Videotron’s MAtv still violating licence conditions: complaint

Media | 11/17/2015 6:12 pm EST

A group that previously battled MAtv, the community channel operated by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, is telling the CRTC that MAtv is still violating the conditions of its licence months after a...

NHL’s Senators partner with Huawei

Media | 11/17/2015 5:08 pm EST

The National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators announced Tuesday it has partnered with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., making the Chinese equipment maker the club's "official smartphone supplier." Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, who was visiting Huawei's research-and-development facilities on Tuesday, said in a news release issued by the...

Wind adds 3rd domestic roaming partner

telecom | 11/17/2015 3:28 pm EST

Wind Mobile said Tuesday it has added "a third major roaming partner" in Canada. It did not disclose which company is the new partner, though given that Wind's operating territory is Ontario, Alberta and British...

Apple Pay launches in Canada

Media | 11/17/2015 2:56 pm EST

American Express Co. announced Tuesday that Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay is now available for its eligible customers and small businesses in Canada. American Express said that once customers add their American Express card to...

Cellular data to grow 10 times by 2021: Ericsson

telecom | 11/16/2015 7:10 pm EST

The amount of data flowing through cellular networks, both in North America and around the world, will increase almost 10 times over the next six years as growth in smartphone adoption continues and video consumption becomes more popular, according to reports released by Ericsson AB on Tuesday. Ericsson said global mobile data this year is expected to average 5.3 exabytes a month and rise to 51 EB by 2021, as it increases by an average of 45 per cent a year over that time. (One exabyte is equal to about one billion gigabytes.) The networking technology company said total traffic in Canada...

Jive Communications acquires Easy Office Phone

telecom | 11/16/2015 6:11 pm EST

Jive Communications Inc., a Utah-based VoIP service provider, announced Monday it has bought Easy Office Phone, a cloud-based phone service company located in Burlington, Ont. It said in a press release that Easy Office Phone has...

Facebook expands Free Basics

telecom | 11/16/2015 5:23 pm EST

Facebook Inc. said in a press release Monday that “more than 60 new services are available” on its Free Basics app in the 29 countries where citizens can access it. “Free Basics is now available to more than one...

Cogeco boosts speeds for some Internet plans

telecom | 11/16/2015 3:29 pm EST

Cogeco Cable Inc. has increased the speeds of some of its Internet plans, the company said in a press release Monday. “As of today, the new speeds will automatically and progressively be rolled out to current subscribers,...

Trudeau tells Bains to boost broadband coverage

Media | 11/13/2015 9:34 pm EST

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has directed Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains to increase “high-speed broadband coverage and work to support competition, choice and availability of...

Quebec introduces website-blocking legislation

telecom | 11/13/2015 4:32 pm EST

The Quebec government has introduced legislation that would require Internet service providers (ISPs) to block some online gambling websites. “The Société des loteries du Québec shall oversee the...

Selling spectrum outside Quebec ‘only option’: Quebecor

telecom | 11/12/2015 8:25 pm EST

Quebecor Inc.'s chief financial officer told an investors conference Thursday that selling the spectrum it holds outside Quebec is the only thing the company can do with it. During the Scotiabank Telecom & Cable Conference in Toronto, Jean-François Pruneau was asked about what appeared to be a change in...

FTTH to cover 90% of Bell footprint in 10 years: Cope

Media | 11/12/2015 8:10 pm EST

BCE Inc. will cover about 90 per cent of its wireline footprint with fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) in a little less or a little more than a decade, though the issue of whether smaller Internet service providers will get mandated access...

CRTC denies TFO’s must-offer application

Media | 11/12/2015 6:58 pm EST

The CRTC denied an application by Groupe Média TFO, Ontario’s French-language public broadcaster, for a must-offer order that would have required TV providers to offer its French-language educational TV service in English-language and French-language markets across the country. TFO had argued in its application that “maintaining and...

CRTC says Toronto IPTV provider can broadcast U.S. channels

telecom | 11/12/2015 4:48 pm EST

The CRTC granted Atop Broadband Corp., an IPTV provider serving most of the Greater Toronto Area, the authorization to carry WNLO-TV and WNYO-TV, based in Buffalo, N.Y. The regulator said in a decision Thursday that Atop requested carriage of the two channels in order “to remain competitive with other BDUs that offer these programming services.” The approval “is consistent” with other previous applications, it noted.  ...

Verizon launches $2 US daily roaming in Canada

telecom | 11/12/2015 3:52 pm EST

Verizon Communications Inc. said Thursday it has introduced a new roaming service plan for U.S. subscribers that allows them to use their existing talk, messaging and data plans in Canada and Mexico for an extra $2 US a day. It...

Liberals’ infrastructure plans could extend to telecom: lawyer

Media | 11/12/2015 1:44 am EST

TORONTO — The newly elected Liberal government has indicated infrastructure will be a priority, and that could include telecom infrastructure, said lawyer Chris Tacit during a panel...

Shoan tells radio operators to focus on smartphones

Media | 11/11/2015 8:22 pm EST

CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan told a group of broadcasting professionals this week that radio operators should look at how they can become a bigger presence on smartphones in order to hold their own against an increasing number of...

TVB appoints Kathy Gardner VP of media insights

Media | 11/11/2015 3:36 pm EST

The Television Bureau of Canada (TVB) announced Wednesday it has appointed Kathy Gardner to the newly created position of vice-president of media insights. TVB said in a press release that Gardner will oversee research and...

T-Mobile gives users unlimited video from select services

Media | 11/11/2015 3:29 pm EST

T-Mobile US Inc. announced Tuesday it will be launching a new service for its Simple Choice mobile plan customers that allows free video streaming from several services without it cutting into their LTE-data limits. It said in a press release that the new service, called Binge On, will allow users unlimited access to video from services such as Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, HBO Now, Sling TV, Starz and WatchESPN. It added that Verizon Communication Inc.’s GO90 and AT&T’s DirecTV streaming services — owned by companies that operate competing wireless services — will also...

Apple Music available on Android

Media | 11/11/2015 2:42 pm EST

Apple Inc. has made its music-streaming app available for Android devices. The Apple Music website now includes a link, that takes users to the Google Play store, to download what it calls a "beta" version of the app...

YouTube more popular with richer, educated Canadians: survey

Media | 11/10/2015 8:55 pm EST

A majority of Canadians reported in a survey this year they are users of Google Inc.'s YouTube video-streaming service, with the likelihood increasing among those further up on the income and...

News website awarded $13K-plus for paywall breach

Media | 11/10/2015 7:37 pm EST

An Ottawa-based subscription news website covering federal matters has been awarded $13,400 plus interest after the subject of one its articles was found to have breached copyright by obtaining a copy of the story without paying a...

IPTV, Netflix adoption lower in Ontario: MTM

Media | 11/09/2015 10:11 pm EST

Ontario residents are not moving as fast toward newer ways of getting TV content, such as IPTV and Netflix, as other parts of the Canada, according to newly released figures. Survey results released last week from Media...

CraveTV first original series to premiere in February

Media | 11/09/2015 5:19 pm EST

BCE Inc.'s Bell Media said Monday that its streaming service, CraveTV, will debut its first original series — a comedy called Letterkenny — on Feb. 7. Bell Media noted in a press release that this happens to be...

Cisco, Ericsson team up to ‘create networks of the future’

Media | 11/09/2015 4:16 pm EST

Cisco Systems Inc. and Ericsson AB announced Monday they are combining efforts to develop networking technology in areas such as mobile, routing, cloud and data centres. The companies said in a news release that this represents "a global business and technology partnership to create the networks of the future."...

‘Record’ loss of TV subscribers this year: Boon Dog

Media | 11/06/2015 9:17 pm EST

The number of Canadian households abandoning TV-service subscriptions from Canada’s biggest providers during the first nine months of this year was almost seven times higher than during the same period a year earlier, according to data compiled by consulting company Boon Dog Professional Services Inc. Boon Dog said...

CCTS shouldn’t be consumer advocate: Bell

telecom | 11/06/2015 9:11 pm EST

Officials from BCE Inc. told a CRTC panel Friday that the mandate of the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) shouldn’t be expanded to allow it to become a consumer advocacy body. Ruby Barber,...

Industry Canada changes name

telecom | 11/06/2015 6:49 pm EST

Industry Canada will be known as Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada under the new Liberal government, a notice on the Privy Council Office website indicates. The change matches that name given to the cabinet position that is replacing that of the industry minister, now known as the minister of innovation, science and economic development. Ontario MP Navdeep Bains was appointed to this position on Wednesday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the rest of the new cabinet were sworn in....

CRTC says 30-day cancellation ban not for single channels

Media | 11/06/2015 6:27 pm EST

The CRTC on Friday made certain clarifications about the policy implemented early this year to prohibit providers of telecommunications services from requiring 30-days' notice of subscription...

Deadline extended in review of local, community TV

telecom | 11/06/2015 6:08 pm EST

The CRTC said Friday it extended the deadline for interventions in its review of the policy framework for local and community television programming to 8 p.m. ET that evening. It had already delayed the deadline once from Oct. 29...

CRTC alters definition of ‘full MVNO’

telecom | 11/06/2015 5:05 pm EST

The CRTC said Friday it has tweaked the definition of a "full mobile virtual network operator" (MVNO) and has put in place a process to allow such entities to be assigned "mobile network codes" that can be used to establish direct roaming agreements with other service providers both in Canada and internationally. It said in an...

Lead-up to Discoverability Summit in Montreal Dec. 3

Media | 11/06/2015 4:56 pm EST

The CRTC announced Friday that the second of two En Route events leading up to its Discoverability Summit will be held in Montreal on Dec. 3 with discussions focusing on French-language markets. The CRTC announced Tuesday...

Huawei, Telus to create 5G lab in Vancouver

Media | 11/06/2015 2:42 pm EST

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. said Friday that it has partnered with Telus Corp. to create a lab to help develop 5G technology. It said in a press release that the project, called the 5G Living Lab, will design, test and deploy new technology in order to “deliver a next-generation converged fibre-wireless network in downtown Vancouver.” “Working with Huawei, our efforts will lay the groundwork for delivering a converged fibre-wireless network with the potential to deliver dramatically faster wireless speeds, thereby improving citizens’ lives and generating significant...

TPP text shows ‘positive change’ regarding Internet blocking: Geist

Media | 11/05/2015 8:34 pm EST

The full text of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, published Thursday by the government of New Zealand, shows that the agreement will place limits on rules around blocking Internet...

CRTC denies 2 Alberta radio applications

Media | 11/05/2015 5:31 pm EST

Sylvain Lake, Alta., will remain without any dedicated local radio service after the CRTC denied two applications on the grounds they would hurt stations in other communities — in particular, Red Deer, Alta. The CRTC said...

Telus revenue up due to wireless, wireline data usage

telecom | 11/05/2015 5:11 pm EST

Telus Corp. increased its revenues by 4.2 per cent from a year earlier to $3.15 billion in the third quarter, the company said Thursday. It said in a press release the revenue growth was “a result of higher data revenue in...

Bell profits up 12.5% in third quarter

Media | 11/05/2015 4:30 pm EST

BCE Inc. reported net earnings of $791 million in the three months ending on Sept. 30, up 12.5 per cent from the same time period a year earlier. Its revenues were up 2.9 per cent, from $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion. The company...

Quebecor reports big gains in mobile, OTT

Media | 11/05/2015 3:23 pm EST

Quebecor Inc.'s third-quarter financial report showed the company is seeing strong gains in the areas of mobile service and its over-the-top streaming service, Club Ilico. The company said in a press release Thursday that...

No more industry minister, Bains becomes innovation minister

Media | 11/04/2015 10:30 pm EST

Navdeep Bains, MP for the Ontario riding of Mississauga-Malton, was named minister of innovation, science and economic development on Wednesday, a post intended to replace what was previously the...

MTS revenue, profits down in Q3

telecom | 11/04/2015 9:58 pm EST

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. on Wednesday reported lower revenue and profits compared to a year earlier. It said in a press release that revenue was down one per cent to $398.4 million for the three months ended Sept. 30. Net...

MPAA says Popcorn Time shut down by court

Media | 11/04/2015 5:38 pm EST

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said Tuesday that it has shut down the Canadian-based video-streaming site Popcorn Time through a court injunction. The MPAA said in a news release Tuesday that it has obtained an...

Shoan protests Traversy no-show in court case

Media | 11/04/2015 3:37 pm EST

CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is asking that the affidavit of John Traversy, outgoing secretary general of the commission, be struck from the record in a Federal Court case — in which he's fighting a finding that he harassed an employee — because Traversy has not made himself available for a cross-examination. Alternatively, Shoan asked that CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais be subject to a cross-examination instead to back up the affidavit from Traversy that was sworn Aug. 27. Traversy's affidavit has not yet been made available for public viewing. Shoan filed a motion...

CCTS asks CRTC to keep membership mandatory for telecoms

telecom | 11/03/2015 9:45 pm EST

Representatives from the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) told the CRTC Tuesday that making telecom companies' participation in the CCTS voluntary would affect the...

Connectivity beats content in telecom/media sector: report

Media | 11/03/2015 8:24 pm EST

The notion that "content is king" is challenged in a new report that points out that connectivity services take in significantly more revenue than content providers in Canada and have seen...

CRTC partners with NFB to host content-discoverability events

Media | 11/03/2015 4:54 pm EST

The CRTC announced Tuesday it is partnering with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) to host two events that will lead to a large summit, in order to start a discussion on discovering content...

B.C. provider offers skinny-basic TV

Media | 11/03/2015 2:54 pm EST

Mascon, a small telecom service provider in British Columbia, announced Monday that it is now offering a skinny-basic TV package for $20 a month, getting a head-start on the CRTC requirement that packages for no more than $25 a...

Are stars aligning for Shaw sale to Rogers?

Media | 11/02/2015 9:35 pm EST

The idea of a merger between Canada's two biggest cable providers — Shaw Communications Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. — is on the radar again, with at least two market analysts saying the conditions are right for such a move. Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang said in a research note Monday that Shaw's stock is down 14 per cent from highs it hit at the beginning of this year. Reasons for the drop include: the weak economy in Shaw's home base of Alberta; the anticipated effect of the coming pick-and-pay television regime on the company's TV stations...

Pentefountas leaving CRTC on Nov. 20

Media | 11/02/2015 8:07 pm EST

Tom Pentefountas, the CRTC vice-chairman of broadcasting, will wrap up his five-year term with the commission on Nov. 20, he said in an email to staff Monday. Pentefunas was appointed vice-chairman of broadcasting in 2011....

Another union urges change in CBC leadership

telecom | 11/02/2015 5:45 pm EST

The Canadian Media Guild said in a press release that it has taken “the unprecedented step of publicly declaring our lack of confidence” in Hubert Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, and the public...

CRTC creates online public forum as part of CCTS review

telecom | 11/02/2015 5:00 pm EST

The CRTC announced Monday it has created an online public forum as part of its review of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) and is inviting Canadians to participate...

VoLTE connections to reach 2 billion by 2020: Juniper

telecom | 11/02/2015 3:40 pm EST

Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) connections are anticipated to reach two billion by 2020, rising from about 123 million connections this year, according to a new report released Monday from Juniper Research Ltd. It said the opportunity...

Cloud traffic to surge in coming years: Cisco

Media | 10/30/2015 8:21 pm EDT

Global cloud traffic will be four times higher than what it was in 2014 by 2019, Cisco Systems Inc. said this week, rising to 8.6 zettabytes from 2.1 zettabytes. Cisco said in a press release Wednesday that its fifth annual...

Bell Media asks for CBC disaffiliations in B.C.

Media | 10/30/2015 7:26 pm EDT

BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division has asked the CRTC to approve the disaffiliation of two TV stations it owns in British Columbia from CBC/Radio-Canada. Bell Media filed applications with the commission, which appeared online...

CRTC hearing on complaints commissioner scheduled for 4 days

telecom | 10/30/2015 5:33 pm EDT

The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) will kick off next week’s CRTC hearing on the structure and mandate of this office, while an appearance by BCE Inc. will...

IPTV grew, but households with TV subscriptions fell in 2014: CRTC

Media | 10/29/2015 8:56 pm EDT

The CRTC said in the final installment of its communications monitoring report Thursday that the percentage of households subscribing to TV services fell to 82 per cent in 2014 from 83.7 per cent a...

Galaxy View available through Bell, but ‘not a tablet’

Media | 10/29/2015 7:07 pm EDT

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has released a new touch-screen device, powered by Android software and suitable for web browsing and video streaming, but it is "not a tablet," according to a company spokesman. Samsung and BCE Inc. said in a joint press release Thursday that the new Galaxy View, with its 18.4-inch screen, will be "Samsung's first immersive smart-screen experience, designed to turn every room into a TV room." The companies said the Galaxy View will be sold in Canada exclusively through Bell and its electronics retail chain The Source. It will be priced at $699 and available Nov. 19, the companies added. When asked if the product is a tablet,...

Cogeco financials show big gains in U.S.

telecom | 10/29/2015 4:23 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. reported higher revenue and profit numbers this week, with its U.S. operations bringing in substantially more money as it benefited from a favourable trend in the U.S.-dollar exchange rate. The company said in a...

Tony Ciciretto stepping down from Cogeco Peer 1

Media | 10/28/2015 8:46 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. announced Wednesday that Tony Ciciretto, CEO of its business unit Cogeco Peer 1, will be stepping down and replaced by chief technology and strategy officer Philippe Jette. “It is with regret that we are...

CRTC denies application to implement wireless alerting system

telecom | 10/28/2015 5:35 pm EDT

The CRTC denied Wednesday an application from Bruce Power requesting the immediate implementation of an emergency alerting system by wireless service providers, but announced that it will launch a...

Primus to lobby against Bell’s FTTH access appeal

telecom | 10/28/2015 4:37 pm EDT

Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. was set to make its case against BCE Inc.’s appeal of the CRTC’s wholesale wireline decision to officials with Industry Canada on Thursday. Michael Nowlan, CEO of the independent...

Competition Bureau says Rogers’ NHL deal is OK

Media | 10/28/2015 3:15 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau said Wednesday that it has determined that Rogers Communications Inc.'s 12-year deal that gives it national rights to NHL content in Canada has not "resulted in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition." It said in a press release that it considered the deal's effect on prices TV-service providers pay for Rogers' Sportsnet channels, prices paid for NHL advertising and the ability of other broadcasters to obtain "important sports programming." Bureau spokesman Greg Scott confirmed by email that, as required by law, it never previously disclosed that it was reviewing Rogers' deal with the NHL.  The bureau said in a position paper that broadcast distributors see Sportsnet as a "must have" channel, but the...

Apple Pay coming to Canada, with Amex

Media | 10/28/2015 2:19 pm EDT

Apple Inc.'s mobile payment system is coming to Canada but will be, at least initially, limited to holders of credit cards from American Express Co. Apple CEO Tim Cook, during a conference call Tuesday to discuss the...

Telecom-revenue growth trails consumer-spending increase: CRTC

telecom | 10/27/2015 8:33 pm EDT

Revenue from telecommunications services in Canada grew 2.4 per cent in 2014, the CRTC said Tuesday, falling short of the six per cent hike in average spending on communications services that year....

Bell asks court for permission to appeal Wholesale Code

Media | 10/26/2015 10:58 pm EDT

BCE Inc. is again turning to the courts over a CRTC decision, this time asking the Federal Court of Appeal for leave to appeal the CRTC’s Wholesale Code. In documents filed Thursday, Bell...

SaskTel boosting high speed Internet in 8 communities

telecom | 10/26/2015 4:40 pm EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Monday that it will deploy high speed Internet service in eight rural communities in Saskatchewan. It said in a press release that plans with speeds up to 5 Mbps will be...

Shoan asks court to limit Blais’ ability to name CRTC panels

Media | 10/23/2015 8:45 pm EDT

Commissioner Raj Shoan has brought another case against the CRTC to court, asking the Federal Court of Appeal to limit the ability of the CRTC chairman to assign commissioners to panels that make...

MTS, MNS ask CRTC to review wholesale wireline policy

telecom | 10/23/2015 5:50 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.’s Allstream division and small Ontario ISP Managed Network Systems Inc. have both asked the CRTC to review aspects of the wholesale wireline policy regarding mandated access to unbundled local...

Spending on wireless services up 14% last year: CRTC

Media | 10/22/2015 8:59 pm EDT

Canadians spent 14.1 per cent more on wireless services in 2014 than they did in 2013, while last year also marked the first time there were more Canadian households that relied exclusively on mobile phone service than households...

CCTS finds small Alberta telecom breached regulations

Media | 10/22/2015 8:23 pm EDT

The Commissioner for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) said Thursday that VOIS! Inc., an Alberta-based telecom provider, has breached its regulatory obligations towards its customers. CCTS said in a press release that after an...

Bell asks federal government to eliminate wholesale access to FTTH

telecom | 10/21/2015 10:31 pm EDT

BCE Inc. is fighting the CRTC’s wholesale wireline decision on two fronts, asking the federal cabinet to reverse the commission’s move in July to mandate wholesale access to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks and asking the CRTC to put limits on who can take advantage of the new wholesale system it imposed in that decision. Bell told cabinet in a petition to the governor-in-council that mandated access to FTTH will stop or delay investment “for years” in areas of the country where the investment required wouldn’t be justified by the possible return. “The significant impact of the CRTC's decision will be borne particularly by smaller towns and rural...

MTS releases SIP trunking suites for Canadian businesses

telecom | 10/21/2015 2:07 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.’s Allstream division announced Wednesday it is making SIP trunking, technology that provides signaling and call handling capacity to make VoIP calls over a...

Liberals to be ‘less aggressive’ on 4th-player policy: analyst

Media | 10/20/2015 8:21 pm EDT

Canaccord Genuity analysts Aravinda Galappatthige and Sanford Lee said Tuesday that they expect a Liberal majority government, as elected Monday, to take a “softer pro-wireless new entrant...

Few Canadians using mobile-payment apps: survey

Media | 10/20/2015 7:10 pm EDT

Forty per cent of Canadians are aware of mobile-payment methods, up from 35 per cent a year earlier, but only 10 per cent are using their mobile phones to make payments on a weekly basis, according to survey results released...

‘No such thing as net neutrality’ with IoT: technology expert

Media | 10/20/2015 6:21 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Concern about the equal treatment of all data transmitted over the Internet is going to have to take a backseat with the Internet of Things (IoT), a California-based technology-security expert said at the Government Technology Exhibition and Conference (GTEC) in Ottawa on Tuesday. Tyson Macaulay, chief...

Deadline extended for review of local, community TV

telecom | 10/20/2015 5:41 pm EDT

The CRTC said Tuesday it is extending the deadline for interventions in its review of the policy framework for local and community television programming. The new deadline is Nov. 5. The CRTC announced in September that it will hold a hearing on the issue at the CRTC headquarters in Gatineau, Que., on Jan. 25....

CRTC dismisses complaint against Bell targeted advertising program

telecom | 10/20/2015 5:03 pm EDT

The CRTC has dismissed a complaint by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) against BCE Inc.’s targeted advertising program because the program is no longer operational. The CRTC said it did so “on the basis that the application is moot.” In April, Bell announced it would withdraw the program,...

Liberal government positive for big telecoms: analyst

Media | 10/19/2015 7:58 pm EDT

A telecom-market analyst says incumbent telecommunications-service providers would benefit under a Liberal government. Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan said in a research note released the Friday before Monday's election:...

SaskTel deploys AWS-1 spectrum, increases LTE capacity

telecom | 10/19/2015 4:13 pm EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Monday that it has successfully deployed a block of AWS-1 spectrum, increasing the capacity and speed of its 4G LTE network in nine locations in...

Cogeco renames subsidiary to Cogeco Peer 1

telecom | 10/19/2015 3:27 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. announced Monday that its combined subsidiaries Cogeco Data Services and Peer 1 will be renamed Cogeco Peer 1. It said in the release that combining the two subsidiaries will help grow Cogeco’s enterprise...

Canada seeking release of TPP details: minister’s office

Media | 10/16/2015 4:00 pm EDT

Amid reports that text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will not be released before Monday's federal election, the office for International Trade Minister Ed Fast says Canada is pressing its partners in the trade pact for the immediate finalization and release of the agreement. "There are 11 other TPP...

AT&T announces number-sharing across devices

telecom | 10/16/2015 3:20 pm EDT

AT&T plans to introduce a service that will allow customers to link all of their mobile devices to their phone number. Chief marketing officer David Christopher said in a blog post Wednesday that the service, called...

Rogers, Telus on opposing sides of zero-rated music case

Media | 10/15/2015 8:39 pm EDT

An undue-preference complaint against a music streaming service offered by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has Rogers Communications Inc. arguing that zero-rating the service is a net-neutrality...

Supreme Court denies Bell appeal against Quebecor

Media | 10/15/2015 8:13 pm EDT

The Supreme Court on Thursday denied BCE Inc.'s appeal of damages it was ordered to pay Quebecor Inc. subsidiaries for the hacking of Bell's satellite-TV service a decade or more ago and the lost revenue that resulted...

Most francophones consume some English media: survey

Media | 10/15/2015 4:31 pm EDT

Most French-speaking Canadians watch some English television and film, and most of those do so at least once a week, according to a newly released survey. CBC/Radio-Canada's Media Technology Monitor said in a report released Thursday that 60 per cent of francophones in Canada reported viewing English TV or film, and 66 per cent of those who said they consumed English content did so on a weekly basis. Francophones who consumed English video at least once a week were more likely to own smartphones, tablets, laptops and Internet-connected televisions, MTM found.  They were also more...

Telus announces IoT-based insurance product

Media | 10/15/2015 3:32 pm EDT

Telus Corp. on Thursday said customers of its Internet of Things commercial vehicle-tracking service can now access a data-based insurance product helps them save costs and encourage safe driving. Telus said in a press release...

Netflix profit halved from year ago

Media | 10/14/2015 8:39 pm EDT

Netflix Inc. reported 30 per cent annual growth in quarterly revenue on Wednesday, though its net profit in the third quarter was half of what it was at the same time in 2014. The over-the-top (OTT) streaming company said in a...

Employee app reviews cost Bell $1.25M

Media | 10/14/2015 6:42 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau said Wednesday it has reached a deal with BCE Inc. in which the company will pay a fine of $1.25 million for urging employees to make positive online reviews about Bell apps. The bureau added in a press...

Are apps the future of TV?

Media | 10/14/2015 4:30 pm EDT

In the past 18 months, Ottawa-based TV app-maker You.i TV has grown from 20 employees to 130, and the company expects that kind of expansion to continue in the next year, according to Matt Nelson, You.i TV’s director of marketing. “Basically, anyone who has a channel, anyone who has a...

Eastlink to launch gigabit Internet

telecom | 10/14/2015 3:08 pm EDT

Eastlink said Wednesday that it will begin offering Internet service with gigabit speeds to its residential customers in Halifax next month. The move follows similar launches by companies including Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc., and Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron in recent months. In a press release Wednesday, Eastlink said the Gig Internet service would have intial speeds of up to 950 Mbps. After Atlantic Canada, Eastlink said it will expand the service in other areas of Canada in 2016. Eastlink CEO Lee Bragg said in the press release that the move positions the company "to...

MTS starts ‘voluntary workplace reduction’

telecom | 10/13/2015 9:05 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. said Tuesday it is initiating a "voluntary workplace reduction" to "improve its cost structure." It said in a press release that the degree of staff reductions will depend on employee interest in the program, as well as organizational needs. MTS said the program is aimed...

NDP promises review of IoT privacy issues

Media | 10/13/2015 8:56 pm EDT

In full election platforms released last week, the NDP is promising to implement changes to Canadian privacy law and look into Internet of Things (IoT) privacy, the Conservatives are pledging funding for rural broadband and...

Wayne Wouters joins BlackBerry board

telecom | 10/13/2015 2:31 pm EDT

Former clerk of the Privy Council, Wayne Wouters, has joined BlackBerry Ltd.'s board of directors, the company said Tuesday. Wouters was head of the Privy Council between 2009 and 2014, and before that was secretary of the...

Axia’s Covage to expand fibre network in France

telecom | 10/13/2015 2:29 pm EDT

Calgary-based Axia NetMedia Corp. said Tuesday that the French telecom-service provider Covage, of which it owns 50 per cent, will extend its enterprise fibre network in France by about 50 per cent. Axia said in a press release it will bring its fibre-to-the-office offerings to Grand Lyon, which has a population of 1.3 million and an addressable market...

Sports content helping drive interest in 4K: experts

Media | 10/09/2015 8:01 pm EDT

Sports fans are an ideal market to sell 4K content to in its early stages, say analysts, though at least one expert says this quality of video has not yet achieved "must-have" status. Richard Grunberg, associate...

TPP includes provisions for ISPs to block content: WikiLeaks

Media | 10/09/2015 7:34 pm EDT

Online information leaker WikiLeaks published on Friday what it said were parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that reveal provisions for Internet service providers to block access to content...

RNC seeks relief for radio station on Cancon contribution

Media | 10/09/2015 5:00 pm EDT

RNC Media Inc. is asking the CRTC to relieve it of a licence condition for its radio station CHLX-FM in Gatineau, Que., that requires it to pay $8,000 a year toward the development of Canadian...

Nymi appoints John Haggard as CEO

telecom | 10/09/2015 1:32 pm EDT

Toronto-based wearable maker Nymi Inc. said Thursday that it has appointed John Haggard as its new CEO. Haggard replaces company founder Karl Martin, who has moved to the job of chief technology officer, Nymi said in a press...

TPP text to be available in days: Fast

telecom | 10/08/2015 8:46 pm EDT

International Trade Minister Ed Fast said Thursday that the government will put out a provisional copy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in the next few days, the Canadian Press reported. Fast, speaking at an event in Vancouver, said the text is currently being translated into several languages, according to CP. The government announced the conclusion of the 12-country trade agreement Monday, with few details about how it could affect the Canadian media and telecom industries....