Apple to announce connected-home platform: report

telecom | 05/26/2014 5:04 pm EDT

Apple Inc. is planning on expanding into the Internet of Things and will announce a new connected-home platform next week, according to a report from the Financial Times. The paper reported that the platform will unify the...

Transport Canada loosens rules on electronics usage on planes

telecom | 05/26/2014 4:32 pm EDT

Transport Canada announced on Monday it will start allowing electronic devices to be used for the entirety of plane flights, though devices such as smartphones and tablets will still be required to...

New smartwatch won’t need tethering for calls: WSJ

telecom | 05/26/2014 1:16 pm EDT

Samsung Electronics Co. is poised to release a smartwatch that will not need to be tethered to a smartphone to make calls, the Wall Street Journal reported. An article posted on its website Friday said, according to people...

Rogers announces new direction to combat customer flight

Media | 05/23/2014 9:03 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. on Friday released a “comprehensive” plan to overhaul its customer service and restructure its corporate hierarchy. CEO Guy Laurence, who took over the job in...

Bell rolling out FTTH in Kingston

telecom | 05/23/2014 8:33 pm EDT

BCE Inc. is rolling out a city-wide fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Kingston, Ont. The company said in a press release Thursday that it would invest $40 million in building the network. Kingston is the second municipality in Canada in which Bell is building a FTTH network that covers the whole city, following Quebec City. Bell spokeswoman Jacqueline Michelis confirmed in an email that the project would have a June 2015 completion date. The Wire Report reported earlier this year that the building of FTTH in Canada was ramping up, and that as of Sept. 30, 2013, FTTH had passed 1.7 million homes and was connected to half a million premises....

International coalition gets hyper about voice

telecom | 05/23/2014 7:06 pm EDT

You’d be forgiven for thinking that voice calling is becoming less important to the telecommunications industry. Figures from corporations and government have shown, in recent years, a decline in those subscribing to...

Industry Canada approves joint Rogers/MTS network

telecom | 05/23/2014 5:09 pm EDT

Industry Canada said Friday it approved a spectrum-sharing agreement between MTS Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. The companies announced the agreement a year ago, and The Wire Report reported at the time that the deal, which...

AT&T, Verizon launch VoLTE services

telecom | 05/22/2014 8:17 pm EDT

Two of America’s largest wireless carriers have announced that they will be rolling out voice over LTE technology (VoLTE), with AT&T’s version of the service launching Friday and Verizon Communications Inc.’s...

Study outlines positives, negatives of an Internet of Things future

Media | 05/22/2014 8:03 pm EDT

Experts from industry and academia mostly agree that by 2025 the Internet of Things will be pervasive and ubiquitous while agreeing on little else in a new report from the Pew Research Center. The...

Rogers’ Boynton, Stoneham depart as corporate revamp set

Media | 05/22/2014 6:30 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. said two senior officials in its marketing operations have left the company in advance of CEO Guy Laurence announcing a new corporate strategy to employees on Friday. In an...

BlackBerry launches Internet of Things project

telecom | 05/22/2014 5:16 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. announced Wednesday a number of initiatives it said will be the “cornerstone” of its “vision to offer end-to-end solutions for the Internet of Things.” The company said in a press release...

Spotlight on Quebecor after Telus reportedly ends Mobilicity bid

telecom | 05/21/2014 8:52 pm EDT

Analysts speculated Wednesday about the possibility of Quebecor Inc. stepping up to purchase Mobilicity following a report that Telus Corp. has withdrawn its offer. An article, which appeared on the...

Industry Canada to consult on AWS-4 spectrum

telecom | 05/21/2014 8:14 pm EDT

Industry Canada said Wednesday it will hold consultations on AWS-4 spectrum, the use of which it said “will improve mobile services network coverage in virtually all rural and remote areas of Canada.” This spectrum is...

Telus to invest $1.1B in Ont. by 2016

telecom | 05/21/2014 7:38 pm EDT

Telus Corp. said Wednesday it will invest $1.1 billion in technology infrastructure in Ontario between now and 2016. It said in a press release that the money will go toward expanding its wireless network, bringing fibre-optic connections to businesses and advancing its health-care network. Telus said $500 million would be spent this year as part of an existing three-year plan that was to end in 2014. It said a new commitment was made to invest $600 million in Ontario in 2015 and 2016. "By the end of 2016, Telus' investment in operations and infrastructure in Ontario since 2000...

‘Abuses’ exist due to wholesale wireless ‘oligopoly’: Wind

telecom | 05/21/2014 5:23 pm EDT

Canada’s wholesale wireless market is “dominated by an oligopoly” and is not competitive enough to “stem abuses” from the three incumbent wireless providers, Wind Mobile...

Former CRTC vice-chair joins DHX board

Media | 05/21/2014 2:15 pm EDT

David Colville, a former vice-chairman and commissioner with the CRTC, has been appointed to the board of directors for television content creator and distributor DHX Media Ltd. The company said in a press release Tuesday that...

Wireless device installment plans could come to Canada: analyst

telecom | 05/20/2014 8:16 pm EDT

A telecom analyst with BMO Capital Markets says Canadian wireless carriers will “very likely” start offering installment plans to cover the cost of mobile devices as an alternative to the...

Jeremy Depow starts roundtable on digital policy

Media | 05/20/2014 4:52 pm EDT

A new organization has been formed to facilitate discussions on public policy relating to  technology. Canada’s Digital Policy Forum bills itself on its website as “a new and unique roundtable that focuses on...

William Yan becomes Icognito’s new COO

telecom | 05/20/2014 3:11 pm EDT

Incognito Software said Tuesday that William Yan is its new chief operating officer. The Vancouver-based maker provider of broadband-device management technology said in a release that Yan had previously been its senior vice-president of worldwide sales. It said Yan has more than 20 years of management experience in the technology industry, including positions at companies such as Allot Communications and PhyFlex Networks....

Google buying BYOD support company

Media | 05/20/2014 2:14 pm EDT

Google Inc. is purchasing Divide, a company that provides technology and services for workers who bring their own mobile devices to work. Divide posted a notice on its website on Monday that said it is “thrilled to be...

AT&T reaches deal to buy DirecTV

telecom | 05/19/2014 7:54 pm EDT

AT&T announced on Sunday it has reached a deal to buy cable- and satellite-TV provider DirecTV for a total consideration of $67.1 billion US. The direct purchase price of about $48.5 billion US is about a third in cash and...

Bell warns against CRTC interference in wholesale wireless market

telecom | 05/16/2014 3:55 pm EDT

BCE Inc.'s Bell Mobility unit, in an intervention filed in the CRTC’s review of wholesale wireless services, said that meddling in the rates carriers charge to let other carriers use their...

France favours 3, not 4, wireless carriers

telecom | 05/16/2014 2:16 pm EDT

In contrast to the Canadian government’s efforts to help a fourth wireless carrier take hold across the country, the government in France is explicitly calling for a contraction in that country’s wireless sector to...

CRTC should have more authority in telecom, PIAC lawyers say

telecom | 05/15/2014 8:01 pm EDT

A recent paper from the lawyers representing the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) calls for changes in government structure that would give the CRTC more uncontested authority in governing the...

FCC moves ahead with Internet ‘fast lanes’ proposal

telecom | 05/15/2014 7:46 pm EDT

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moved forward Thursday with plans to explicitly allow Internet service providers give select content providers so-called “fast lanes” to end...

Consumers ‘embracing mobile technology’ for social networking: report

Media | 05/15/2014 6:21 pm EDT

More users of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, are connecting to those sites on mobile devices, MTM, a CBC/Radio-Canada project, said in a report Thursday. The report said 63 per cent...

‘Cable’ subscription gains offset by satellite declines: CRTC

telecom | 05/15/2014 6:06 pm EDT

A CRTC report on broadcast distribution operations from around the country showed that an increase last year in “cable” subscriptions was offset by a decline in satellite customers, leaving a “relatively stable” subscriber base for such services overall. The commission said in a press release...

CRTC denies Rogers request for French radio ads

Media | 05/15/2014 4:35 pm EDT

The CRTC denied two requests from the broadcasting arm of Rogers Communications Inc. to add up to a half-hour of French-language commercials per week to three English-language radio stations in northern Ontario on Thursday. In postings on the commission’s website, the CRTC said Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. (RBL) hadn’t cited an economic need for the request and had not applied for a licence for French-language programming. “In return for a potential increase in revenue from French-language advertising, it would be appropriate for RBL to provide some French-language...

French carrier Orange, Competition Bureau intervene in wholesale review

telecom | 05/15/2014 3:04 pm EDT

Orange Horizons, an arm of French telecom giant Orange SA tasked with exploring new markets, said in a CRTC filing on Wednesday that it is taking a close look at the Canadian wireless market. Orange,...

Xplornet investing $475M in satellites

telecom | 05/14/2014 8:07 pm EDT

Xplornet Communications Inc. is investing $475 million in two satellites that will enable it to add more capacity to its satellite Internet service, said company president Allison Lenehan. On Wednesday, the company announced it...

Bell tracking doesn’t reveal identities to other parties: Senate committee

telecom | 05/14/2014 7:12 pm EDT

BCE Inc.’s use of customer data for targeted advertisements does not reveal subscribers’ identities to other parties, the Senate's transport and communications committee said in a report tabled in Parliament on May 8. Senate committee hearings came after Bell said in October 2013 that the company...

Yahoo buys Snapchat rival Blink

Media | 05/14/2014 7:11 pm EDT

Yahoo Inc. has acquired mobile-messaging application company Blink, according to a blog post on the latter’s website. “We’re excited to announce that as of May 13, 2014 Blink is joining Yahoo!” Blink said. Blink's application lets users send self-destructing text messages, audio, sketches, video and photos, its website...

Google opens up Glass sales to U.S. public

Media | 05/14/2014 6:58 pm EDT

Google Inc. said Tuesday any resident of the United States is invited to sign up for the opportunity to purchase its Glass technology, which is still in development. “We’re still in the Explorer Program while we continue to improve our hardware and software, but starting today anyone in the U.S. can buy the Glass Explorer Edition, as long as we have it on hand,” the company said in a blog posting. With the exception of one day last month, the wearable device has generally only been available to a select group of developers, contest winners and invitees as the company tests...

Apple, Pandora challenge SOCAN on streaming tariffs

Media | 05/14/2014 5:41 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Lawyers representing two streaming music services told the Copyright Board of Canada in hearings this week that a request from the not-for-profit group that represents Canadian songwriters and music publishers to...

Wind claims Q1 ‘best quarter ever’

telecom | 05/14/2014 2:34 pm EDT

Wind Mobile said the first quarter of 2014 was its “best quarter ever” as it gained more than 25,000 subscribers and saw its average revenue per user jump to 12 per cent more than it was a year earlier. The company...

Mobile TV is not a broadcast distribution service: CNOC

Media | 05/13/2014 8:53 pm EDT

Mobile-TV services, such as that offered by BCE Inc.'s Bell Mobility subsidiary, are not broadcast distribution services, critics said in final reply letters that were due this week in a case...

Africa Sports channel considered for distribution

Media | 05/13/2014 7:27 pm EDT

The CRTC is considering an application to approve for distribution in Canada a U.S.-based channel that specializes in African soccer. The channel in question is called Africa Sports, according to a posting that appeared on the...

MTS squeezes more profit out of less revenue

telecom | 05/13/2014 2:05 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. said Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings were up as expenses declined in the face of lower revenue. The company’s financial statements indicated it had net income of $41.9 million in the...

Roam Mobility products available at Staples

telecom | 05/13/2014 2:00 pm EDT

Roam Mobility Inc. said Tuesday that Staples Canada would start carrying its SIM cards and unlocked phones, geared toward those travelling to the United States, through both its retail and online operations. According to a press...

Capping wholesale roaming rates at retail level not enough: study

telecom | 05/12/2014 8:59 pm EDT

While the federal government’s current plan for limiting wholesale roaming rates charged within the wireless industry is a “step in the right direction,” a new study from the...

Telus promises $2.6B in Alberta investments

telecom | 05/12/2014 8:59 pm EDT

Telus Corp. said Monday it will invest $2.6 billion in new infrastructure and facilities in Alberta over the next three years. The company said in a press release that the spending pledge includes $1 billion this year, as the...

FCC backs down on net neutrality proposals: reports

telecom | 05/12/2014 7:46 pm EDT

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has backtracked on its proposal for new open Internet rules that critics said would have harmed principles of net neutrality and created a two-speed Internet, reports indicated. On Monday, the FCC said it would revise its proposed rules, which will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday, to include language that will make sure Internet service providers are not allowed to discriminate among the traffic on their network, according to outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and Mashable. Last week, almost 150 U.S. technology companies, including Google...

Canadian ISP speeds faster than U.S.: Netflix

telecom | 05/12/2014 7:01 pm EDT

The average speed of video streaming on Netflix is faster in Canada than in the United States, but slower than European countries such as Norway, Finland and the United Kingdom, Netflix Inc. spokesman Joris Evers said in a...

Newcap Radio posts loss after station acquisitions

telecom | 05/09/2014 4:18 pm EDT

Newfoundland Capital Corp. Ltd., which operates a national network of radio stations as Newcap Radio, said in its first quarter results on Thursday that lower advertising revenues at its radio stations hurt the company’s...

Most don’t recall government’s wireless ads: survey

Media | 05/08/2014 8:55 pm EDT

Polling done for Industry Canada suggests most Canadians have not noticed the government's advertising campaign about the wireless industry. The poll was done by research firm TNS Canada and the...

Distributel introduces first ever Wi-Fi enabled bus in Montreal

telecom | 05/08/2014 4:32 pm EDT

Independent Internet service provider Distributel Communications Inc. announced Thursday the launch of what it said was Montreal’s first WiFi bus. Société de transport...

Quebecor earnings up as wireless revenue surges

Media | 05/08/2014 4:05 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc. improved its bottom line in this year’s first quarter as its telecommunications segment saw a revenue boost of 4.8 per cent, featuring some strong gains in its wireless business. Revenue was up 1.1 per cent from a year earlier to $1.04 billion, the company said in a press release Thursday. Net income rose to $40.7 million from $35.6 million in last year’s first quarter, it added. Quebecor’s financial data, released on its website, showed its telecommunications segment had $692.7 million in revenue, up 4.8 per cent from a year earlier. That included a 0.3 per...

Tech giants call for FCC to protect net neutrality

telecom | 05/08/2014 3:59 pm EDT

Almost 150 U.S. technology companies, such as Google Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp., have written a letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission calling its proposed net-neutrality rules a...

AT&T division registers to lobby Canadian government

telecom | 05/08/2014 2:55 pm EDT

AT&T subsidiary NextWave Broadband LLC has registered to lobby the federal government, The Lobby Monitor reported (Lobby Monitor subscribers only) on Wednesday. Grant Buchanan, a consultant and...

Dial-up Internet surviving despite broadband access

telecom | 05/07/2014 8:50 pm EDT

The continuing use of dial-up Internet access by more than 100,000 Canadians, despite the CRTC’s assertion that broadband is now available to almost every household in the country, shows the limits of access targets,...

VMedia plans could ‘undermine’ broadcast system: Ethnic Channels

Media | 05/07/2014 8:15 pm EDT

Granting VMedia Inc. licences to operate a national video-on-demand (VOD) service and expand its broadcast distribution service would mean approving a distribution structure that would...

Government to back up wireless code in court

telecom | 05/07/2014 6:03 pm EDT

The federal government will be making the case for the wireless code in a case launched in the Federal Court of Appeal against it by carriers such as BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. A letter from Department...

Federal Court date set for carriers vs. SOCAN

Media | 05/07/2014 5:27 pm EDT

A Federal Court hearing has been set for Sept. 3 for the case in which Canada’s major wireless carriers are trying to retrieve $12 million back from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) in...

Google changes up Canadian leadership: report

Media | 05/07/2014 4:58 pm EDT

Google Inc. has made a switch in the managing director’s position at its Canadian operations, the Financial Post reported Wednesday. An article on the Post’s website said Chris O’Neill was leaving the post after...

Mobile network investments result in financial gains: Ericsson

telecom | 05/07/2014 4:14 pm EDT

Wireless carriers should see financial gains as a direct result of boosting investments in their networks, according to a study commissioned by network equipment builder Ericsson AB. The study, led...

Cities in B.C., Quebec getting free WiFi

telecom | 05/07/2014 2:53 pm EDT

Two Canadian cities have been granted free WiFi in separate arrangements involving Shaw Communications Inc. and Cogeco Cable Inc. Shaw said in a press release Wednesday that under a five-year agreement with the City of Penticton in British Columbia, its Go WiFi service will become available in the coming months to the general public in public locations, such as city hall, several parks and other community buildings. Simone Blais, spokeswoman for the City of Pentiction, said in an email that the municipality is not paying any money for the equipment or operating costs. On Monday, Cogeco said...

Federal government’s approach to wireless has failed: study

telecom | 05/06/2014 9:12 pm EDT

The federal government’s meddling in the wireless market over the past seven years and its focus on bringing a fourth carrier into every region has failed to bring about meaningful competition,...

Uncertain future for targeted TV ads in Canada

Media | 05/06/2014 6:35 pm EDT

One of television’s strengths as a vehicle for advertising has always been its ability to reach a lot of people with the same message at the same time. The industry has the technological capability to move in a different...

Another U.S. cableco offers Netflix

Media | 05/06/2014 5:40 pm EDT

Another U.S. cable company said it will provide the services of Netflix Inc. to its customers through set-top boxes made by TiVo Inc. Suddenlink Communications announced the arrangement in a press release on Tuesday, saying...

BCE earnings up as wireless, media divisions boost revenue

Media | 05/06/2014 2:52 pm EDT

BCE Inc. improved its bottom line in this year’s first quarter as wireless data revenue surged and last year’s purchase of Astral Media contributed to its overall revenue. Revenue was up...

Telus to invest $1.3B in Quebec through 2016

telecom | 05/06/2014 2:48 pm EDT

Telus Corp. said Tuesday it will invest more than $1.3 billion in new infrastructure and facilities across Quebec between now and 2016. It said in a press release that it would invest $640 million across the province as part of the final year of a three-year plan launched in 2012. Telus said it would spend another $700 million in 2015 and 2016 to build infrastructure. Among the things the money is going toward, Telus said, is fibre-to-the-home for faster Internet connections, expanding its LTE wireless network, making Optik TV available to more people and improving its health-services...

Wind aiming to poach Mobilicity, Public Mobile customers

telecom | 05/05/2014 9:10 pm EDT

Analysts say a new advertising campaign by Wind Mobile that aims to pick up customers from Mobilicity and Public Mobile may be successful as the new-entrant carrier tries to capitalize on the woes of...

John Lawlor rejoins DragonWave

telecom | 05/05/2014 5:15 pm EDT

DragonWave Inc. announced Monday that John Lawlor has rejoined the company to head its investor relations operations. The company said in a press release Lawlor was its vice-president of investor relations between 2009 and 2013....

Apple looks to bring iWatch to market: reports

telecom | 05/05/2014 3:51 pm EDT

A wearable device called the iWatch is poised to be among the next pieces of disruptive technology offered by Apple Inc., according to reports. A Reuters article on Monday said the company has hired about a half-dozen...

Vermont radio station protests Concordia FM application

Media | 05/05/2014 3:41 pm EDT

Vermont Public Radio is appealing to its listeners in Montreal to pressure the CRTC to not allow a Concordia University students group to launch a new FM signal that would be on the same frequency. A...

Telus to invest $2.8B in B.C. over 3 years

telecom | 05/05/2014 2:27 pm EDT

Telus Corp. said Monday it will invest $2.8 billion in infrastructure in British Columbia, much of it designed to improve Internet and wireless coverage across the province, between now and 2016. It said in a press release that...

Telecoms don’t give out customer info ‘willy-nilly’: Bell ombudsman

telecom | 05/02/2014 8:50 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Telecommunications companies don’t voluntarily give out confidential customer information to the government, said William Abbott, senior counsel and privacy ombudsman at BCE Inc....

Global tablet market slower than expected: IDC

telecom | 05/02/2014 5:19 pm EDT

Preliminary data shows the worldwide tablet market saw lower-than-expected annual growth in the first quarter, according to a release from research firm International Data Corp. Total shipments, including laptop-tablet hybrids,...

Antitrust class-action lawsuit launched against Google

Media | 05/02/2014 3:06 pm EDT

An antitrust class-action lawsuit in the U.S. has been filed against Google Inc., claiming the search engine illegally monopolized and stagnated the American market for Internet and mobile search....

Toronto among 18 locations for new IBM mobile labs

telecom | 05/02/2014 3:04 pm EDT

Toronto is among 18 locations where International Business Machines Corp. announced this week it will be opening new labs for developing mobile applications. IBM said in a press release Wednesday that with these labs, clients “can work side-by-side with IBM mobile professionals to quickly conceive, design, build and deploy working prototypes.” The release did not specify the number of employees that would work at these labs or the exact timing of when they would open....

Snapchat adds instant messaging, video calling

Media | 05/02/2014 2:38 pm EDT

Mobile picture-sharing service Snapchat has introduced instant messaging and video-calling capabilities to its application. Snapchat has been known for being a way to share photographs between users on Apple Inc. iPhones or...

Government wireless policy blasted at telecom conference

telecom | 05/01/2014 11:57 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Participants at a conference discussion about the wireless industry on Thursday blasted the federal government for its approach in trying to bring more competition to the sector, and a...

Price hikes for sports in pick-and-pay ‘big concern’: CMPA lawyer

Media | 05/01/2014 9:14 pm EDT

OTTAWA — The CRTC would be unlikely to intervene if a move to pick-and-pay television caused price increases, said Reynolds Martin, chief negotiator and chief legal officer at the Canadian Media...

Microsoft extending Explorer fix to XP users: report

Media | 05/01/2014 6:22 pm EDT

Despite saying it was ending support for Windows XP last month, Microsoft Corp. will make an exception in making a security update for Internet Explorer available to users of that operating system, Reuters reported. The news...

Telesat raises revenue, lowers loss in Q1

telecom | 05/01/2014 5:37 pm EDT

Canadian satellite operator Telesat Holdings Inc. reported Thursday that it saw higher revenue and lower losses in the first quarter compared to a year earlier. The company said in a press release that revenue was up 11 per cent to $242 million in the three months ended March 31. It attributed much of the gain in revenue from services sold on the Anik G satellite, which went into commercial operation in May last year. That, it said, was offset by lower broadcast revenue from its Nimiq 2 satellite and lower equipment sales. It also said exchange-rate fluctuations between the Canadian and U.S....

Rogers OK’d to amalgamate East Coast distribution licences

telecom | 05/01/2014 4:15 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. has received approval to amalgamate 43 licences for broadcast distribution operations in New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador into seven, the CRTC said Thursday. A notice posted in the commission’s website said Rogers sought a merger that would align its licences to areas designated...

Bell defends targeted ad program as ‘transparent’

Media | 05/01/2014 2:07 am EDT

BCE Inc.’s chief legal and regulatory officer told a Senate hearing on Wednesday night that his company’s targeted advertising program respects Canada’s current privacy laws. Mirko Bibic repeatedly compared his...

Court strikes out parts of CRTC filing on wireless code

telecom | 04/30/2014 9:43 pm EDT

The Federal Court of Appeal has struck out parts of a memorandum the CRTC filed in response to the case in which wireless carriers are challenging the commission’s authority to make the wireless...

Bell Aliant first-quarter financials dip

telecom | 04/30/2014 6:59 pm EDT

Bell Aliant Inc. on Tuesday reported declines in both first-quarter revenue and profit. The company’s financial records indicated that revenue came in at $675.7 million, down 1.2 per cent from the previous year. Net...

CRTC postpones application for radio frequency change

Media | 04/30/2014 5:50 pm EDT

The CRTC said Tuesday that an application that was to be heard May 13 from a radio station seeking to change its frequency has been delayed due to an advisory from Industry Canada that its request “is not technically...

Tangible benefits spending dropped 39% last year: report

Media | 04/30/2014 4:38 pm EDT

Television broadcasters’ spending on tangible benefits related to acquisitions dropped 39 per cent for the 12 months ended last August, according to a new report. Boon Dog Professional...

Sun News gets on Bell, Bell Aliant TV services

Media | 04/30/2014 4:37 pm EDT

Quebecor Inc.’s Sun News Network said Tuesday it has reached agreements for carriage on BCE Inc.’s Bell Fibe and satellite TV service, along with Bell Aliant Inc.’s FibreOP TV. The terms of the agreements...

Alan Dark to head national sales at Rogers Media

Media | 04/29/2014 7:45 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. on Tuesday said Alan Dark will take over as vice-president of national sales at Rogers Media, starting May 26. The company said he will be based in Toronto and set the strategic direction for national...

Privacy czar calls for greater powers on telecom data sharing

telecom | 04/29/2014 7:16 pm EDT

Interim Privacy Commissioner Chantal Bernier said Tuesday that new legislation is needed to compel Canada’s telecom companies to disclose when they hand over subscribers’ private information to other parties, including government agencies, without a warrant. Bernier, speaking at a Senate transport and communications committee hearing into privacy and data collection policies at BCE Inc., said her office is unaware how many government requests are made for customer data or how many of them are fulfilled. “We have tried many times, we have sought out information from the...

Carriers make case for getting ringtone money back

Media | 04/29/2014 6:55 pm EDT

Mobile carriers have filed a memorandum in Federal Court late last week that makes the case for why they want $12 million back from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) in relation to tariffs...

Matt Stein named Distributel’s new CEO

Media | 04/29/2014 4:00 pm EDT

Independent Internet service provider Distributel announced Tuesday that Matt Stein is taking over as the company’s new CEO. The company said in a press release that Stein took on the role on March 31. It said Mel Cohen,...

Parks Canada looking for WiFi providers

Media | 04/29/2014 3:53 pm EDT

Parks Canada has issued a public tender for suppliers of equipment and service to provide WiFi access to visitors of national parks and historic sites. The tender was published on the Merx website on Monday. A Canadian Press...

Quebecor’s Robert Dépatie steps down, citing health

Media | 04/28/2014 9:14 pm EDT

Robert Dépatie, the president and CEO of Quebecor Inc. who succeeded Pierre Karl Péladeau when the media mogul stepped down in March 2013, is resigning his position due to health reasons, the company said in a press release. Pierre Dion, who since 2005 has been president and CEO of TVA Group Inc.,...

Usage-based insurance marks beginning of M2M changes

telecom | 04/28/2014 8:40 pm EDT

For many Canadians, signing up for insurance that monitors the way they drive is the first direct interaction they will have with machine-to-machine communications (M2M). Attendees at a one-day M2M Canada 2014 conference in Toronto in March compared M2M technology to science fiction and predicted it would lead a “revolution” in interconnectivity comparable in scale with the industrialization of Europe and North America in the 19th century, the Wire Report reported earlier this year. With usage-based insurance (UBI), for some drivers in Canada, the revolution is already here....

‘Mobile TV is a broadcasting service’: Bell

Media | 04/28/2014 8:39 pm EDT

In defending their practice of charging rates separate from regular data charges for mobile-TV service, both Rogers Communications Ltd. and Quebecor Inc., in written submissions to the CRTC, talked about being in the early stages of trying to develop a market for this kind of service. BCE Inc., meanwhile, said its...

Microsoft’s Nokia acquisition closes

telecom | 04/28/2014 7:32 pm EDT

Microsoft Corp. announced in a press release Friday that it has completed the acquisition of the Nokia Corp.’s devices and services business. Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and...

Two-tier Internet would face ‘tough regulatory road’ in Canada: Geist

telecom | 04/28/2014 6:09 pm EDT

Canada’s net neutrality rules could provide a “competitive advantage for Internet companies seeking a market without paid prioritization,” Michael Geist, Canada research chair in...

Internet Explorer vulnerable to hacking

Media | 04/28/2014 4:51 pm EDT

Microsoft Corp. said in an Internet security advisory Saturday that it is aware of attacks that attempted to exploit vulnerability in Internet Explorer that could potentially corrupt a user's memory and result in an attack on...

Ending simultaneous substitution could be ‘huge financial hit’: analyst

Media | 04/25/2014 8:39 pm EDT

If the CRTC ends the practice of simultaneous substitution, as it has suggested it could as part of its review of television, conventional broadcasters would be in for a “huge financial...

Netflix to be carried by U.S. TV providers

Media | 04/25/2014 6:43 pm EDT

Netflix Inc.’s video streaming service is poised to be a feature of some providers of television service in the United States, as opposed to just competing with them. RCN Telecom Services LLC, Grande Communications LLC and...

Mobilicity debt holders could sue government: Ghose

telecom | 04/25/2014 5:45 pm EDT

A financial market analyst covering the telecommunications sector says the federal government could cause harm to those with a stake in Mobilicity, and possibly even face a lawsuit, if it continues to thwart attempts by Telus...

CRTC extends deadline on wholesale-wireless review

telecom | 04/25/2014 5:08 pm EDT

The CRTC said Friday that the deadline for initial interventions in its review of wholesale wireless services has been extended to May 15 from May 1. Other dates, such as the Aug. 20 deadline for further interventions and the...

Verizon Wireless tracking users’ home Internet usage for ads

telecom | 04/25/2014 4:17 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc.’s so-called relevant mobile advertising program is being expanded to use information about wireless customers’ home Internet habits in order to help its marketing partners target ads to individual users. The U.S. telecom firm’s mobile arm, Verizon Wireless, has a notice on its website about an “enhancement” of that program that will “help marketers reach you with messages that may be more interesting to you. “ Verizon says when customers register on one of its websites, it will create an “anonymous, unique...