Internet-, phone-service prices surging: StatsCan

telecom | 09/22/2014 6:49 pm EDT

The latest consumer price index from Statistics Canada indicates year-to-year gains in phone and Internet services that are several times the overall inflation rate. Statistics Canada said Friday that phone-service prices in...

Apple says iPhone 6 represents ‘best launch ever’

telecom | 09/22/2014 6:06 pm EDT

Apple Inc. said Monday it has sold more than 10 million of its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones since their launch on Sept. 19. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release that it was the company’s “best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin.” In...

Bell Aliant brings fibre-to-the-home to Quebec

telecom | 09/22/2014 5:27 pm EDT

Bell Aliant Inc. said Monday that fibre-to-the-home connections are now available in Quebec, with three communities on its FibreOP network immediately and four more to be connected before the end of the year. Bell Aliant said in...

Boynton, Stoneham find jobs after Rogers

Media | 09/22/2014 5:21 pm EDT

John Boynton and Shelagh Stoneham, two Rogers Communications Inc. executives who left in the wake of its corporate overhaul this year, have both found other jobs. Boynton, formerly the chief marketing officer at Rogers, is now...

BlackBerry Passport to undercut iPhone’s price: report

telecom | 09/22/2014 4:37 pm EDT

BlackBerry Inc.’s new smartphone, called Passport, will go on sale Sept. 24., at a lower price point than the newest devices from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., according to a report. Quoting an interview with BlackBerry CEO John Chen, The Wall Street Journal reported that the device would go on sale Wednesday and cost $599 US in the United States, as compared to $649 US for Apple’s new iPhone 6, $749 US for the iPhone 6 Plus, and around $650 for Samsung’s Galaxy S5. Chen told the WSJ that the phone should cost around $700, but that “to try to get the market interested, we're going to start a little lower than that." The WSJ said the phone, which has a 4.5 inch-screen and a physical keyboard, will be launched in Toronto, London and Dubai on...

First phase of Bell Aliant buyout completed

telecom | 09/22/2014 3:51 pm EDT

BCE Inc. said in a press release Monday that it expects to complete, by Sept. 24, the purchase of the Bell Aliant Inc. shares it is acquiring in its buyout of the company. The company said that “81.2% of Bell Aliant...

Mobilicity shuts down cell sites, asks for bankruptcy extension

telecom | 09/19/2014 8:40 pm EDT

Mobilicity is asking for another extension to its creditor protection, telling the judge overseeing its bankruptcy that the carrier has removed cell towers and shut down its Vancouver sales office in...

Blais threatens to revoke Netflix’ exemption order

Media | 09/19/2014 7:48 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — During the sometimes-contentious appearance by Netflix Inc. on the last day the CRTC’s two-week hearings on the future of television, CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais repeatedly ordered the U.S....

Ethnic broadcasters urge CRTC to maintain buy-through requirement

Media | 09/18/2014 8:45 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — Asian Television Network International Ltd. was one of a number of ethnic broadcasters with Category A third-language channels who on Thursday urged the CRTC, as part...

Canada ‘prime candidate’ for new OTT service: Sandvine

Media | 09/18/2014 7:36 pm EDT

With Canada's two biggest cable companies on the verge of launching an online streaming service, an Internet analytics company says the market is ripe for a new over-the-top (OTT) service in Canada. Sandvine Inc. issued a press release Thursday with various data about online traffic, including that Netflix...

Carriers mostly complying with wireless code: CRTC

telecom | 09/18/2014 6:43 pm EDT

The CRTC issued an "implementation report card" Thursday that showed mobile carriers are complying with the wireless code on most rules. Out of 28 aspects of the code evaluated, the CRTC found infractions on three parts. The...

Regulators want investment-focused wireless industry: Natale

telecom | 09/18/2014 6:37 pm EDT

Telus Corp. CEO Joe Natale said Thursday he cannot predict what decisions will result from the upcoming CRTC hearings on the wireless wholesale market, though he feels Canadian regulators are likely...

BlackBerry expands mobile-payment service in Indonesia

Media | 09/18/2014 6:26 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. said Thursday that its mobile payment application will be made available to iPhone and Android smartphone users in Indonesia in early 2015. The company said in a press release that...

Quebecor ‘still interested’ in Wind

telecom | 09/17/2014 8:21 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. is “still interested” in Wind Mobile and is “certainly interested in talking with them” following the announced buyout of the carrier on Tuesday, Quebecor’s senior vice-president and chief financial officer Jean-Francois Pruneau said Wednesday. Speaking during a CIBC investor conference in Montreal, Pruneau said that “we have, I think, very valuable spectrum ownership, which if they want, we can contribute ... in the venture and be a partner with them as well.” The $285 million that a consortium led by Wind CEO Anthony Lacavera agreed...

Shomi not meant to ‘kill Netflix’: Rogers CEO

Media | 09/17/2014 8:17 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence told a CIBC investor conference in Montreal on Wednesday that his company's upcoming over-the-top (OTT) programming service, Shomi, isn't meant to be the ultimate solution for streaming users. "We're not trying to kill Netflix here," he said. "This is a...

Quarter of online video viewing on mobile: Ooyala

Media | 09/17/2014 6:13 pm EDT

Mobile online video viewing doubled around the world over the last year and accounted for 27 per cent of all online video viewing in this year's second quarter, Ooyala Inc. said in a report released Monday. The report said...

Internet advertising money tops TV: IAB

Media | 09/17/2014 5:39 pm EDT

A report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada shows that, for the first time ever, there was more revenue in this country last year in Internet advertising than television. In a report released Wednesday, the IAB...

TekSavvy asks CRTC for help to launch TV service

Media | 09/16/2014 9:15 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — Independent ISP TekSavvySolutions Inc. told the CRTC Tuesday it is considering becoming a TV distributor, on the same day that it announced a “partnership” with Hastings Cable Vision Ltd., an...

ABC affiliate asks for removal from CRTC authorization list

Media | 09/16/2014 5:20 pm EDT

A Minneapolis-St. Paul ABC affiliate is asking the CRTC to remove it from its list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution. An application from Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. (HBI), owner of the channel in question, KSTP-TV, appeared on the commission's website on Tuesday. A letter from Hubbard, dated Feb. 20, refers to being notified of its inclusion to the list after decision No. 98-17, which was issued by the CRTC in January 1998 and made KSTP and WFTC, also in Minneapolis, eligible for carriage on Canadian satellite services. "HBI does not nor has it ever...

Buyout puts Wind on solid ground, says Lacavera

telecom | 09/16/2014 1:51 pm EDT

Wind Mobile CEO Anthony Lacavera says his $285-million buyout of majority shareholder VimpelCom Ltd., announced Tuesday, brings stability to his company after years of ownership uncertainty. Lacavera will buy out the majority...

Incumbents say AWS-3 set-aside unnecessary, bad for taxpayers

telecom | 09/15/2014 8:36 pm EDT

In newly released documents Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. all criticize the set-aside for new entrants in the upcoming AWS-3 auction, with Bell is asking the government to...

Disney says pick-and-pay hurts TV broadcasters

Media | 09/15/2014 7:58 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. —Walt Disney Co. on Monday warned the CRTC against a move toward pick-and-pay television. Susan Fox, Disney’s vice-president of government relations, told the commission that having broad distribution...

Google announces new smartphone for India

Media | 09/15/2014 6:08 pm EDT

Google Inc. on Monday announced a new smartphone, known as Android One, it will make  available first in India and other developing countries in the near future. Google said in a blog post that the new product represents the...

MTS, SaskTel to carry iPhone 6

telecom | 09/15/2014 5:26 pm EDT

Two regional wireless carriers from the Prairie provinces announced Monday they will carry Apple Inc.'s new iPhone 6. when it becomes available on Sept. 19. Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. and Saskatchewan...

No tax on Netflix, YouTube: Harper

Media | 09/15/2014 4:43 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday his government is determined not to tax Internet services such as Netflix and YouTube In a wide-ranging speech in Ottawa to kick off the new parliamentary session, he also mentioned the...

Telus calls Shomi service undue preference by Rogers, Shaw

Media | 09/12/2014 8:47 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — Telus Corp. says it is “very concerned” Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. are using the beta-test phase of their recently launched over-the-top...

Wireless code court challenge scheduled for Nov. 12

telecom | 09/12/2014 3:31 pm EDT

Canada's wireless carriers will get their day in the Federal Court of Appeal on Nov. 12 to challenge the CRTC's wireless code provision that voids all mobile contracts that are more than two years old next June. The court...

Bell top payer, PIAC top recipient of CRTC cost awards so far in 2014

telecom | 09/12/2014 2:31 pm EDT

The CRTC this year has ordered telecommunications companies to pay more than $230,000 to various organizations participating in different telecommunications proceedings, of which BCE Inc. and its affiliates have been assigned more than half the costs and for which the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has been the biggest recipient. A compilation by The Wire Report, based on information from the CRTC's website, showed that the commission has awarded $233,472.90 in costs so far in 2014....

Rogers VP predicts end of TV broadcasting, as we know it

Media | 09/11/2014 11:09 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — You can’t assume that young people who have never had subscription-TV service will eventually get it, Ken Engelhart, Rogers Communications Inc.’s vice-president of...

New TV service provider approved for Ont., B.C.

Media | 09/11/2014 4:08 pm EDT

Gold Line Telemanagement Inc. has been granted licences to operate broadcast distribution services for markets in Ontario and British Columbia, the CRTC said Thursday. Postings on commission's website said the company was...

BCE-Astral obligated sale of MusiquePlus approved

telecom | 09/11/2014 3:51 pm EDT

The CRTC said Thursday it has approved the last of the divestments BCE Inc. was obliged to make as part of its 2013 buyout of Astral Media Inc., allowing Groupe V Media Inc. to take control of Quebec Category A music channels...

BlackBerry buys ‘virtual identity’ company

Media | 09/11/2014 3:08 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. on Thursday announced it had acquired Movirtu, a United Kingdom-based maker of technology that creates "virtual identity solutions' for smartphones. BlackBerry said in a press release that Movirtu's technology helps companies manage cellphones in bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and...

Shelly Glover rules out Internet-TV regulation

Media | 09/11/2014 2:22 pm EDT

Heritage Minister Shelly Glover says the government will not allow new taxes or regulations on Internet-based television services. Glover, the federal minister responsible for the CRTC, said so in a statement sent Monday night that responded to a presentation in the CRTC's Let's Talk TV hearings earlier in the day from Kevin Finnerty, Ontario's assistant deputy minister for tourism, culture and sport. Finnerty suggested that new media broadcasting services be regulated and required to contribute to Canadian content. "At the hearings, the Ontario Liberal government made a...

Local TV needs another revenue stream: Bell

Media | 09/10/2014 9:13 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — BCE Inc. executives asked the CRTC Wednesday to put in place a “local specialty” model for local television stations, which it said are no longer financially sustainable. “The economics of...

Videotron cites mobile TV as key in LTE launch

Media | 09/10/2014 8:44 pm EDT

Four years after Videotron flipped the switch on a new wireless network, the carrier is launching an LTE network that president and CEO Manon Brouillette says will help the company deliver TV content to its mobile customers....

Sony cloud TV service to carry Viacom channels

Media | 09/10/2014 8:03 pm EDT

Viacom Inc. and Sony Corp. said Wednesday they have reached a "landmark agreement" that sees at least 22 Viacom channels being carried on Sony's cloud-based TV service when it launches. The two companies said in a...

Rogers boss defends big spending on spectrum

Media | 09/10/2014 1:39 am EDT

Rogers Communications Inc.’s CEO on Tuesday said his competitors underestimate the value of wireless spectrum — something Rogers spent multiple times more money on than any other company in this year’s 700...

CRTC asks Quebecor why it doesn’t go OTT-only

Media | 09/09/2014 9:53 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — In the second day of hearings in the CRTC's Let's Talk TV proceeding, a commission member asked Quebecor Inc. why, if over-the-top (OTT) services such as Netflix are such a hot commodity, it doesn't abandon traditional broadcasting in favour of an exclusively online video service. “If the danger is real, why not...

Apple announces new phones, payment system, watch

telecom | 09/09/2014 7:25 pm EDT

Apple Inc. announced two new larger iPhones, a payment system and a wearable device, the Apple Watch, at a Tuesday event in Cupertino, Calif. The new smartphones are, at 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches measured diagonally, larger than...

Redline purchases California company

telecom | 09/09/2014 4:50 pm EDT

Redline Communications Group Inc., a Toronto maker of wireless networks for projects in remote areas, said Tuesday it has reached a deal to purchase Santa Clara, Calif.-based PureWave Networks, which the company said will help it...

Regulating OTT could set ‘dangerous precedent’: Google

Media | 09/08/2014 9:37 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — A move by the CRTC to regulate over-the-top (OTT) video platforms could set a precedent for regulators in other countries, a Google Inc. lawyer told the commission on the first...

Wi-Fi Alliance celebrates 15-year anniversary

telecom | 09/08/2014 7:21 pm EDT

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a non-profit organization that certifies products capable of operating on WiFi connections, announced Monday that it is now 15 years old. The organization said in a press release its six founding companies in 1999 have since grown into a group that now includes almost 650 companies. The alliance said that about two billion WiFi products were sold last year, and that figure will amount to more than four billion by 2020. It added that WiFi is now used in about 25 per cent of homes around the world. "WiFi has significantly improved the lives of people and societies all...

T-Mobile sues Huawei for spying

telecom | 09/08/2014 6:59 pm EDT

T-Mobile US Inc. is suing Chinese hardware manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in U.S. Federal Court for alleged industrial espionage, reports the Seattle Times. The wireless carrier says Huawei stole phone-testing software...

Mobilicity backers’ lawsuit describes government courting of new entrants

telecom | 09/05/2014 8:14 pm EDT

New details about the government’s push for new-entrant carriers in the 2008 AWS auction were revealed in a lawsuit filed this week against Industry Canada by two of the original investors in...

CRTC pushes back wholesale wireless deadline

telecom | 09/05/2014 4:49 pm EDT

The CRTC said Friday that the deadline for final submission in its wholesale wireless review has been delayed by three days. Final submissions in this proceeding, for which hearings start on Sept. 29, will be due Monday, Oct. 20,...

Industry warned of ‘major changes’ from TV review

Media | 09/05/2014 4:07 pm EDT

The CRTC on Friday warned those with and those seeking television broadcast licences about "major changes" that could result from Let's Talk TV proceedings, public hearings for which start Monday. The commission said in an online posting that the review "may result in the adoption of major changes to the...

Broadcast revenue rises as TV subs drop: CRTC

Media | 09/04/2014 8:18 pm EDT

The latest numbers from the CRTC show Canadians are watching more television on more devices, though fewer people are subscribing to TV services and young adults are tuning out. The broadcasting portion of the CRTC's annual Communications Monitoring Report was released Thursday. The report showed that revenues for the overall broadcasting industry in 2013 rose by 1.3 per cent to $17.1 billion. However, the proportion of Canadian households with a television subscription of any kind fell to 84.9 per cent from 85.6 per cent a year earlier. "We've been seeing this for years; the...

Carriers, SOCAN await court’s decision on ringtone money

telecom | 09/04/2014 6:55 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) outlined in Federal Court this week a multi-layered defence against an attempt by wireless carriers to reclaim about $12 million in royalties paid out for the downloading of ringtones. It argued that a 2012 Supreme Court decision that...

Rogers NHL streaming plan result of OTT shift: analyst

Media | 09/03/2014 10:16 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc.'s launch of a hockey streaming product shows the company wants to "build up its OTT [over-the-top] capabilities" as more TV viewers move away from linear...

Telus buys prescription software

telecom | 09/03/2014 4:39 pm EDT

Telus Corp. announced Wednesday it is buying the rights to electronic prescription software from Quebec-based ZoomMed Inc. The ZRx Prescriber software from ZoomMed  allows doctors to write prescriptions and look up insurance...

Samsung buying Ontario mobile printing company

telecom | 09/03/2014 2:53 pm EDT

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced Wednesday it is acquiring PrinterOn Inc., a Kitchener, Ont.-based mobile printing company that specializes in business-to-business. The consumer products giant said in a news release that...

Quebecor says Nurun sale unrelated to wireless expansion

telecom | 09/02/2014 8:03 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. and industry analysts on Tuesday downplayed any connection between the company's sale of consulting subsidiary Nurun and aspirations Quebecor has for expanding its wireless service...

Bell says rural broadband commitment fulfilled

telecom | 09/02/2014 7:06 pm EDT

BCE Inc. says it has held up its end of a 2006 deal with the CRTC by hooking up 112 rural communities to broadband Internet by Aug. 29. “Bell completed broadband service rollouts to all 112 communities in our deferral...

CRTC releases guide for public participation

telecom | 09/02/2014 3:36 pm EDT

The CRTC on Tuesday released a new document intended to help Canadians understand the commission's role and participate in its activities. The document is entitled "It's Your CRTC: Here's How to Have Your Say!" and describes itself as "Your 5-minute guide to understanding and participating in our activities." The...

Paper billing issue small potatoes for telecom sector: analysts

telecom | 08/29/2014 7:28 pm EDT

Much has been made this week about the practice of levying extra fees for the privilege of getting a physical bill for telecommunications services, and some industry watchers are downplaying the...

Emergency-alert system cooperation to become mandatory

telecom | 08/29/2014 6:06 pm EDT

The CRTC said in a Friday release it is making participation in a national emergency-warning system mandatory for broadcasters. Cable and satellite providers, radio stations, over-the-air television broadcasters and video-on-demand services must all begin to issue public alerts such as warnings about tornadoes, floods and industrial disasters, as well as Amber Alerts, by March 31, 2015. Campus, Native and community-based broadcasters will have another year to comply, and must broadcast the warnings by March 31, 2016. Participation in the National Public Alerting System was previously...

Tablet market forecast downgraded

telecom | 08/29/2014 4:57 pm EDT

International Data Corp. has lowered its growth projections for tablets and tablet-laptop hybrids. The research company said in a press release Friday that it has lowered its worldwide forecast for 2014 to 233.1 million...

Moore promises to outlaw ‘pay-to-pay’ billing

telecom | 08/28/2014 11:56 pm EDT

Hours after a meeting between telecommunications companies and CRTC officials regarding paper-billing charges that failed to end in a result satisfactory to policy-makers, Industry Minister James Moore said via social media...

Conspicuous by its absence in TV review: OTT services

Media | 08/28/2014 9:24 pm EDT

In a little more than a week, the people who make and produce, broadcast and distribute, analyze and report on the Canadian television industry will gather in Gatineau, Que., to spend two weeks talking about its future. The...

Emerging markets driving world smartphone market: IDC

telecom | 08/28/2014 5:22 pm EDT

Demand for smartphones in emerging markets will help drive growth in global shipments this year to 23.8 per cent for a total of 1.25 billion devices shipped, International Data Corp. said Thursday. The research company said in a press release that mature markets, which include Canada, the United States, Japan and Western Europe, will account for 26.5...

Comwave applies to provide TV service in Ontario

telecom | 08/27/2014 9:13 pm EDT

A Toronto-based provider of Internet and phone service is looking to enter Ontario's television-distribution market, according documents on the CRTC's website. Comwave Networks Inc. has applied for a broadcast distribution licence in several of the province's markets, including areas in and surrounding Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Kitchener, Windsor and London, the CRTC said on its website Wednesday. It is one of the applications the commission will consider at a hearing in Gatineau, Que., on Oct. 28. The company is known to many for its use of former NHL hockey player Tie Domi in...

New technology promises to do more with less spectrum

telecom | 08/27/2014 8:28 pm EDT

A new technology that is part of the next generation of LTE could help wireless carriers more than double the speed of their networks and make the most out of their limited spectrum holdings. Each spectrum band, be it PCS, AWS or...

Videotron’s new PVR records 8 shows at once

telecom | 08/27/2014 5:54 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron unit on Wednesday announced the availability of a new high-definition, multi-room PVR that records up to eight shows at a time. The company said in a press release the device is called X8, and its website said it's available for $399 to purchase for those that subscribe to the company's Custom 5 TV package, priced...

Telus introduces device-management system for companies

telecom | 08/27/2014 4:24 pm EDT

Telus Corp. on Wednesday announced a new device-management system for businesses, which it said is geared toward the growing trend of BYOD (bring your own device) among organizations. The service is...

Netflix petitions FCC against Comcast-Time Warner merger

Media | 08/26/2014 4:17 pm EDT

Netflix Inc. on Tuesday said it has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to block the proposed merger between Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. The petition submitted to the...

Bell increases LTE network speeds

telecom | 08/26/2014 3:19 pm EDT

BCE Inc. said Tuesday that is has increased speeds on its LTE wireless network up to 45 per cent. It said in a press release that average download speeds have gone from between 12 and 25 Mbps to between 14 and 36 Mbps, adding...

Rogers-Shaw OTT product’s effect on cord-cutting up for debate

Media | 08/26/2014 1:32 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. officials say they’re confident the launch of their Shomi over-the-top video service will not eat into their cable business, though industry experts are less convinced. The companies on Tuesday announced they would launch a streaming service containing TV shows...

Politician says Telus refused to negotiate $20K bill

telecom | 08/25/2014 8:47 pm EDT

Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk said his staff was unable to negotiate a discount from Telus Corp. when, as a deputy premier in 2012, he rang up more than $20,000 in data and roaming charges...

Shaw gives Ontario city free WiFi preview

telecom | 08/25/2014 6:37 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. said Monday it would provide free access to its WiFi network in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., until Sept. 14. The company said in a press release that people in the northern Ontario city can enjoy access to...

Ottawa networking centre granted $11.7M

telecom | 08/25/2014 6:35 pm EDT

Industry Canada on Monday included an Ottawa-based centre dedicated to developing cutting-edge network technology as one of five new recipients for funding over the next five years. The department sent a link by email for the government's Networks for Centres of Excellence of Canada website that said the Centre for Excellence for Next Generation Networks would get $11.7 million over the next five years. The other four recipients are medically oriented and all five are getting a combined $68.1 million over five years, the website said. The site said the Ottawa network centre is intended...

LTE, HSPA use for M2M to double by 2018: report

telecom | 08/25/2014 3:06 pm EDT

Research firm Berg Insight says demand from automakers and the impending shutdown of older networks means the share of the global machine-to-machine communications (M2M) market using LTE and HSPA networks will more than double by...

Shaw lobbying federal officials ahead of CRTC TV review

Media | 08/25/2014 2:15 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. is stepping up its lobbying ahead of the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV hearing in September, meeting with various MPs in their ridings as well senior public servants in...

BCE, Rogers tell CRTC they don’t throttle mobile traffic

Media | 08/22/2014 10:19 pm EDT

In documents submitted to the CRTC this week, BCE Inc. said it does not throttle mobile data traffic, though it’s prepared to if necessary, while Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron said it does and...

Watchdog warns pick-and-pay would hurt economy

Media | 08/22/2014 8:42 pm EDT

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting warned Friday that adopting proposals for reform of the television industry such as pick-and-pay, as put forward by the CRTC, could cost the economy tens of thousands of jobs and billions of...

Internet infrastructure approaching limits of capacity

telecom | 08/22/2014 7:49 pm EDT

The size of the Internet is becoming a challenge for the hardware that supports it and there could be some hiccups in service in the coming months as a result, according to experts. Jim Cowie, chief scientist with New Hampshire-based Internet analytics company Dyn, said users of the Internet might have had problems accessing certain websites on Aug. 12 because on that day many of border gateway protocol (BGP) routers that direct web traffic reached their limit. Cowie said many of these routers — he's unsure the exact number or proportion — are only capable of handling about...

CRTC process for establishing video relay delayed

telecom | 08/22/2014 4:35 pm EDT

The CRTC is still trying to establish the structure and mandate for an administrator that would oversee its planned video-relay system to help hearing-impaired people make phone calls, with a deadline for a proposal and associated...

PIPEDA complaints double, many target Bell’s tracking program

telecom | 08/21/2014 9:41 pm EDT

Complaints to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada nearly doubled in 2013 from the previous year as concerns about BCE Inc.'s advertising and tracking program filled the commissioner’s inbox. According to the privacy commissioner’s annual report to Parliament, released Thursday, there were 426 complaints made...

Rogers’ mobile TV now counts against data cap

Media | 08/21/2014 9:08 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. has changed the pricing of data used by its Anyplace TV app, writing on its website that as of Aug. 18, standard data charges would apply to customers who use the app while on its wireless network....

Hugues Simard Videotron’s new SVP, CFO

Media | 08/21/2014 6:46 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. subsidiary Videotron has named Hugues Simard as its new senior vice-president and chief financial officer. The company said in a press release Thursday that Simard will be responsible for the “execution...

CRTC awards PIAC costs in paper bill proceeding

telecom | 08/21/2014 5:39 pm EDT

The CRTC has ordered 10 different telecommunications companies to pay $22,135.06 in costs incurred by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) during its paper bill proceeding. The CRTC is set to hold a meeting with...

Ikea bringing WiFi to Canadian stores

telecom | 08/21/2014 5:20 pm EDT

Ikea Canada said Thursday that it will be launching free WiFi service in stores throughout Canada. The furniture retailer said in a press release that the service would allow customers to view the mobile version of its website...

CRTC gives public another chance for TV comment

Media | 08/21/2014 4:32 pm EDT

The CRTC is giving the public another chance to make its views known in the review of the national television industry through an online forum, and it has also narrowed down its priorities for discussion to four general areas....

Wind lowers domestic roaming prices

telecom | 08/21/2014 2:29 pm EDT

Wind Mobile on Thursday announced lower prices for domestic roaming as it begins using higher-quality networks for its customers travelling outside their base. The company said in a press release that data speeds will be up to...

Competition watchdog suggests ‘separation’ of incumbents’ retail, wholesale

telecom | 08/20/2014 8:03 pm EDT

Competition Commissioner John Pecman said Wednesday the CRTC should consider requiring a "vertical separation" of wholesale and retail operations at Canada’s wireless companies as part of the telecom regulator’s review of wholesale wireless competition. In a filing to the CRTC, Pecman said the domestic roaming rate caps brought in by the government in June do not do enough to address the market incentives Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. have to charge artificially high prices to wholesale carriers using their networks. The rate caps do not “address non-price terms” for wholesale agreements, Pecman said, making it “necessary for...

Software-defined networking market to boom: IDC

telecom | 08/20/2014 7:36 pm EDT

The market for software-defined networks will multiply in the coming years, according to a new forecast from International Data Corp. The research company said in a press release Wednesday that the worldwide market value for...

Small ISPs positive, Xplornet critical of new 3500 MHz policy

telecom | 08/19/2014 9:34 pm EDT

The government’s proposed changes to the licensing of 3500 MHz spectrum are receiving praise from small wireless Internet service providers (ISPs), while satellite Internet provider Xplornet...

Another Church report blasts efforts to ‘enhance’ mobile competition

telecom | 08/19/2014 9:01 pm EDT

University of Calgary economists Jeffrey Church and Andrew Wilkins are back at it, criticizing government attempts to bring more competition to Canada's wireless sector and insisting those efforts amount to a subsidization of non-viable companies by taxpayers with no justifiable benefit to consumers. In Church and...

CWTA’s Devon Jacobs passes away

telecom | 08/19/2014 8:56 pm EDT

Devon Jacobs, senior director of government affairs with the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), died on Aug. 15 at the age of 49, The Hill Times reported online Tuesday. He succumbed to a nine-month battle with cancer. Jacobs had been with the CWTA since 2010 and was named one of The Hill Times’ Top 100 lobbyists this year....

Tech giants pick sides as battle for IoT protocol unfolds

Media | 08/18/2014 9:16 pm EDT

Some of the largest software and hardware makers in the world, including Microsoft Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Intel Corp., are choosing sides in a battle over communications standards as the world of connected devices evolves into an Internet of Things. Groups including the Qualcomm and Microsoft-backed AllSeen Alliance, the Samsung and Intel-supported Open Interconnect Consortium, and the U.K.-based HyperCat working group are all looking to define the way consumer gadgets talk to one another as more devices become connected to the Internet. This...

Prepaid expiration lawsuit against Bell to proceed

telecom | 08/18/2014 6:53 pm EDT

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has decided a class-action lawsuit against BCE Inc. regarding the expiry of prepaid accounts for mobile service can proceed, a law firm involved in the case said Monday. Sotos LLP said in a...

BlackBerry creates ‘innovative technology’ unit

Media | 08/18/2014 5:12 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. on Monday announced the creation of a new business unit comprised of what it called its "innovative technology assets." The company said in a press release that its new BlackBerry Technology Solutions (BTS) division would be comprised of its QNX embedded-software operations, Internet-of-Things...

Samsung to purchase IoT company

Media | 08/18/2014 5:08 pm EDT

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced on Thursday that it has reached an agreement to purchase SmartThings, a maker of a mobile platform that supports Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications and devices. Samsung said in a...

Devicescape helps carriers tap into public WiFi resources

telecom | 08/15/2014 8:49 pm EDT

Devicescape Software Inc. is a California-based company that is trying to sell wireless carriers on the potential of using the multitude of free WiFi hotspots in existence to their benefit. The...

DiversityCanada granted fraction of costs claimed in CRTC proceeding

telecom | 08/15/2014 6:29 pm EDT

The CRTC said that four telecommunications companies must pay a portion of the costs incurred by the DiversityCanada Foundation during the CRTC’s consultation on the removal of a last payphone...

Eastlink no longer buying Bruce Telecom

telecom | 08/15/2014 5:34 pm EDT

Bragg Communications Inc., which operates Eastlink, won’t be buying Bruce Telecom, the Competition Bureau said Friday. The bureau said in a press release that it reviewed the proposed acquisition and concluded that had...

Experts disagree on stringency of AWS-3 build-out rules

telecom | 08/14/2014 10:56 pm EDT

While some observers are saying the deployment requirements for the upcoming AWS-3 spectrum auction are the strictest the industry’s ever seen, others say they’re pretty much in line...

Cisco to cut 6,000 workers over next year

telecom | 08/14/2014 4:36 pm EDT

Cisco Systems Inc. said Wednesday it will be cutting its workforce by about eight per cent, or 6,000 workers, over the next year as it restructures to concentrate its efforts on specific areas such as data centres and cloud...

Android makes up almost 85% of smartphone market: IDC

telecom | 08/14/2014 1:53 pm EDT

The dominant smartphone brands keep getting stronger as weaker brands, such as devices from BlackBerry Ltd., lose more ground, according to International Data Corp. The technology research company said in a press release Thursday that worldwide smartphone shipments totalled 301.3 million in this year's second quarter, up 25.3 per cent from the same time a year earlier. Devices powered by Google Inc.'s Android software represented 84.7 per cent of the overall market, with 255.3 million shipments, a gain of 33.3 per cent from last year, IDC said. Pricing was credited with much of that...