Countdown on for global Internet governance transition

telecom | 10/07/2015 8:20 pm EDT

OTTAWA — When people think about the Internet, they often associate it with applications, social networks, streamed video, megabits per second or data caps, without realizing that the structure...

CRTC says Bell doesn’t have to rebuild transmitter in B.C.

telecom | 10/07/2015 4:21 pm EDT

The CRTC approved an application by BCE Inc. asking for permission to not rebuild one of its rebroadcasting transmitters, and amended the broadcasting license for its English-language conventional TV station CJDC-TV in in Dawson Creek, B.C. The announcement, posted online Wednesday, stated that Bell requested permission to...

Almost half of small businesses use cloud services: survey

Media | 10/07/2015 3:17 pm EDT

A newly released survey shows 46 per cent of Canadian small businesses polled are using cloud-based services, and most of those that do are seeing benefits. Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. said...

John Traversy retiring from CRTC

Media | 10/06/2015 8:59 pm EDT

CRTC secretary general John Traversy will retire on Dec. 11 after 27 years with the commission, he said in an email to staff Tuesday. “Over the years, I had the opportunity to work on countless files in both the...

Scotiabank extends mobile payments to Bell, Telus customers

telecom | 10/06/2015 8:16 pm EDT

Scotiabank’s mobile payment service is now open to wireless customers who subscribe to BCE Inc. and Telus Corp.’s main and flanker brands, according to a press release from EnStream LP, a joint venture run by Bell, Telus and Rogers Communications Inc. Previously, Scotiabank’s mobile wallet was available to Rogers customers, it said. The release said Scotiabank’s My Mobile Wallet service is now connected to the EnStream hub, making Scotiabank “the fourth of Canada's six largest financial institutions to use the hub for connectivity to mobile...

CRTC postpones intervention deadline in Videotron music case

telecom | 10/06/2015 7:28 pm EDT

The CRTC has moved back the deadline for interventions in an undue preference complaint against a music service offered by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron. The previous deadline in the case against...

TPP ‘consistent’ with Canadian copyright law, government says

Media | 10/05/2015 8:57 pm EDT

Details about provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that could affect Canada’s media and telecom industries remained scant Monday as the government announced the conclusion...

SaskTel to construct data centre in Saskatoon

Media | 10/05/2015 5:15 pm EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holdings Corp. announced Monday it has started construction of a new data centre in Saskatoon. It said in the press release that the data entre has met the Tier III certification requirements from...

Federal election unlikely to change telecom policy: Huang

telecom | 10/05/2015 2:42 pm EDT

Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang said in a research note Monday that, despite the uncertain outcome of this month's federal election, a significant change in policy with regard to...

Pick-and-pay TV prices could reduce cord cutting, say experts

Media | 10/02/2015 8:43 pm EDT

Prices for TV subscriptions in the coming pick-and-pay era will be one of the main factors determining how over-the-top (OTT) video services are affected, say experts, noting that competitive pricing...

Rogers dives into 4K video, gigabit Internet

Media | 10/02/2015 8:28 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. on Monday announced it is moving forward with two different kinds of technology — 4K video and gigabit-speed Internet — though one commentator says the success of either of these initiatives...

Telus aiming to make Vancouver ‘gigabit-enabled’

telecom | 10/02/2015 6:23 pm EDT

Telus Corp. said Friday it will invest $1 billion over the next five years to connect most homes and businesses in Vancouver to its fibre-optic network. It said in a press release that when the first neighbourhoods are fully connected early next year, home Internet speeds as fast as 150 Mbps will be available. It said...

Amis de Radio-Canada to march to Ottawa

telecom | 10/02/2015 3:29 pm EDT

Advocacy group Tout Amis de Radio Canada is organizing a march from Montreal to Ottawa ahead of the federal election. The group said in a press release Friday the march will start on Oct. 6 at CBC/Radio-Canada’s Montreal...

Bell Media ranks shaken up further

Media | 10/02/2015 1:52 pm EDT

BCE Inc.'s Bell Media has parted ways with more senior employees, a spokesman confirmed Friday. Bell Media's Scott Henderson said in an email: "I can confirm there have been some director-level departures at Bell Media locations in Toronto, Montreal and local stations across the country. There were also promotions and expanded roles for other leaders. It's part of our ongoing restructuring exercise to ensure Bell Media remains the leader in a fast-changing industry.” Henderson did not provide any numbers or names, though a report on the website Cartt said more than 40...

Telus’ fibre-optic technology powers smart-home demo

Media | 10/01/2015 7:20 pm EDT

Telus Corp. announced Thursday it will be providing its fibre-optic network to connect and power a simulated smart home in Edmonton. It said in the press release that it has partnered with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Ericsson AB and Alcatel-Lucent to provide the technology for the 560-square-foot home, which resembles a...

CRTC approves Kosiner’s proposed TV audio channels

Media | 10/01/2015 6:53 pm EDT

The CRTC said Thursday it has approved an application from Kosiner Venture Capital Inc. to launch new TV audio channels, opening the door to competition in a market in which Stingray Digital Group Inc. currently holds a monopoly. The commission gave the OK to an application Kosiner made late last year seeking permission to...

Bell seeks exemption from emergency alert requirements

telecom | 10/01/2015 5:17 pm EDT

BCE Inc. is asking the CRTC to amend its condition of licence that requires it to distribute emergency alerts to satellite-TV customers who still have a set-top box that isn’t capable of...

Shaw reorganizes original content team

telecom | 10/01/2015 3:17 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. announced Wednesday it has promoted or hired eight people on its original content team, including naming Lisa Godfrey head of original content. Godfrey was previously director of programming and...

TFO launches OTT website

telecom | 09/30/2015 8:28 pm EDT

Ontario’s French-language public broadcaster Groupe Média TFO has launched a website that allows viewers to watch its video content. The catalogue includes “over 9 000 videos and games, 5 600 pieces of educational content for children between two and six years, mobile applications, colouring spaces, light-hearted skits, reports on different topics and musical sessions by francophone artists,” TFO said in a press release Wednesday. That includes complete series of shows like Caillou and “a selection of some hundred classic and contemporary films that have been acclaimed in the world's greatest film festivals.” The platform also includes an “ad-free space” for kids between two and six years old, and parental controls, including a timer that allows parents to control kids’ video...

MTS seeks another extension on Classic TV alert compliance

telecom | 09/30/2015 5:30 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. is asking the CRTC to grant its Classic TV customers another exemption from the regulator’s emergency alert rules, which would be in place until MTS is able to...

Lacroix calls for ‘discussion’ on whether new tax should fund CBC

Media | 09/29/2015 8:57 pm EDT

CBC/Radio-Canada CEO Hubert Lacroix said Tuesday the public broadcaster is in a financially stable situation despite the loss of advertising revenue from NHL games, but that it must start a “conversation” about alternative funding models, which could include a levy on Internet service providers, or a household...

Bell Aliant launches Gigabit Internet in Atlantic

telecom | 09/29/2015 3:35 pm EDT

BCE Inc.’s Bell Aliant announced Tuesday it has enhanced its FibreOP Internet service for Atlantic Canada by increasing download speeds up to 1 Gbps. Bell Aliant said in a press release that the service, called Gigabit...

NDP most trusted to ‘protect’ CBC: advocacy group

telecom | 09/29/2015 3:04 pm EDT

Advocacy group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting said in a press release Tuesday that a Nanos Research poll it commissioned found the NDP is the party “most trusted by voters to protect the CBC,” followed by the...

CRTC merges complaints against Videotron music service

Media | 09/28/2015 7:36 pm EDT

The CRTC has merged two complaints against a service by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron that exempts some music streaming services from counting against mobile customers’ data caps. Videotron...

Axia to build fibre Internet in rural Alberta

telecom | 09/28/2015 2:16 pm EDT

Axia NetMedia Corp. announced last week it is building fibre-optic Internet connections in additional rural communities in Alberta, which will be operational next year. It said in a press release Thursday that construction is...

Will ad blocking destroy digital advertising?

Media | 09/25/2015 6:59 pm EDT

Technology that’s been around for years, which allows individuals to use services like apps and browser extensions to avoid seeing online advertising, has been causing new controversy in the past few weeks. According to...

CRTC requests additional information for CCTS review

telecom | 09/25/2015 3:39 pm EDT

The CRTC has asked parties involved in the review of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) to provide additional information. The regulator noted in the announcement posted Friday that...

SSi to invest $75M in Nunavut Internet

telecom | 09/25/2015 2:03 pm EDT

SSi Micro Ltd.  announced Wednesday it is investing $75 million toward providing and improving Nunavut’s broadband infrastructure. It said in a press release that the investment will soon benefit consumers, business, the education system, health-care providers and government. SSi added that $35 million will be contributed by the federal government to connect 8,600 homes throughout all 25 communities in Nunavut, as part of the Connecting Canadians Program. SSi noted that it will also be partnering with Canadian satellite operator, Telesat Holdings Inc., through a multi-year...

Android-powered BlackBerry confirmed

Media | 09/25/2015 1:51 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. on Thursday confirmed that it will be releasing a smartphone that runs on Google Inc.'s Android system within the coming months. It said in a press release that the device will be called the Priv and feature a...

TV wholesale code finalized, takes effect in January

Media | 09/24/2015 9:00 pm EDT

The CRTC on Thursday released a final version of its anticipated wholesale code governing the business relationships between TV-service providers and channel operators, which, among other things, bans provisions that would prevent...

SaskTel expands wireless service in northern Saskatchewan

telecom | 09/24/2015 7:17 pm EDT

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Thursday two new cell towers serving the communities of Wollaston Lake and Fond-du-Lac First Nation, both located in northern Saskatchewan, are...

Rogers introduces new IT service for businesses

telecom | 09/24/2015 4:07 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. announced Thursday that it has introduced a cloud-network service for businesses to manage their IT technology and infrastructure. During a conference call, Nitin Kawale, president of the enterprise...

Incognito makes Chris Busch chief innovation officer

Media | 09/24/2015 2:49 pm EDT

Incognito Software Solutions said Thursday it has hired Chris Busch as its chief innovation officer. It said in a press release that Busch had previously worked seven years at Incognito, a Vancouver-based company focussed on helping telecommunications service providers understand what is happening on their networks. Most recently, Busch was a director of product architecture for Arris Group Inc., a maker of telecommunications equipment. Incognito said Busch will be focused on developing new products and services, as well as cultivating relationships with customers and partners. A spokesman...

Kik adds Jae Kim, Alim Dhanji

Media | 09/23/2015 9:30 pm EDT

Kik Interactive Inc., the Waterloo, Ont.-based mobile messaging company, said Tuesday it has added two new executives. One is Jae Kim, who will be head of strategy and partnerships, Kik said in a press release. Kim was formerly...

Mobile messaging grows, monetization remains the challenge

Media | 09/23/2015 8:50 pm EDT

Mobile-messaging through apps in Canada and globally is on the rise as it attracts users wanting a convenient interface that can help them be included in social circles, though the steep growth in...

CRTC releases final rules for national news channels

Media | 09/23/2015 4:49 pm EDT

The CRTC on Wednesday released its finalized conditions for national news channels that will be applied to all future licences for such services. The conditions are largely the same as what the CRTC suggested in several...

Desjardins releases mobile payments for small business

Media | 09/23/2015 3:23 pm EDT

Financial services cooperative Desjardins Group announced on Wednesday new applications to allow small business, self-employed workers and "merchants on the go" to collect card payments with...

BlackBerry completes acquisition of AtHoc

telecom | 09/23/2015 2:09 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. announced Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of AtHoc Inc., a software provider for secure networked crisis communication. It said in the press release that AtHoc will operate as a division of BlackBerry...

Canada’s LTE coverage ranked 21st globally

telecom | 09/22/2015 6:30 pm EDT

Canada has the 21st best LTE coverage in the world, according to a report released Wednesday, putting it one spot behind Hungary and one position ahead of Georgia. The report from OpenSignal Inc. looked at the signals received by...

Starbucks app allows advance orders by smartphone

Media | 09/22/2015 6:18 pm EDT

Starbucks Coffee Co. said Thursday it has now implemented advance orders through smartphones at more than 7,400 of its locations in the United States, and it will start trying the idea in Canada next month. The coffee-chain...

Trudeau promises $150M in new CBC funding

telecom | 09/22/2015 5:32 pm EDT

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that he would provide $150 million in new annual funding for CBC/Radio-Canada if the Liberals win the federal election in October. That will reverse cuts made to CBC by the Conservative...

Stingray launches 4K TV channel

Media | 09/22/2015 2:52 pm EDT

Stingray Digital Group Inc. has launched a channel that it says is the first in North America to offer around-the-clock 4K content. The Stingray Ambiance channel is available through TV service offered by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, Stingray said in a press release Thursday. “With Stingray Ambiance, the day can begin with a sunrise over a Hawaiian beach, slow down mid-afternoon on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, and end while the sun paints vivid colours in the desert sky,” the press release said. In August, Videotron became the first Canadian telecom provider to commercially release a set-top box that supports 4K content....

Almost three-quarters of companies using or deploying IoT: IDC

telecom | 09/22/2015 2:18 pm EDT

International Data Corp. said Tuesday that 73 per cent of enterprises it polled in a recent survey are using Internet of Things (IoT) technology or plan to do so over the next year. “IoT...

Canada 47th in mobile-broadband subscriptions: ITU

telecom | 09/21/2015 8:46 pm EDT

A new report from ITU, the United Nations agency for information and communication technologies, says Canada’s rate of individuals with subscriptions to wireless Internet service is 47th in the world. A report released...

Cogeco upgrades 15 TV stations to HD

Media | 09/21/2015 4:43 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. announced Monday it has converted 15 local TV stations, part of its TVCogeco division, to high-definition (HD) quality. Cogeco said in a press release that the $5 million investment in upgrading the stations...

TV needs less ‘control and regulation’: Pentefountas

Media | 09/21/2015 4:40 pm EDT

CRTC commissioner Tom Pentefountas told a media conference in Paris on Monday that it is "no longer the time for control and regulation" in television and agencies like his must take on more of a role in "promotion." According to text of his speech on the CRTC website, Pentefountas, the CRTC's...

Canada will lag U.S. on mobile video: Huang

Media | 09/21/2015 1:53 pm EDT

Canada will trail the United States in the rollout of mobile-oriented video services for a variety of reasons, Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang said in a research note Monday. The comments follow news from earlier this month that Verizon Communication Inc. is planning to launch a free ad-supported mobile-video service in the U.S., which would be open to customers of any mobile service provider. Huang said the most mobile-TV apps in Canada are linked to having a specific TV-service subscription. He said Verizon's move toward mobile video "has sparked significant interest in...

CRTC merges CNOC application with Internet tariff review

telecom | 09/18/2015 7:47 pm EDT

The CRTC will consider a Part 1 application filed by the Canadian Networks Operators Consortium (CNOC) regarding usage-sensitive rates as part of a wider review of Internet tariff rates. In early...

Cogeco opens Montreal-area data centre

telecom | 09/18/2015 4:53 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. said Friday it has officially opened a new 100,000-square-foot data centre in Kirkland, Que., just west of Montreal. The data centre, which the company announced earlier this year, is the first in Canada to bill...

BBC to launch OTT service in North America

Media | 09/18/2015 4:48 pm EDT

The BBC says it is planning to launch an over-the-top (OTT) video subscription service in North America next year. “Next year, we’re launching a new OTT video service in America, offering BBC fans programs they...

‘No demand’ for gigabit Internet: Audet

telecom | 09/17/2015 8:04 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. CEO Louis Audet says there is currently "no demand" for Internet services with speeds as quick as one gigabit per second, despite recent forays by BCE Inc. and Quebecor Inc. into this area. "As I'm sure everyone realizes, there is essentially no demand for that," Audet told a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce...

Amazon’s new Fire tablet to cost $50 US

Media | 09/17/2015 5:54 pm EDT

Amazon.com Inc. announced Thursday it will release a new Fire tablet, priced at $49.99 US. Amazon said in the press release that the tablet’s operating system, Fire OS 5 Bellini, has an updated user interface and screen-sharing capabilities for when users need to get in touch with customer care or tech support. The tablet includes 128 GB of...

Altice buys Cablevision for $17.7B US

telecom | 09/17/2015 2:42 pm EDT

Altice SA, a France-based telecom and cable company, announced Thursday it has acquired Cablevision Systems Corp. for $17.7 billion US, making it the fourth largest cable operator in the U.S. market. Altice said in a press...

Nelson Millman joins Sirius to head NHL Network

Media | 09/17/2015 1:54 pm EDT

Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. said Thursday that Nelson Millman is its new program director for NHL Network Radio. The satellite-radio operator said in a press release that Millman has 42 years of experience in radio, including...

Quebecor won’t take mobile service national alone: CFO

Media | 09/16/2015 8:47 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. is not interested in being Canada's fourth national wireless carrier, at least not by itself. That was the message Quebecor chief financial officer Jean-Francois Pruneau gave to a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce investors' conference held in Montreal Wednesday. While discussing options for using...

Videotron to build $40M data centre

telecom | 09/16/2015 7:12 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron announced Wednesday it is spending $40 million to build a data centre in Montreal. Videotron said in the release this will be the only facility located in Technoparc Montreal that is built specifically for data hosting, and is the company’s latest step towards expanding “robust, reliable, competitive products and services for the business community.” “This facility will enrich our portfolio of services for customers and strengthen our position in a fast-expanding industry,” Manon Brouillette, Videotron CEO, said in the release....

AT&T increases throttling threshold to 22GB

telecom | 09/16/2015 4:03 pm EDT

AT&T recently announced on its website smartphone customers on unlimited data plans can now use up to 22 GB a month before throttling kicks in. Several reports indicated that the threshold was previously 5 MB before...

MTS puts LTE in 2 more rural communities

telecom | 09/16/2015 2:59 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. said Wednesday it has brought LTE to two more rural communities, making for 30 non-urban areas that have received this level of service so far this year. MTS said in a press release that the two new...

Big Three reluctant to finance smartphone purchases

telecom | 09/15/2015 8:33 pm EDT

Executives from BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. said Tuesday they are not interested in offering the type of smartphone leasing or financing plans that are increasingly available to customers in the U.S.,...

Regulators will eventually embrace MVNOs: Audet

telecom | 09/15/2015 6:26 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Tuesday he believes Canada's telecommunications regulators will come around to mandating access for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), notwithstanding the CRTC's decision on...

Smartphones owned by 73% of anglo Canadians: MTM

Media | 09/15/2015 5:44 pm EDT

Smartphone penetration among anglophone Canadians was at 73 per cent this spring, according to a new report by Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. MTM said in a report Tuesday that the proportion of anglos with smartphones has grown from 69 per cent in 2014, 66 per cent in 2013 and was as low as 10 per cent in 2008. The report showed that 86 per cent of anglophone Canadians report owning a cellphone of some kind, which was unchanged from the previous two years. MTM added that 89 per cent wireless customers with Telus Corp. or Rogers Communications Inc., including...

Battery life top complaint of Apple Watch owners: survey

Media | 09/15/2015 5:38 pm EDT

A new survey from research company 451 Research LLC. indicates high consumer satisfaction ratings with Apple Inc.’s Apple Watch, noting 54 per cent of consumers studied were very satisfied. 451...

Rogers’ Roam Like Home expands to Latin America

telecom | 09/15/2015 3:05 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. said Tuesday that its Roam Like Home service has expanded to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central and South America.  The company said in a press release that, starting immediately, travelers going to any of the eligible countries will be able to access unlimited talk and text, as well as data that they receive when in...

Rover to power mobile app for Pittsburgh Penguins

Media | 09/15/2015 1:59 pm EDT

Rover Labs Inc., a Toronto-based maker of mobile engagement technology, announced Tuesday it is partnering with the Pittsburgh Penguins to bring fans exclusive content to their mobile devices at games through a new app. The...

CRTC to review local, community-TV regulations

Media | 09/14/2015 8:29 pm EDT

The CRTC is asking whether maintaining a physical presence in an area is necessary to produce local programming and whether community-access TV is still relevant as part a proceeding on local and community television it announced...

You.i TV gets $15M in funding

Media | 09/14/2015 5:03 pm EDT

You.i TV, an Ottawa-based company making software for video applications, said Monday it has secured $15 million in funding, led by Los Angeles-based private-equity group Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP. The company said in a...

MTS opens data centre

telecom | 09/14/2015 4:47 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. announced Monday it has opened a new $53-million data centre in Winnipeg. MTS’ CEO Jay Forbes said in the press release that the data centre offers reliable, secure and flexible IT solutions to customers that are trying to grow their business. “This is...

CRTC tells Mobilicity to move on 911 texting

telecom | 09/11/2015 8:16 pm EDT

The CRTC has told Mobilicity to get its plan for providing deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired customers with 911-texting capabilities in order. In a Sept. 4 letter to Mobilicity, posted on the CRTC's website, the...

FCC commish blames net-neutrality policy for spending dip

Media | 09/11/2015 6:38 pm EDT

Ajit Pai, a commissioner with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has blamed his own organization's new net-neutrality rules for a decline in capital spending among Internet service...

Production sector must understand telecom: new CMPA boss

Media | 09/11/2015 4:20 pm EDT

As the telecommunications and media industries continue to converge, the production sector must pay more attention to what were traditionally considered telecom issues, according to Reynolds Mastin, the new CEO of the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA). “I think that we as an industry writ large are increasingly going to have to get out of our statutory silos, where you just worry about telecom or you just worry about broadcasting, and are going to have to take a more holistic view of how the two interrelate, depending upon what issue we’re talking about,” he said...

Google rolls out Android Pay

telecom | 09/11/2015 2:14 pm EDT

Google Inc. announced Thursday on its official Android blog it has launched Android Pay. The blog post said that, after downloading the app onto any NFC-enabled Android device, users can use it for payments at more than a million...

Telus among first to use new Ericsson TV interface

Media | 09/10/2015 8:37 pm EDT

Ericsson AB announced on Thursday that its cloud-based TV platform, MediaFirst, is now commercially available to operators and content providers, noting that Telus Corp. will be utilizing the service to enhance service for its TV...

Shaw says national news-channel plans on hold

telecom | 09/10/2015 8:13 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. has put on hold plans to establish a national news channel in the wake of changes in the television regulatory environment over the last year, a company official said Thursday. "The application...

Former Wind, Rogers execs open cellphone repair chain

telecom | 09/10/2015 4:05 pm EDT

Ken Campbell, former CEO of Wind Mobile, and Rob Bruce, who previously headed Rogers Communications Inc.’s wireless and cable divisions, are opening a chain of mobile phone repair shops, the Globe and Mail reported...

Incognito says it can save ISPs millions

telecom | 09/10/2015 2:25 pm EDT

Incognito Software Systems, a Vancouver-based provider of Internet account management services, announced Thursday a new line of services it says can save broadband providers millions of dollars by preventing fraud and finding mistakes. It said in a press release that its new services "combine a detailed analysis of usage and consumption records along with both standards-based and proprietary device provisioning safeguards to block fraudulent devices from accessing broadband networks, pinpoint customer service record mistakes and align back-end cable systems." Incognito said one of...

New version of Apple TV will include Siri

Media | 09/09/2015 8:35 pm EDT

The newest version of Apple Inc.’s Apple TV will include its voice-recognition program, Siri, which users can access to search for content across apps, the company said Wednesday. In a live announcement streamed online,...

Finney gets VP role at Bell Media, among other changes

Media | 09/09/2015 6:17 pm EDT

BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division announced Wednesday it has appointed Mark Finney to the newly created position of vice-president of strategic sales, and several other changes in the executive ranks...

Shaw asks for exemption from public alert system

Media | 09/09/2015 5:44 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. has filed an application asking the CRTC to exempt it from the requirement, as a condition of licence, that all its satellite-TV customers be able to receive messages from the National Public Alerting...

Where federal parties stand on telecom, media issues

Media | 09/09/2015 4:48 pm EDT

Telecommunications and media have not been prominent issues in this year's federal election campaign, taking a backseat to things such as the Mike Duffy trial, the deficit and Syrian refugees. The Wire Report has made...

Quebecor Media buys shares from CDPQ

Media | 09/09/2015 2:00 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. announced Wednesday that its Quebecor Media unit has bought 28.6 per cent of the stake in that division held by for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). It said in a press release that...

Location tracking needs more oversight: PIAC

Media | 09/08/2015 9:35 pm EDT

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said in a new report that the CRTC and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner should do more research on the practice of tracking the location of individuals through their mobile devices....

Another complaint emerges against Videotron’s music service

Media | 09/08/2015 5:24 pm EDT

Another application has been submitted to the CRTC that protests an offer by Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron to not count data used by its mobile customers for certain music-streaming applications. Vaxination Informatique, a telecommunication consulting company, has launched its own undue-preference complaint about...

Verizon planning mobile video streaming service: report

Media | 09/08/2015 3:23 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. plans to launch a free ad-supported mobile streaming service, the New York Times reported online Tuesday. The article said the launch would be announced this week, and...

Verizon plans to test 5G next year

Media | 09/08/2015 2:27 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. announced Tuesday it has created a roadmap to begin field trials for 5G wireless technology as early as 2016. The company said in a press release it is partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericson AB, Cisco Systems Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Qualcomm Inc. and Nokia Corp., in creating working teams to bring the technology to the U.S. “5G is no longer a dream of the distant future,” Roger Gurnani, chief information and technology architect for Verizon, said in the release. “We feel a tremendous sense of urgency to push forward on 5G...

U.S. city launches 10-gigabit service

telecom | 09/04/2015 7:10 pm EDT

Fibrant, a telecom company owned and operated by the City of Salisbury in North Carolina, and Calix Inc., a telecom equipment provider, announced this week that Salisbury, N.C., has become first city in the United States to get...

iChannel’s status downgrade with Bell leads to complaint

Media | 09/04/2015 6:44 pm EDT

Stornoway Communications LP has launched a complaint to the CRTC about its iChannel being taken out of a theme package offered by BCE Inc. to IPTV and satellite-TV customers. Stornoway said in an application that appeared on the CRTC's website Friday that it has been informed by Bell that iChannel, a Category A...

Visually attractive equipment prioritized in WiFi deployment

telecom | 09/04/2015 4:44 pm EDT

WiFi hardware is increasingly being designed to blend in with the surrounding environment or be more esthetically pleasing, and the providers of such technology say they are able to do so without...

BlackBerry buys Good Technology for $425M US

telecom | 09/04/2015 2:55 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. said Friday it will pay $425 million US to acquire Good Technology Corp., which makes secure mobile device platforms geared for businesses and governments. BlackBerry said the acquisition will allow it to...

Data costs limit mobile-video consumption: Ericsson

Media | 09/03/2015 8:16 pm EDT

A new report from Ericsson AB shows that while people are increasingly consuming video on mobile devices, the cost of data limits many from taking advantage of what the technology makes possible. The report released Thursday from Ericsson's ConsumerLab division — based on research involving more than 22,500 people in 20 countries including Canada and the United States — said there has been a 71 per cent increase in the number of people viewing video on smartphones since 2011. Other points of data in its report were that 86 per cent of smartphone users in the U.S. use their...

T-Mobile launches video calling

telecom | 09/03/2015 6:16 pm EDT

T-Mobile US Inc. is making video calling available to its customers, its chief technology officer Neville Ray said in a blog post Thursday. “Of course, there are apps that do video calling. But this isn’t another app....

MTS seen as acquisition target for Bell

Media | 09/02/2015 9:26 pm EDT

A stock market analyst has speculated that an acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. by BCE Inc. is likely next year. A research note Wednesday from TD Securities analyst Vince Valentini said that with MTS set to sell off...

Mobile infrastructure market worth $11.4B US in Q2: IHS

telecom | 09/02/2015 8:34 pm EDT

The global market for mobile infrastructure was worth $11.4 billion US in this year’s second quarter, research company IHS said Wednesday. It said in a press release that this represented two...

CBS to live-stream first regular-season NFL game

Media | 09/02/2015 6:38 pm EDT

CBS Corp.’s sports division said Tuesday that next month it will live-stream a regular-season National Football League game for the first time. The game featured is an Oct. 4 matchup between the New York Jets and Miami...

Sony unveils first 4K smartphone

Media | 09/02/2015 3:46 pm EDT

Sony Corp. announced Wednesday at IFA Berlin, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics trade shows in Europe, the release of the world’s first 4K smartphone. Sony said in a press release that the Xperia Z5...

Privacy commish says children’s websites short on safeguards

Media | 09/02/2015 3:16 pm EDT

A majority of websites and mobile applications targeted to or popular with children were found recently to collect personal information from minors and share it with third parties, the Office of the...

PIAC launches complaint against Videotron music service

Media | 09/01/2015 8:45 pm EDT

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is asking the CRTC to direct Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to change the price structure of its new music service, which exempts data consumed through some...

Cablecos can deploy gigabit Internet cheaper than telcos: analyst

telecom | 09/01/2015 1:38 pm EDT

Cable companies have a steep cost advantage over telephone companies in the race to implement broadband Internet at gigabit speeds, says Scotia Capital telecom analyst Jeff Fan. It comes down to...

CMF provided $365.5B in funding last year

Media | 08/31/2015 6:58 pm EDT

The Canadian Media Fund (CMF) said Monday that it provided $365.5 billion in funding for television and digital-media productions last year. That's up from $354.5 billion that it reported spending in the previous year's annual report. The CMF said in a press release Monday that money spent in the 2014-15 fiscal year, which ended in March, triggered $1.3 billion in activity in the Canadian video-production industry, up 11.3 per cent from the year before. It said that it funded 496 TV and related digital-media projects, plus 108 interactive digital media productions through its...