Bell to open its biggest Quebec customer service centre

telecom | 11/29/2013 5:34 pm EST

BCE Inc. said Friday it will open its largest Quebec customer service centre in Saguenay in the spring of next year. Run by Bell Canada’s Nordia subsidiary, the centre will employ more than 450...

CRTC certifies Telus Fund

Media | 11/29/2013 4:39 pm EST

The CRTC certified Telus Corp.'s proposed Telus Fund as a new independent production fund, the commission said. In a decision Friday, the CRTC said broadcast and video-on-demand distributors will be allowed to direct some of their required annual Canadian programming contributions to the Telus Fund to help finance “the creation of programming portraying social and technological innovation in the field of health...

Cogeco to launch pick-and-pay TV outside Quebec next year: Audet

Media | 11/28/2013 10:02 pm EST

MONTREAL—When Cogeco Inc. introduced its pick-and-pay cable-TV offering in Quebec a decade ago, it had to find a balance between profitability and satisfying customers, and the challenge will be...

Telus expands LTE network in Ontario

telecom | 11/28/2013 5:39 pm EST

Telus Corp. has expanded its LTE mobile network into Port Hope and Cobourg, two side-by-side Ontario towns about 100 kilometres east of Toronto, the company said. In a release Thursday, Telus said its mobile customers in those...

Ericsson, Telus sign deal for IMS technology

telecom | 11/28/2013 5:37 pm EST

Ericsson said Thursday it has signed a deal with Telus Corp. to develop and install an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) for Telus’ network, which is its says will be the “foundation” for communications services over LTE and other network connections. Ericsson said IMS will enable Telus to offer its customers advanced services such as “high-definition” voice, video calling and other data features. “Harnessing the power of IMS technology is something we're very excited about as it will enable us to offer next-generation solutions that transform the way our customers live, work and play,” Eric Spadatto, Telus’ executive vice-president of technology strategy, said in a press release. Fredrik Alatalo, executive vice-president for Ericsson in...

Chantal Bernier named interim privacy commissioner

telecom | 11/27/2013 9:07 pm EST

Chantal Bernier, the assistant privacy commissioner, will take over as interim privacy commissioner on Dec. 3, the federal government said Wednesday. She will serve “pending the completion of the publicly advertised selection process for the next privacy commissioner,” the government said in a release. Jennifer Stoddard, the outgoing...

Tough Canadian market for Orange without spectrum: analyst

telecom | 11/27/2013 8:35 pm EST

The way Orange SA is said to be considering entering the Canadian market—if indeed it does come at all—could limit the success the French telecom has in the Canadian wireless market. Troy Crandall, a media and telecom analyst with MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier, said Orange does seem interested in Canada,...

Sasktel boosts Internet speeds in 7 communities

telecom | 11/26/2013 7:30 pm EST

Sasktel is upgrading the Internet speeds it makes available to its customers in Pike Lake, Leask, Choiceland, Marsden, Meath Park, Sheho and Star Blanket Cree Nation, Sask., the company said Thursday. The company said in a...

Quebec’s consumer watchdog fines Bell $3.28m, other telcos warned

telecom | 11/25/2013 9:43 pm EST

Quebec’s consumer protection office (OPC), an agency of the provincial government, fined BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Mobility $3.28 million for breaching the provincial Consumer Protection Act, and warned other telecommunications companies they could be next. The OPC said in a release Friday it was fining...

MTS offers LTE roaming throughout Canada, internationally

telecom | 11/25/2013 9:24 pm EST

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. on Monday said that it is now is offering its customers the opportunity to roam on LTE networks in most major urban areas in Canada and the United States, as well as...

Carleton University paper argues for more wireless competition

telecom | 11/25/2013 6:57 pm EST

A research project from Carleton University in Ottawa has released a report saying there is a deficit of competition in Canada’s wireless market. The report, from the Canadian Media Concentration Research Project, said Canada, like many other countries, has a high concentration of ownership in its wireless sector....

Rogers survey says most Canadians want more TV choice

Media | 11/25/2013 5:43 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. on Monday said 86 per cent of respondents in a survey it commissioned want more choice and flexibility in the channels that are included in their TV subscriptions. The Harris/Decima survey also found that 60 per cent of respondents would be willing to pay extra per channel and 64 per cent like having access to TV packages...

BlackBerry announces changes to management, board

telecom | 11/25/2013 5:12 pm EST

BlackBerry Ltd. on Monday announced it was making changes to three top management positions and a board seat. It said Kristian Tear is leaving the position of chief operating officer, and Frank Boulben is departing from the job of chief marketing officer, without giving a reason for their departures. BNN reported that BlackBerry is not replacing them...

Cyberbullying bill will not resurrect Bill C-30’s most costly provisions: experts

telecom | 11/22/2013 9:44 pm EST

Anti-cyberbullying legislation introduced by the government in the House of Commons this week resurrects many of the lawful-access provisions previously included in its so-called Internet surveillance bill, Bill C-30, though it does not include two aspects that would have been the most costly for telecommunications companies, experts said. The Conservative government decided earlier this year not to go ahead with Bill C-30, which would have required telecom service providers to supply information to authorities without a court-ordered warrant and to build and maintain intercept capabilities, after the bill came under public criticism. The new cyberbullying legislation, Bill C-13, does not...

Ice Wireless launches new mobile network in Iqaluit

telecom | 11/22/2013 9:02 pm EST

Ice Wireless, a subsidiary of Iristel Inc., launched a high-speed wireless service that’s well suited to accommodating the latest in smartphones and tablets, in the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit. It said in a press release Friday that its service provides an alternative to the “spotty, overpriced cellular coverage” that for years had...

Canadian smartwatch designer raises $250,000 from crowdfunding

telecom | 11/22/2013 7:57 pm EST

Canadian tech startup Neptune Computer Inc. raised more than double its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign to support its development of a new smartwatch product, the company said. In a release, Neptune said its Kickstarter campaign, launched Thursday, aimed to raise $100,000 to manufacture the company's...

Nokia launches new music-streaming service

Media | 11/21/2013 10:27 pm EST

Nokia Corp. said Thursday it has launched a new music streaming service called Nokia MixRadio with Play Me in 31 countries, including Canada. The company said in a press release that the service becomes a “personalized radio station that is unique to every user.” It uses artist choices, “favourite” selections, song skips and...

Telecoms urged to ‘virtualize’ networks to keep up with advances in technology

telecom | 11/21/2013 10:23 pm EST

A United Kingdom-based research group released a report Thursday that urges telecommunications carriers around the world to adapt their networks to technological advances like exponential growth in the adoption of smartphones—a move that will require a “transformation” of their...

Spectrum caps a ‘reasonable’ exercise of minister’s powers: government

telecom | 11/21/2013 9:22 pm EST

Industry Canada’s decision to limit incumbent wireless providers’ access to the best airwaves in the upcoming 700 MHz auction was a “pure policy decision” and should not be subject to judicial review, government lawyers argued in documents filed in Federal Court this week. “The grounds on which a policy may be challenged are limited,” William Pentney, the federal deputy attorney general, said in documents filed Monday as part of Telus Corp.’s challenge...

Verizon confirms talks with government

telecom | 11/21/2013 8:56 pm EST

U.S. telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. confirmed it held talks with the Canadian government earlier this month. As reported in The Wire Report on Nov. 5, Verizon has an entry in the federal lobbyist registry, which became active Oct. 22, for it to communicate with the Prime Minister’s Office and Industry Canada about foreign-ownership...

CRTC provides model agreement for telcos, municipalities

telecom | 11/21/2013 5:49 pm EST

The CRTC on Thursday said it created a model agreement to be followed by telecommunications firms and municipalities for cases in which a telco needs access to municipal property for the purpose of...

BCE mobile TV offering an undue preference: complaint

Media | 11/20/2013 10:26 pm EST

The CRTC should ban BCE Inc. from allowing its mobile subscribers to access Bell Mobile TV content on their smartphones and tablets without it counting against those subscribers’ monthly data caps, a new CRTC application said. BCE’s Bell Mobility subsidiary allows its wireless subscribers to access up to 10 hours of TV programming,...

Rogers expands Alberta data centres

telecom | 11/20/2013 8:36 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. said Wednesday it is expanding its Edmonton data centre and adding a new one in Calgary, as well as that it launched a new unit to deal with such operations. The company said it has added 6,000 square feet to its existing data centre in Edmonton. Rogers spokeswoman Michelle Lewis said in an emailed statement the new space...

Home phones expected to ‘just go away’

telecom | 11/20/2013 3:21 pm EST

Former Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Tie Domi picked up a new gig this year, as pitchman for voice-over-IP provider Comwave Networks Inc. in which he urges customers to “stand up to the big guys” by switching home-phone services. The cheaper home-phone offerings provided by companies like Comwave—which advertises its rates as low...

Telcos should invest in think-tanks to help influence policy debates, Hunter says

telecom | 11/19/2013 10:34 pm EST

Canada’s telecom companies should find new ways to invest in shaping public policy since they can no longer donate to political parties directly, said Lawson Hunter, counsel at Stikeman Elliott...

U.S. broadcasters praise CRTC television review, government talks

Media | 11/19/2013 9:33 pm EST

A group called the U.S. Television Coalition said Tuesday it is encouraged by the CRTC’s current review of the way television is regulated in Canada as well as by bilateral talks happening...

Bell launches CTV Go

Media | 11/19/2013 8:51 pm EST

BCE Inc. has launched CTV Go, an online service that allows viewers to watch live and on-demand programming from its CTV and CTV Two channels. The company said in a release Tuesday that the service includes “livestreams of both networks’ complete schedules,” access to 60...

Samsung’s smartwatch sales hit 800,000: Reuters

telecom | 11/19/2013 7:42 pm EST

Samsung Electronics Co. has sold 800,000 of its Galaxy Gear smartwatches in the two months since its release, Reuters reported Tuesday. Reuters said the sales numbers defied “some market concerns the accessory would fail due to a lack of compelling features.” Samsung said sales beat the company’s expectations, and mean that the Galaxy Gear has become the world’s most popular smartwatch, Reuters reported....

Analysts, academics take sides on whether wireless regulations help or harm consumers

telecom | 11/18/2013 10:17 pm EST

Industry Canada and CRTC efforts this year to create a more consumer-friendly wireless market have caused Canadians’ mobile phone bills to go up while reducing the...

Telus says it will be code-compliant by end of November

telecom | 11/18/2013 9:16 pm EST

Telus Corp. said Monday that by the end of November it will be fully compliant with the CRTC’s new wireless code of conduct. Telus said by the end of this month it will have implemented...

Sprint, Best Buy offer U.S. students free service with smartphone purchase

telecom | 11/18/2013 9:13 pm EST

Sprint and Best Buy are offering students in the U.S. free talk, text and data service for a year with the purchase of a smartphone. In an joint announcement Monday, the companies said students who buy a smartphone from Sprint at a Best Buy store would get 12 months of unlimited talk, text and one gigabyte of data each...

Spectrum advocacy group holds first summit

telecom | 11/18/2013 9:09 pm EST

The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, a group pushing governments for more open access to wireless spectrum, said Monday it is holding its first-ever global summit in Bangkok. Membership in the group, which launched in June, includes technology firms such as Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. It calls on governments around the world to provide...

Savvis launching Toronto data centre

telecom | 11/18/2013 9:08 pm EST

Savvis, a subsidiary of CenturyLink Inc., will open a new data centre in Toronto in the summer of 2014. “Designed to serve growing demand for access to secure colocation, managed hosting and cloud services in Canada, the 100,000-square-foot TR3 data center will support up to five megawatts of IT load,” the company said in a release Monday. It will be the fourth Canadian data center for the company, which currently operates 55 data centres around the world, it said....

Does the emergence of Fibe signal the end of satellite TV?

telecom | 11/18/2013 4:00 pm EST

Millions of Canadians still receive their television service from signals beamed to space and back, even as the country’s dominant provider of satellite TV has given many of them a reason to...

Eastlink scraps roaming fees in new plans

telecom | 11/15/2013 9:44 pm EST

Regional telecom provider Eastlink launched new mobile plans that will allow its subscribers to use their wireless devices in other parts of the country without incurring roaming fees, the company said. Eastlink (owned by Bragg Communications Inc.) said in a release Friday that its new mobile plans give its Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island wireless...

TeraGo chief executive resigns

telecom | 11/15/2013 9:36 pm EST

TeraGo Inc. will launch a search for a new chief executive following the resignation of its president and CEO Bryan Boyd, the company said Friday. The company said in a release that Boyd resigned “by mutual agreement," in order to “pursue other opportunities.” “Charles Allen, chairman of the board, has been appointed to...

MTS expands fibre to Lorette

telecom | 11/15/2013 8:08 pm EST

MTS Inc. has extended its fibre-to-the-home service to Lorette, Man. The company said in a release Friday the rollout will give residents access to its IPTV service, MTS Ultimate TV, as well as its high-speed Internet plans. The...

2300, 3500 MHz spectrum should be accessible for small ISPs: Storm CFO

telecom | 11/14/2013 11:03 pm EST

With the government poised to take back some of the spectrum it auctioned off a decade ago because some holders are not using it to provide broadband Internet to rural Canada, the chief financial officer of one small ISP suggested access to affordable Internet could improve by providing spectrum licences for shorter terms...

Rogers offers new U.S. roaming rates

telecom | 11/14/2013 9:26 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. on Thursday announced new U.S. roaming rates, which it said double its previous data caps and provide more talk time as well as unlimited texting at lower prices. A basic data plan starts at $7.99,...

Canada, U.S. ‘battle’ over ISP liability in TPP negotiations: Geist

telecom | 11/14/2013 9:23 pm EST

Canada and the U.S. are in a “battle” over ISP liability in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, Michael Geist, the Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said in a blog post Thursday. On Wednesday, WikiLeaks posted a 95-page draft of the intellectual property...

Apple, Samsung almost tied in Canadian mobile market

telecom | 11/14/2013 6:06 pm EST

Nearly the same number of Canadians now use mobile devices made by Samsung Electronics Co. as use devices made by Apple Inc., Ipsos Reid said. The company said in a release Tuesday that 33 per cent of Canadian smartphone owners...

CRTC will not license new radio stations in Saskatoon

Media | 11/14/2013 5:22 pm EST

The CRTC will not issue a call for applications for new radio stations to serve the Saskatoon market due to concerns about the effect licensing additional commercial stations would have. The commission said in a decision Wednesday that it “remains concerned with the low aggregate profitability recorded by the market and in particular with the fact that the additional revenues generated in the market have not led to a marked improvement in the market’s profitability.” The CRTC said it would “not generally be disposed” to accept new applications in the market for...

Court grants Mobilicity sales process

telecom | 11/13/2013 10:15 pm EST

An Ontario Superior Court judge granted Mobilicity's request for permission to enter a formal sales process to sell the company or its assets, court documents show. In an application filed last week as part of the...

U.S., Canada clash over copyright at TPP negotiations, WikiLeaks shows

Media | 11/13/2013 10:09 pm EST

A draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, leaked Wednesday, shows that the U.S. and Canada have found themselves at odds over copyright issues during the negotiating process. The 95-page...

Consumers trump lobbyists in development of telecom regulation: consultant

telecom | 11/13/2013 9:55 pm EST

TORONTO—Political intervention in the development of regulatory policy is here to stay, as grassroots consumer movements reduce lobbyists' ability to sway politicians and regulators,...

Despite challenges, 5G wireless could arrive by 2020

telecom | 11/13/2013 9:12 pm EST

Though all the possibilities that 4G wireless technology presents still haven’t been fully explored, industry experts gathered in Ottawa on Wednesday to look ahead at the next generation of wireless networks and discuss what...

Rogers launches Recommendation App, Kids Zone

Media | 11/13/2013 9:09 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. on Wednesday announced two new features for customers of its NetBox 3.0 service, one that helps viewers decide what to watch and another that provides a selection of kids programming. The "Recommendation App" can make suggestions based on what a viewer is currently watching or has just watched, and suggest other shows that are deemed similar by characteristics such as genre, starring actors and directors, Rogers said in a release. It can also make suggestions based on what are the most popular shows, movies and channels of Rogers customers at that time....

Canadian Digital Media Network gets more government funding

telecom | 11/13/2013 8:59 pm EST

The Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN), a Kitchener, Ont.-based organization that focuses on getting ideas for digital-media products commercialized, has been granted a funding extension from the federal government, according to releases from both Industry Canada and the organization itself on Wednesday. The group said...

CRTC to launch voluntary broadband measurement program: Menzies

telecom | 11/13/2013 3:28 pm EST

TORONTO—The CRTC will launch next spring a “national broadband measurement project” that will analyze the performance of Canadian Internet connections from the subscriber’s...

Consolidation ‘essential’ to small providers, ISPs say

telecom | 11/13/2013 12:47 am EST

TORONTO—A majority of Canada's small Internet service providers (ISPs) have seen little or no growth over most of the last decade, which is causing an “ISP class gap” and continued industry consolidation, said Michael Garbe, president of Accelerated Connections Inc. “Most ISPs are not [growing]....

CRTC consulting on Rogers, Cogeco corporate reorganization

Media | 11/12/2013 8:19 pm EST

The CRTC is consulting on an application by Rogers Communications Inc. and an application by Cogeco Inc. subsidiary Cogeco Diffusion, the commission said in a notice Tuesday. It said Rogers had...

Android reaches 81% of global smartphone shipments: IDC

telecom | 11/12/2013 7:21 pm EST

Phones running on Google Inc.’s Android operating system made up 81 per cent of all smartphone shipments worldwide in the third quarter of 2013, up from 74.9 per cent at the same time a year...

Fabio Banducci leaving Cogeco

telecom | 11/12/2013 5:45 pm EST

Cogeco Cable Inc. said Tuesday that Fabio Banducci is leaving his post as co-CEO of its subsidiary Peer1 Hosting, a provider of IT hosting and communications technology services. The resignation is effective Dec. 18, at which time Peer1’s other co-CEO, Gary Sherlock, will assume the role of sole president and CEO. Cogeco Cable, which announced...

IPTV drives up TV subscriptions: report

telecom | 11/12/2013 4:53 pm EST

After three straight quarters of declining television subscriptions in Canada, publicly traded companies gained a record number of Internet-protocol television (IPTV) buyers, according to a report by Boon Dog Professional Services...

Mobilicity seeking court-supervised sale of assets

telecom | 11/12/2013 2:20 am EST

Struggling new entrant carrier Mobilicity is asking the Ontario Superior Court to supervise a sale of some or all of the company's assets as a potential alternative to a twice-rejected deal to sell itself to Telus Corp., court documents show. In an application filed last week as part of the company's ongoing bankruptcy-protection proceedings,...

Global smartphone subs to triple by 2019: report

telecom | 11/11/2013 9:58 pm EST

Global mobile subscriptions will reach 9.3 billion by 2019, and of those, 5.6 billion will be smartphone subscriptions, a new report by Ericsson said. Currently, there are 1.9 billion smartphone subscriptions, according to the data. Smartphones currently make up 25 to 30 per cent of mobile subscriptions, though they accounted for 55 per cent of all mobile phones sold in the third quarter, the Ericsson Mobility Report said. "The rapid pace of smartphone uptake has been phenomenal and is set to continue. It took more than five years to reach the first billion smartphone subscriptions, but it will take less than two to hit the 2 billion mark,” Douglas Gilstrap, senior vice-president and head of strategy at Ericsson, said in a release. Wireless networks are also set to grow, the...

Vecima, Corridor withdraw from 700 MHz auction

telecom | 11/11/2013 8:45 pm EST

Two of the three small telecom companies who registered to bid in Industry Canada’s 700 MHz auction have now withdrawn from the auction. Victoria-based broadband equipment manufacturer Vecima Networks Inc. and rural Alberta...

Netflix, YouTube account for half of North American Internet traffic: report

Media | 11/11/2013 7:37 pm EST

A new report shows that Netflix Inc. and Google Inc.’s YouTube are the source of more than half the traffic being accessed by Internet users on fixed networks in North America. Waterloo,...

Telcos to focus on customer experience

telecom | 11/11/2013 7:32 pm EST

Improving customer experience is the top priority for telecommunications firms around the world, according to a report by U.K.-based research firm Ovum. The report, called "ICT Enterprise Insight," said global IT spending by telecommunications service providers will amount to $60.7 billion US by 2017. It said technology that integrates...

Mitel reaches deal to buy Aastra

telecom | 11/11/2013 7:27 pm EST

Mitel Networks Corp., an Ottawa-based telecommunications technology firm, said Monday it reached a deal to purchase Aastra Technologies Ltd., headquartered in the Greater Toronto Area. It said the deal is worth $392 million in cash and stock, and has the unanimous approval of both companies’ boards of directors. Mitel’s specialties include...

MTS revenues down due to legacy revenue declines

telecom | 11/08/2013 8:26 pm EST

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.'s third-quarter revenues were down 3.7 per cent, the company reported Thursday. Revenues were $408.4 million for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, down from $424.3 million at the same time a year earlier. The company said in a release Thursday the decline was “due to legacy revenue declines, including $12.2 million in planned reductions at Allstream, and a $2.6 million reduction in MTS wireless wholesale revenues as other carriers move their customers from MTS’s CDMA network to their own HSPA networks.” Net income was $25.4 million, down $33.2 million from the same period a year earlier, the company reported. “Strong growth in data revenues” contributed to an increase in average revenue per user for wireless...

Telus earnings rise, wireless churn rate falls

telecom | 11/08/2013 7:44 pm EST

Telus Corp. on Friday reported higher third-quarter earnings as it managed to slow the churn rate of its wireless postpaid customers to the lowest level in more than six years. The company said it earned a profit of $356 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $323 million one year earlier. Revenue was $2.87 billion, up 3.6 per cent from...

Competitors pitch their services as options for BlackBerry’s enterprise customers

telecom | 11/08/2013 5:19 pm EST

As BlackBerry Ltd.’s problems mount, other companies are jumping in to capitalize on any inklings its corporate customers might have about switching to other mobile devices. Waterloo,...

Fibe TV growth accelerated in Q3, BCE says

telecom | 11/07/2013 9:45 pm EST

BCE Inc. added 44 per cent more Fibe TV customers in the third quarter than it did in the previous three months, as it continued to expand its IPTV footprint and lure customers with its wireless set-top boxes, the company said. In a quarterly financial report released Thursday, BCE said it added 72,813 Fibe TV subscribers in the three-month period that...

Quebecor posts third-quarter loss, gains in some areas

telecom | 11/07/2013 9:37 pm EST

Quebecor Inc. reported a third-quarter loss on Thursday, attributed largely to a $177-million write-down it took on the value of various assets. That left the company with a quarterly loss of $167.8...

Jean Brazeau leaving Shaw

telecom | 11/07/2013 9:00 pm EST

Jean Brazeau, senior vice-president of regulatory at Shaw Communications Inc., left the company, The Wire Report has confirmed. Brazeau was appointed to the position in 2009, and previously served as vice-president of telecom regulatory affairs at Shaw....

Rogers launching mobile wallet

telecom | 11/07/2013 8:48 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. is launching a mobile payment service that will allow customers to make payments using Rogers’ prepaid MasterCard and some gift cards. The company said in a release Thursday it hopes to expand the...

Wind adds 17,000 subscribers in Q3

telecom | 11/06/2013 10:16 pm EST

Wind Mobile had 637,000 Canadian subscribers in the three-month period ended Sept. 30, VimpelCom Ltd. said Wednesday. VimpelCom, which has a 65 per cent stake in Wind Mobile, said in its quarterly results that Wind’s...

Incumbents perform well in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver: report

telecom | 11/06/2013 10:14 pm EST

The wireless networks of BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. showed “strong and similar performances” in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, U.S.-based mobile analytics firm RootMetrics said. The company said in a release Tuesday it tested “47,495 data, call and text tests designed to...

Parsons joins Citizen Lab

telecom | 11/06/2013 9:49 pm EST

Network specialist Chris Parsons joined University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab as a post-doctoral fellow studying telecom surveillance practices. Parsons, who previously studied deep packet inspection technology as a doctoral candidate at the University of Victoria, said in an interview that he will look at surveillance of mobile devices in his new position. “In particular: what kind of data is stored and retained by Canadian ISPs over communications lines, and then how do authorities gain access to it and how often do they access that data,” he said of the research he will be undertaking. The one-year position runs through the end of September 2014, Parsons added....

Jim Patrick moving to Shaw next year

Media | 11/06/2013 9:13 pm EST

Canadian Wireless and Telecommunications Association (CWTA) senior vice-president Jim Patrick will be moving to Shaw Communications Inc. next year. Patrick, who started at the CWTA in 2008 and previously worked in senior positions at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, will start at Shaw in January as the company's vice-president for...

Roaming complaints tripled last year, CCTS says

telecom | 11/06/2013 12:59 am EST

Consumer complaints about wireless roaming charges more than tripled during the past year, telecom complaints commissioner Howard Maker said. In an annual report released Wednesday, the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) said roaming fees, along with wireless data and home Internet bandwidth charges, “remains one of...

Verizon registers to lobby in Canada

telecom | 11/05/2013 9:41 pm EST

U.S. telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. registered to lobby Canadian government officials in October, following its statements in September that it does not plan to enter the Canadian market. The Lobby Monitor reported Tuesday that Verizon hired Dentons Canada LLP to lobby on its behalf on foreign ownership rules and spectrum allocation....

Industry Canada revises satellite spectrum policy

telecom | 11/05/2013 9:10 pm EST

Industry Canada announced changes to its licensing policy for satellite spectrum. The department said in a notice on its website Tuesday that it will use a “new first-come, first-served” process to assign satellite spectrum, and made changes to the obligations, licensing and fee regime related to satellite spectrum.   Industry Canada...

Moore encouraged Blais to tackle consumer issues at CRTC

telecom | 11/05/2013 7:40 pm EST

Then-heritage minister James Moore told incoming CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais in an introductory letter last year that he would like to see the commission “comprehensively address consumer affordability” issues, according to documents obtained under an access-to-information request. In a letter dated June 18, 2012 and obtained by The Wire Report through a request, Moore told Blais that he would like to see the commission “do a better job” incorporating consumer participation into the regulator's work. “I would like to see the Commission comprehensively...

Rightsholders, CBSA to work together under anti-counterfeit bill

telecom | 11/04/2013 10:12 pm EST

Bill C-8, the Combating Counterfeit Products Act, will allow rightsholders to work more closely with border guards and law enforcement agencies by preventing counterfeit goods from entering the...

MTS to provide WiFi to Winnipeg public facilities

telecom | 11/04/2013 10:03 pm EST

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. will provide WiFi to Winnipeg’s libraries, arenas, and other community facilities, the company said Monday. MTS said in a release it would invest approximately $2 million “to bring Wi-Fi...

Cord-cutting won’t reach tipping point within five years: PwC

Media | 11/04/2013 10:01 pm EST

A tipping point of cord-cutting or “drastic cord shaving” for TV services won’t happen within the next five years, a new report by PwC said.  “As long as consumers...

BlackBerry no longer for sale; Heins leaving

telecom | 11/04/2013 9:40 pm EST

BlackBerry Ltd. said it concluded its strategic review and is no longer looking for a buyer, and will instead receive a $1 billion investment from Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. The company said in a release Monday that the...

CRTC embracing ‘open government’: Blais

Media | 11/04/2013 9:35 pm EST

Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC, said Monday that his organization is embracing the philosophy of “open government” and cited examples like the hearings that resulted in the commission blocking BCE Inc.’s...

NGN, Riding drop filesharing case against Distributel

telecom | 11/04/2013 9:24 pm EST

NGN Prima Productions Inc. and Riding Films Inc. dropped a court motion that sought to compel Distributel Communications Inc. to identify its Internet customers whose accounts had been linked to peer-to-peer filesharing. In...

Success of mobile wallet technology will depend on ubiquity, social acceptance

telecom | 11/04/2013 7:45 pm EST

Mobile customers are still a ways away from the day when smartphones will render our wallets—and their bundles of receipts, IDs, and credit, debit and loyalty cards—obsolete.  Experts expect some market breakthroughs as early as next year, but for now, key obstacles are social acceptance of the technology,...

Norquay to lobby for VimpelCom

telecom | 11/01/2013 8:27 pm EDT

Conservative consultant Geoff Norquay has registered to lobby the government on behalf of VimpelCom Ltd. Norquay, a principal consultant with Earnscliffe Strategy Group, registered on Oct. 24 to lobby the Prime Minister’s...

Consortium sues Google, others, over patents

telecom | 11/01/2013 7:12 pm EDT

A consortium of Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., BlackBerry Ltd., Ericsson and Sony Corp. is suing seven companies, including Google Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., over patent infringement. Reuters reported Thursday that the consortium, called Rockstar, was suing the companies in the Texas U.S. District Court for infringing patents it bought for $4.5 billion in Nortel Networks Corp.’s bankruptcy auction. The news service said Rockstar accused Google of infringing seven patents, covering technology that matches search terms with advertising, and which is “at the core of Google’s search business.” Google initially bid on the Nortel patents in 2011 and was outbid by Rockstar, Reuters said....

CRTC prioritizes roaming with task force

telecom | 11/01/2013 6:50 pm EDT

The CRTC created an internal wireless roaming task force that will prioritize the investigation of wireless carriers’ roaming rates and terms. “Over the past year, the Commission has been made aware of concerns with...

Unfettered access to 700 MHz necessary to meet spectrum crunch, Telus tells court

telecom | 11/01/2013 2:15 pm EDT

Telus Corp. continues to challenge the federal industry minister's power to impose caps in January's 700 MHz spectrum auction, arguing in court documents that there is no “viable...

Bell Aliant reports fall in profits

Media | 10/31/2013 9:56 pm EDT

Bell Aliant Inc. reported a profit of $81 million for the three-month period ending Sept. 30, falling $7 million from the same time period a year earlier. The company, which is controlled by BCE Inc. through a 44 per cent stake,...

Wireless code permits tab contracts, CRTC says

telecom | 10/31/2013 9:44 pm EDT

Mobile providers can continue to offer “tab” billing under the CRTC’s wireless code so long as the billing models used are “clear, transparent, and predictable” for consumers, the CRTC said. In a...

Cogeco loses TV, telephone subscribers

Media | 10/31/2013 9:38 pm EDT

Cogeco Inc. lost 14,210 cable television subscribers in the fourth quarter, the company said in a quarterly financial statement released Thursday. In its cable segment, Cogeco said it had 1,065,075 television subscribers at the end of the quarter on Aug. 31, 2013, down 14,210 from the previous quarter. The company reported having 562,260 telephone subscribers, a loss of 2,124 from the previous quarter, while gaining a net 1,097 Internet subscribers during the same three-month period. Cannacord Genuity analyst Dvai Ghose said in a research note that the net loss of 12,021 subscribers across all segments was “much worse than our 259 net loss estimate and consensus net loss of 1,781 driven by a significant decline in cable subscribers and an unexpected decline in telephony...

Ontario passes wireless consumer protection law

telecom | 10/30/2013 9:00 pm EDT

A consumer protection bill covering wireless services in Ontario will come into force in the spring, after receiving unanimous support at its final vote in the provincial assembly Wednesday, the provincial Ministry of Consumer Services said. In a release, the provincial ministry said Bill 60, officially called the Wireless Services Agreement Act, will...

SaskTel launches 4G push-to-talk

telecom | 10/30/2013 8:41 pm EDT

SaskTel launched its next-generation “push-to-talk” service, which will serve as an alternative to its service operating on the CDMA network, the company said. Push-to-talk services cater to a niche market of business...

Android fueling growth of Chinese smartphones

telecom | 10/30/2013 8:27 pm EDT

Google Inc.’s Android smartphone platform has led to “vast opportunities” for new smartphone vendors and “new competitive pressures at the top of the market,” research firm IDC said. In IDC’s...

CRTC introducing new area codes

telecom | 10/30/2013 8:25 pm EDT

The CRTC will introduce a new area code in southwestern Ontario in 2015 and another for Alberta in 2016. The commission said Wednesday that new telephone numbers in Alberta may have the 825 area code starting April 9, 2016, and...

Wi-Lan looks at possible sale

telecom | 10/30/2013 6:44 pm EDT

Ottawa patent company Wi-Lan Inc. said it is examining “strategic alternatives,” including a possible sale.  Wi-Lan announced the plan Wednesday after its stock price fell more than 20 per cent on news on Oct. 23...

Mobilicity still working on Telus deal as government indicates a denial

telecom | 10/30/2013 6:11 pm EDT

Mobilicity’s management will continue to ask the federal government to approve a proposed deal to sell the company to Telus Corp. after the Tory government indicated last week that it would...

Facebook meets with BlackBerry: WSJ

telecom | 10/29/2013 8:59 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. executives met with Facebook Inc. in California last week “to gauge its interest in a potential bid” for the company, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. In a report citing anonymous people...

CIRA appoints Mehinagic, Sandiford as board officers

telecom | 10/29/2013 8:50 pm EDT

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) appointed Susan Mehinagic as its new board chair and Bill Sandiford as its new vice-chair, the organization said. CIRA said in a release that Mehinagic, a chartered accountant and lawyer, was picked as chair at a board meeting Tuesday and will serve on a two-year term. Sandiford, the president of the...

Telcos fight for share of growing condo market

telecom | 10/28/2013 9:37 pm EDT

As condo developers erect new high-rise buildings to house the expanding populations of Canada’s largest cities, telecom providers are competing to be the ones to line those buildings with fibre-optic cables, sometimes with exclusive deals.  “Every provider nowadays is looking for how best to capture customers as early and as completely as possible,” Stephen Meyer, director of technology at Nordicity, said in an interview Monday. “By offering one infrastructure to those in condos, they’re hoping to form a long relationship.”  Some of...