahead of a commission hearing on zero-rating. In a Tuesday press...

Privacy commish warns telecoms about transparency reporting, metadata

telecom | 06/09/2016 12:42 am EDT

TORONTO — Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told a telecom industry audience Wednesday that companies should be prudent about the collection and use of metadata, and cautioned companies that haven’t yet issued transparency reports that his office could push for legislation to force them to do so. “For those companies that have not yet produced such reports, we hope they will see the benefit of transparency and get on board,” Therrien said in a speech at the Canadian...

High-speed Internet project completed in NWT community

telecom | 06/08/2016 8:39 pm EDT

Broadband infrastructure improvements have been completed in the remote community of Nahanni Butte, N.W.T., the federal government said in a Wednesday press release. The project to replace a...

Shaw readies for network enhancements with price hike

telecom | 06/08/2016 7:48 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. will raise its rates starting Aug. 1, which will affect “select residential Internet, TV and phone plans,” the company said in a customer bulletin posted to its website....

Corus CFO Tom Peddie retiring, Telus’ John Gossling coming on

telecom | 06/08/2016 6:20 pm EDT

Tom Peddie, Corus Entertainment Inc.’s executive vice-president and chief financial officer, has announced his retirement, the company said Wednesday. Peddie’s retirement, which is effective at the end of August, comes after 17 years with the company. “Tom is a very talented finance executive and...

Videotron’s Brouillette asks Liberals to keep 4th player policy for 600 MHz

telecom | 06/08/2016 6:20 pm EDT

TORONTO — The Liberal government should continue the previous Conservative government’s push for more competition in the wireless market in the upcoming 600 MHz auction, Manon Brouillette,...

CRTC considers regulations after lost telephone service case

telecom | 06/08/2016 6:00 pm EDT

The CRTC said it might consider preventative regulations after a dispute involving two phone service providers resulted in lost telephone service for 27,000 Canadian phone number holders. On Jan. 15, Iristel Inc. disconnected service used by NetTalk.com Inc. customers following a dispute between the companies due to non-payment. Service was restored on Jan. 20 with the help of commission staff. A letter from Chris Seidl, executive director of telecommunications at the CRTC, said the commission is “still exploring whether regulations are required in order to address similar...

Proxy advisors, Manitoba gov’t back Bell-MTS deal

telecom | 06/08/2016 5:50 pm EDT

An independent proxy advisory company has backed the takeover of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. by BCE Inc., MTS said in a Tuesday press release. International Shareholder Services (ISS) is recommending...

Industry execs blast Quebec Internet-blocking, call for CRTC involvement

Media | 06/08/2016 12:29 am EDT

TORONTO — Executives from Canada’s telecom companies took aim at a new bill by the Quebec government that would force Internet service providers (ISPs) to block some gambling websites...

Cogeco Connexion brings FTTH to Laurentides

telecom | 06/08/2016 12:13 am EDT

Cogeco Inc. announced it is making a $1.4-million investment in the Laurentides region of Quebec to expand its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network. In a Monday press release, Cogeco Connexion said the expansion would...

Xplornet goes national with VoIP home phone service

telecom | 06/08/2016 12:09 am EDT

Xplornet Communications Inc. said Tuesday it was introducing a new national home phone service, using voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) to reach rural Canadians. The $20-per-month service is a...

MTS customers fear bill increases, unlimited data loss under Bell: poll

Media | 06/07/2016 6:48 pm EDT

Current Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. customers are concerned about the future of their bills if the proposed takeover by BCE Inc. is approved, suggest the results of a new poll...

Internet traffic in Canada to nearly triple by 2020: Cisco

telecom | 06/07/2016 6:47 pm EDT

Data released Tuesday by Cisco Systems Inc. shows Canadian Internet protocol (IP) traffic will double, and overall Internet traffic will nearly triple by 2020, aided by an increase in new...

Bell Media picks programmatic ad partner

Media | 06/07/2016 6:11 pm EDT

BCE Inc. has selected the New York-based Videology Inc. to provide software for its programmatic, or automated, TV and video advertising operation. According to the release, Videology’s technology will “look at...

Maskatel rolls out gigabit speed Internet in 3 Quebec towns

telecom | 06/07/2016 5:23 pm EDT

Groupe Maskatel LP announced Monday it was launching gigabit Internet in Saint-Guillaume and parts of Drummondville and Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., this summer. The three communities will...

Bernier calls for end of ‘control-freak’ CRTC’s role as telecom regulator

telecom | 06/07/2016 4:01 pm EDT

TORONTO — Conservative MP Maxime Bernier took aim at the CRTC and the previous government’s telecom and wireless policies Tuesday, calling for the commission to be phased out as a telecom regulator and the wireless sector to be opened to foreign competition. “As the industry evolves, the CRTC finds new reasons to continue to regulate it, in order to justify its existence. In doing so, the CRTC is not protecting consumers, it is only protecting its own power,” he said. In a speech at the Canadian Telecom Summit Tuesday, Bernier, who is currently running for leadership of the federal Conservative Party, said Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada could...