MTS expands DSL service in rural Manitoba

telecom | 08/02/2013 6:59 pm EDT

MTS Inc., a subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., expanded its DSL Internet service to Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation, Fisher River Cree Nation, Brunkild, and Seven Sisters Falls, Man. The company plans to bring the...

Bell Aliant fibre to reach 800,000 premises by year-end

telecom | 08/02/2013 6:56 pm EDT

Bell Aliant Inc.'s fibre-to-the-home coverage reached about 725,000 homes and other premises by the end of the second quarter, putting it on track to reach 800,000 by the end of the year, the company said. Bell Aliant, which BCE Inc. controls through a 40 per cent share, reported second quarter results Friday for the...

MTS reports $52.9m loss in second quarter

telecom | 08/02/2013 6:55 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. reported a loss of $52.9 million in the second quarter of 2013 that ended June 30, mostly related to the discontinued operations of its Allstream business division. "After announcing the sale...

Rogers first to offer new Moto X

telecom | 08/02/2013 6:50 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. customers will be the first to have access to Google Inc.'s new Motorola smartphone, the Moto X, for $190 on a two-year plan, Motorola said. A release Thursday said Rogers customers can reserve the...

Cope rallies BCE staff as incumbents press on with campaign

telecom | 08/01/2013 9:07 pm EDT

BCE Inc. chief executive George Cope is calling on all 60,000 company employees to write letters to the prime minister as the incumbents' lobbying campaign to change the government's wireless policy picks up steam in advance of a Sept. 17 deadline. Cope encouraged BCE employees, in an email message this week, to write letters to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and to urge family and friends to support the incumbents' campaign. “[T]his is a serious situation for our country as much as it is for our company. And I'd like to ask for your support in letting the federal...

CRTC’s broadband targets elusive in the North: Conference Board

telecom | 08/01/2013 8:52 pm EDT

In Canada’s North, access to telecommunications and broadband infrastructure varies by location and “is often vulnerable to bottlenecks and service disruptions, and can be limited by price, income, and available technologies,” the Conference Board of Canada said in a new report. Northerners pay more for...

Unlimited online video add-ons coming to Internet packages, for a fee, report says

telecom | 07/31/2013 8:44 pm EDT

U.S. Internet service providers (ISPs) will soon begin charging for more creative “service add-ons” like unlimited video streaming to deal with consumers’ increasing demand for bandwidth, with Canadian providers following suit shortly after, said Stephane Bourque, the president and CEO of Vancouver-based...

BCE, Rogers, Telus launch more ads against wireless policy

telecom | 07/31/2013 7:53 pm EDT

Incumbents BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. released new ads this week as part of their campaign against the Conservative government's wireless policy. A new message, bearing...

Telus lowers pricing on two-year contract data plans

telecom | 07/31/2013 4:18 pm EDT

Telus Corp. revised the pricing of data packages in its two-year contracts two weeks after new pricing was announced. The company lowered the price of some of its data packages, which must be purchased in addition to its voice...

Moore’s office told telcos wireless auction policy isn’t changing, sources say

telecom | 07/30/2013 8:31 pm EDT

Industry Minister James Moore’s office told Canada’s wireless providers during closed-door meetings Monday that the government is not changing its mind on the 700 MHz auction rules, said John Lawford, executive director of consumer group the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), who...

Strople joins Metro Ethernet Forum board

telecom | 07/29/2013 9:05 pm EDT

Mike Strople, chief operating officer of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.’s Allstream subsidiary, was elected to the board of international industry group the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), Allstream said. In a release Monday,...

Moore meets with telcos, stands by 700 MHz auction timeline

telecom | 07/29/2013 8:53 pm EDT

Industry Minister James Moore's office said the government is moving ahead with its planned spectrum auction in January as the minister held meetings with telecommunications companies on Monday....

Cyberbullying report recommends parts of Bill C-30

telecom | 07/29/2013 8:41 pm EDT

A cyberbullying report penned by representatives of federal and provincial justice and public safety departments recommended the government revisit elements of the so-called Internet surveillance bill, Bill C-30, Michael Geist, the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said on his blog. Tabled in the House of...

U.K. operators to gain access to 800 MHz airwaves

telecom | 07/29/2013 8:33 pm EDT

British mobile operators will gain unfettered access to the U.K.’s 800 MHz spectrum when the final over-the-air broadcaster removes its signal Wednesday, U.K. regulator Ofcom said. In a release Monday, Ofcom said Freeview, an over-the-air operator owned by a consortium of U.K. broadcasters, will “retune” its broadcasting signal this week in northern Scotland, becoming the last U.K. broadcaster to remove its signal from the 800 MHz band. The spectrum, which was auctioned off to mobile network operators in February, will then be available for use by fourth-generation mobile broadband services, the regulator said. “This section of the airwaves is particularly suitable for offering mobile broadband coverage over wide areas, and penetrating buildings to provide a good...

Telus, Rogers seek clarification on ‘tab’ billing

telecom | 07/26/2013 8:05 pm EDT

Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. have each filed applications asking the CRTC to clarify whether “tab” billing will be permitted under the commission’s new rules for the wireless industry. In a “tab” model, a fixed percentage of a customer’s monthly bill is applied toward...

Tories courted Verizon to enter Canada: Rogers

telecom | 07/26/2013 7:51 pm EDT

The Conservative government courted Verizon Communications Inc. as a possible new entrant into Canada's mobile wireless market, Rogers Communications Inc. executives told The Toronto Star. “Everything that they could...

BlackBerry lays off 250

telecom | 07/26/2013 3:29 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. laid off about 250 staff from its offices in Waterloo, Ont., Reuters reported. Reuters quoted an anonymous company spokesperson who said the layoffs “are part of the next stage of our turnaround plan to increase efficiencies.” The staff were let go from BlackBerry's product testing team at the company’s Waterloo headquarters, Reuters said, adding that the company had...

Andrea Rosen retiring

Media | 07/25/2013 8:47 pm EDT

Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer, is retiring and leaving the commission at the end of September, Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said. Rosen, former deputy commissioner of the federal Competition Bureau, established the CRTC’s compliance and enforcement...

BCE joins Telus’ campaign against auction cap rule

telecom | 07/25/2013 7:59 pm EDT

BCE Inc. aligned itself with Telus Corp.'s campaign to change the government's wireless auction policy, running ads in daily Canadian newspapers that identify potential competitor Verizon Communications Inc. as a $120-billion conglomerate four times the size of Canada's wireless sector. “[T]he government inadvertently left holes in the wireless rules that would give big US corporations the same extraordinary advantages as the small startups,” said a two-page advertising spread, featuring an open letter from BCE chief executive George Cope, which ran Thursday in The Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen, and The Globe and Mail. “Verizon has said it's looking at taking advantage of this unique opportunity. We do not believe a US company 4x the size of...

Bell-Rogers mobile TV deal raises ‘horse trading’ concerns, consumer group says

Media | 07/25/2013 7:29 pm EDT

Mobile providers Telus Corp. and Bragg Communications Inc. could pay higher prices to access TV content on wireless devices following a mobile TV rights deal announced last week between BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., said Janet Lo, legal counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre...

Telus focusing on ‘economic impacts’ of Verizon entry, lobbying to change auction rules

telecom | 07/24/2013 8:32 pm EDT

Telus Corp.’s summer lobbying efforts will focus on the “potential economic impacts” of allowing a large foreign provider like Verizon Communications Inc. to enter Canada’s wireless market, said John Gossling, the company’s chief financial officer. “We’re...

Rogers’ revenue, profits, Internet users, rise; cable subs fall

Media | 07/24/2013 8:01 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc.’s operating revenue rose slightly to $3.2 billion for the second quarter of 2013 from $3.1 billion at the same time last year. The company released its second quarter financial results Wednesday, reporting profits of $532 million from $413 million during the same period a year ago. The...

Bell Aliant extends FibreOp to Timmins

telecom | 07/24/2013 7:41 pm EDT

Bell Aliant Inc. is expanding its FibreOp fibre-to-the-home TV and Internet service to Timmins, Ont., under its NorthernTel brand. The company, which is controlled by BCE Inc. with a 44 per cent stake, is investing $7 million into the expansion, Bell Aliant said in a release Wednesday. The expansion will reach around 15,000 premises and is the...

Allstream opens Chicago Internet point of presence

telecom | 07/23/2013 8:40 pm EDT

Allstream has a new Internet connection point of presence in Chicago, which will give Canadian Internet service providers (ISPs) and other network operators more capacity to exchange traffic with leading Canadian and international carriers, the company said. In a release Tuesday, Allstream said its new Internet exchange point will allow network...

Rogers launches wireless home phone

telecom | 07/23/2013 8:21 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. launched wireless home phone and business phone services in areas of the country where its landline services aren’t available, the company said. In a release Tuesday, Rogers said the new service...

CRTC advances review of wholesale fibre

telecom | 07/22/2013 8:49 pm EDT

The CRTC will move up its review of “New Wholesale High-Speed Access Services” to late 2013, the commission said. The review, which will look at whether incumbent Internet service providers should be required to give smaller competitors wholesale access to their fibre-to-the-home networks to offer their own retail services, was originally...

Spectrum prices a key factor in Verizon entry: Analyst

telecom | 07/22/2013 8:16 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. will be looking for a good return on investment and "reasonable prices" in Industry Canada's upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction as the company considers an...

MTS expands LTE network to Selkirk

telecom | 07/19/2013 7:55 pm EDT

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. subsidiary MTS Inc. expanded its fourth-generation LTE wireless network to Selkirk, Man., the company said Friday. Selkirk is the fourth of six communities in the province to which MTS will expand the service this year, the company said in a release. This expansion follows launches in Victoria Beach, Grand Beach, and Portage la Prairie, and the company plans to extend the network to Steinbach and Ste. Anne this year, the release said....

CRTC manager moves to Nordicity

telecom | 07/19/2013 7:09 pm EDT

Stephan Meyer, a former senior manager at the CRTC, is Nordicity’s new director of technology, the consulting firm said in a release. Meyer, whose roles at the commission included manager of network evolution policy, acting...

MTS workers reach tentative agreement

telecom | 07/18/2013 9:37 pm EDT

The Telecommunications Employees Association of Manitoba (TEAM) Local 161 reached a tentative agreement on a revised collective agreement with Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., a release said. The union voted to authorize a strike...

Incumbents pushing for changes to 700 MHz auction cap rule

telecom | 07/18/2013 7:31 pm EDT

BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. are lobbying for changes to the 700 MHz auction cap rule that permit foreign player Verizon Communications Inc. to purchase more spectrum than each...

CRTC denies payphone rate increase, launches consultation

telecom | 07/17/2013 8:59 pm EDT

The CRTC denied BCE Inc.’s application seeking permission to raise the cost of using its payphones and opened a consultation on the “role” public payphones play in Canada’s communication system, the commission said. In a decision Tuesday, the CRTC said it denied an application by BCE subsidiaries...

Telus acquires Novus’ G block spectrum

telecom | 07/17/2013 8:16 pm EDT

Telus Corp. acquired 10 MHz of unused spectrum in Alberta and British Columbia from B.C. teleco Novus Entertainment Inc., Telus spokesman Shawn Hall said. “We’ve agreed to purchase a small block of unused spectrum,” Hall said in a brief phone interview Wednesday. “This is an important public asset that is currently not being used and we’re going to put the spectrum to use as we expand our network to bring Canadians more wireless capacity and faster wireless Internet.” Novus, an Internet, TV and voice over IP provider in the Vancouver area, spent $17.9...

Bell Aliant extending FibreOp to North Bay

telecom | 07/17/2013 8:00 pm EDT

Bell Aliant Inc. is expanding its FibreOp fibre-to-the-home TV and Internet service to North Bay, Ont., the company said. In a release Wednesday, Bell Aliant said it will spend $13 million to roll out its fibre network past...

Glover the new heritage minister as Moore moves to industry

telecom | 07/15/2013 8:58 pm EDT

Canada’s telecom and media companies will be dealing with a familiar face as they plan for next year’s mobile spectrum auction, following former heritage minister James Moore’s move...

Hulu getting ‘cash infusion,’ no longer for sale

telecom | 07/15/2013 8:55 pm EDT

American over-the-top video service Hulu is no longer for sale and will receive a $750 million US “cash infusion” to help “propel future growth,” the company’s joint-owners said in a release Friday. “We believe the best path forward for Hulu is a meaningful recapitalization that will further accelerate its...

Aziz met with Industry Canada the day Telus deal blocked

telecom | 07/15/2013 8:52 pm EDT

Dave Wireless Inc. board member William Aziz met with an Industry Canada official the same day former industry minister Christian Paradis said he would block Telus Corp.'s proposed acquisition of...

Bell, Telus roll out rate plans for two-year contracts

telecom | 07/15/2013 8:14 pm EDT

BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. introduced new monthly mobile pricing to support two-year contracts after the CRTC effectively eliminated three-year agreements in its wireless code regulations. Wireless...

Huawei, besieged in U.S., now under the Verizon microscope in Canada

telecom | 07/15/2013 6:43 pm EDT

In politics, it's a losing battle to be on the wrong end of the argument over national security, and it's an argument Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. can't seem to win. Troubles persist for...

Norway looking at new Arctic satellite service

telecom | 07/12/2013 8:53 pm EDT

The Norwegian Space Center and Norwegian telecom company Telenor Group are considering a new satellite system for the far North, the Associated Press reported Friday. Bo Andersen, the director of the Space Center, told AP in an interview that the satellite system is contingent on public and private funding and could be ready soon after 2020. He said...

OECD analyst says fourth competitor would lower mobile pricing

telecom | 07/12/2013 8:45 pm EDT

The presence of a fourth competing wireless carrier in each region of the country would reduce Canada’s mobile prices, which are above the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development...

Canada’s mobile spending fourth highest among OECD: report

telecom | 07/11/2013 9:35 pm EDT

Canadian mobile subscribers spent an average of $59 US a month on their mobile services in 2011, fourth-highest among 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the OECD said in a new report. In 2011 data in the OECD’s biannual Communications Outlook report, released Thursday, the inter-governmental organization said Japanese mobile subscribers paid the highest monthly rates of all OECD countries, with average monthly cellphone bills of $92 US. Australians ($63 US) and Americans ($60 US) also spent more than Canadians on their monthly bills, on average, the data said. The OECD average was $40 US per month, the report said. According to the report, Canadians spent more time talking on their mobile phones than users in almost every other OECD...

Cogeco profits, subscribers fall

telecom | 07/11/2013 9:07 pm EDT

Cogeco Inc. posted a profit of $55.1 million in the third quarter, falling from the $55.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in an earnings statement Thursday. Profits fell despite an increase in...

CRTC updates throttling complaints

telecom | 07/11/2013 8:56 pm EDT

The CRTC received 49 complaints about Internet throttling in the past year, the regulator said in a report Thursday. Of those complains, 44 were about throttling, or Internet traffic management, practices, and five were about the...

Two senior executives leave BlackBerry

telecom | 07/11/2013 8:41 pm EDT

Two executive-ranking officials with BlackBerry Ltd. left the Waterloo, Ont.-based company, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. They were T.A. McCann, a vice-president responsible for social media functions, and Marc...

Competition Bureau looking into Shaw-Rogers spectrum deal

telecom | 07/11/2013 2:27 pm EDT

The federal Competition Bureau received a Federal Court order compelling Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and Globalive Wireless Management Corp. to turn over information as...

Wind-Mobilicity merger increasingly likely as debtholder vote postponed

telecom | 07/10/2013 7:08 pm EDT

A merger of Mobilicity and Wind Mobile looks more likely as news reports said Mobilicity delayed a debtholder vote on its recapitalization plan due to acquisition talks with Verizon Communications Inc. “Verizon is probably one of the negotiating parties,” Macquarie Capital analyst Greg MacDonald said in an interview on BNN Wednesday, after the business news channel reported that Mobilicity, operated by Dave Wireless Inc., delayed its vote due to talks with Verizon. “It's...

BlackBerry still ‘in early phases of transition,’ Heins says

telecom | 07/09/2013 9:08 pm EDT

BlackBerry Ltd. shareholders approved the company’s decision to change its name from Research in Motion Ltd. as CEO Thorsten Heins told investors the company “is still in the early phases” of its transition at an annual meeting. In an address at the company’s annual and special shareholders meeting...

Rogers-Videotron deal expected to be first test of new spectrum transfer rules

telecom | 07/09/2013 6:20 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc.’s proposed deal for Videotron Ltd.’s unused Toronto-area spectrum is expected to give incumbent mobile providers the first indication of whether they can obtain...

CRTC looking into telcos’ paper billing fees

telecom | 07/08/2013 8:56 pm EDT

Following complaints from citizens and parliamentarians over the last few months, the CRTC is questioning telecom companies over charges they apply to customers using printed monthly bills. In a letter sent to more than 50 telecom providers last week, the CRTC said it was giving them until July 18 to explain how they charge customers for a paper bill...

Judge denies request for more details in text messaging lawsuit

telecom | 07/08/2013 8:50 pm EDT

The Ontario Superior Court denied a request by wireless providers for more detailed information from the Competition Bureau related to its lawsuit on rich text messaging. Last September, the Competition Bureau launched lawsuit against BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp., and the Canadian Wireless...

Telus expands LTE in Atlantic Canada

telecom | 07/08/2013 8:20 pm EDT

Telus Corp. extended its 4G LTE network to Conception Bay, N.L. and Sydney, N.S., the company said in two releases Monday. On July 3, the company announced it also expanded the network to Strathroy, Ont., Fort Nelson, B.C., and...

CRTC makes comms staff changes

Media | 07/08/2013 8:13 pm EDT

Further changes came to the CRTC's communications staff following Amanda Cliff’s appointment as the commission’s executive director of communications and external relations in April. Guillaume Castonguay, formerly...

Sprint deals with SoftBank, Clearwire progress

telecom | 07/08/2013 6:51 pm EDT

SoftBank Corp. will spend $16 billion US over two years to fortify Sprint Nextel Corp.’s fourth-generation LTE mobile network in the U.S. and on other investments in the company, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said. SoftBank—which received approval last week by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to complete its $21.6 billion US...

Consumers tire of mobile devices in months, WDS finds

telecom | 07/05/2013 8:25 pm EDT

The “commercial reality” of mobile carriers recovering high-priced device subsidies is “misaligned” with a smartphone market that rolls out new flagship products at least once a year, mobile research group WDS said. In a post on the U.K. company’s blog Tuesday, WDS said 29 per cent of customers report that, after six...

Rogers releases Internet speed test results

telecom | 07/05/2013 7:21 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc.’s broadband Internet speeds are as fast as advertised, the company said as it released the results of third-party speed performance testing. The tests are intended to show Internet customers they are getting the appropriate speeds. In a release Thursday, Rogers said tests by U.K. technology firm Sam Knows Ltd. showed that the company “delivered an average of 100 per cent or more of advertised download speeds on the most popular packages it offers for sale.” This included upload and download speeds on the company's Lite, Express, Extreme, and...

Pollsters say incumbents fighting a losing battle as PM comments on wireless code

telecom | 07/04/2013 8:36 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper used social media to weigh in on the CRTC’s decision that wireless consumers should be permitted to cancel their contracts after two years. The messages, posted by...

Google, Bell, Telus respond to surveillance queries

telecom | 07/03/2013 9:41 pm EDT

Following last month’s revelations of a former surveillance program in Canada and an active one in the United States, Maclean’s magazine asked Google Inc., BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. whether the companies have provided bulk data about their customers. According to a Maclean's blog post by Jesse Brown, Google...

Mobilicity delays recapitalization vote for second time

telecom | 07/03/2013 9:24 pm EDT

New entrant carrier Dave Wireless Inc. postponed by a week a scheduled debtholders’ vote on its proposed recapitalization plan in order to consider “potential alternatives,” the...

MTS workers authorize strike

telecom | 07/03/2013 9:14 pm EDT

About one-third of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.’s (MTS) Manitoba-based workforce voted to authorize a strike and could walk off the job in two weeks, the Telecommunications Employees Association of Manitoba (TEAM) Local...

BB10 shipments 800,000 below RBC forecast

telecom | 07/03/2013 9:14 pm EDT

RIM Ltd.'s BB10 first-quarter device shipments fell short of RBC's estimate by 800,000, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue said in a note to clients. RIM, operating as BlackBerry, reported first-quarter revenues that were short of market expectations and BB10 shipments that were 800,000 below RBC's forecast of 3.5 million, Sue said in the note issued June 28. Those numbers were also below a general consensus of three million BB10 shipments in the quarter, he said. “Competition remains intense and BlackBerry has a significantly diminished market presence with just 3% share, down from 20% at its peak,” Sue said. “BB10 is now available in nearly 150 countries around the world. However, carriers appear reluctant to stock inventory, pending stronger end user...

Rogers launches rewards, points program

telecom | 07/03/2013 8:53 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. said it released a new customer loyalty and points program for its customers. Customers will have access to rewards extending to U.S. and international roaming packs, talk and text packs, long distance...

BCE, Telus, Rogers challenge retroactive wireless code

telecom | 07/03/2013 6:21 pm EDT

The CRTC overstepped its authority by retroactively applying its new wireless code of conduct to existing contracts, Canada’s largest three mobile providers said. In a motion for leave to appeal, being filed this week with the Federal Court of Appeal, the companies said they want the court to clarify the potential...

National broadband strategies tied to higher broadband penetration: study

telecom | 07/02/2013 9:28 pm EDT

Countries with national broadband plans have higher rates of broadband penetration than those without such plans, the International Telecommunications Union said in a new report. The report, titled “Planning for Progress: Why National Broadband Plans Matter,” was released Monday by the ITU, its Broadband...

Firefox OS launches on phones in Spain

telecom | 07/02/2013 9:14 pm EDT

Free software group Mozilla, best known for the open source web browser Firefox, launched the Firefox OS mobile platform on devices in Spain. “Today, I’m thrilled to report that Firefox OS phones go on sale in less than a day in Spain, with other launches to follow,” Brendan Eich, chief technology officer at Mozilla, said in a blog...

Spectrum transfer rules include review of ‘prospective’ deals

telecom | 06/28/2013 8:56 pm EDT

Industry Canada released new rules to review all proposed and “prospective” spectrum licence transfers to ensure they will not affect the ability of “existing and future competitors” to offer mobile services, the department said. In the policy released Friday, the Industry Department said it will...

Cogeco home phone extended to two Quebec municipalities

telecom | 06/28/2013 8:52 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. has extended its home phone service to Ste-Rosalie and Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil, Que., the company said. In a release Tuesday, Cogeco said it is offering residents of the two communities a package with unlimited local calling at a promotional price of $5 per month, and a package that also offers five...

Verizon benefits from ‘unintended consequences’ of auction rules: Bibic

telecom | 06/28/2013 8:47 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. could buy twice as much spectrum at a lower price than Canada’s wireless incumbent carriers if it enters next year’s 700 MHz spectrum auction, said Mirko Bibic, BCE Inc.’s executive vice-president and chief legal and regulatory officer. Bibic said in an interview with BNN...

BlackBerry reports loss, further fall in subscriber base

telecom | 06/28/2013 8:06 pm EDT

Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM Ltd., operating as BlackBerry, reported shipments of 6.8 million smartphones for its first quarter of 2014, representing a 13 per cent rise from the previous quarter, though the number of shipments for its touchscreen Z10 smartphone fell short of analyst expectations. In an earnings statement...

Shaw profits rise, hopeful of spectrum transfer

telecom | 06/28/2013 6:19 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc.’s profits rose to $250 million in the third quarter of 2013 as the company reported further cable TV customer losses in competition with Telus Corp. The company’s net income, for the three-month period that ended May 31, rose from $248 million in the same period a year earlier, Shaw said in an earnings statement Friday. Shaw said the gain was due to higher operating income and the sale of its Hamilton cable system to Rogers Communications Inc. The deal, which also involves the sale of specialty channel TVtropolis to Rogers and an option to purchase...

Investors betting against BlackBerry: Markit

telecom | 06/27/2013 7:50 pm EDT

Investors are betting against BlackBerry ahead of the company’s release of its fourth-quarter financial report on Friday, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing data from financial services firm Markit Group Ltd. According to the Markit data, investors have taken a “record number” of “short positions” against BlackBerry in...

‘Triple-play,’ fibre customers most satisfied: J.D. Power

telecom | 06/27/2013 7:49 pm EDT

Customers who bundle their TV, Internet and phone services or who subscribe to a fibre Internet service are most satisfied with their telecom service providers, a pair of J. D. Power and Associates surveys said. In a pair of customer satisfaction studies released Thursday that looked at Canada’s telecom market, J.D....

‘Very realistic’ Verizon entry a ‘game changer,’ analysts say

telecom | 06/27/2013 7:34 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. is waiting to see Industry Canada’s new rules for spectrum licence transfers and is seeking clarification on the department’s rules for the upcoming 700 MHz...

Government answers more spectrum auction questions

telecom | 06/26/2013 9:09 pm EDT

Industry Canada has released additional information about the rules for the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction, answering three new “clarification questions” on its website Tuesday. In the post, Industry Canada...

Verizon would lack towers, backhaul, ‘quad play,’ Rogers says

telecom | 06/26/2013 9:08 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc.'s entry into the Canadian wireless market would be disadvantaged by a lack of towers, backhaul and a “quad play” offering, said Anthony Staffieri, executive vice-president and chief financial officer at Rogers Communications Inc. “When we run our models, we really find it hard to believe that a fourth facilities-based carrier, that there’s room to have a fourth having adequate returns, especially for a carrier that doesn’t have backhaul services in Canada,” Staffieri said Wednesday during a webcast of the TD Securities Telecom & Media Forum conference in Toronto. “[W]e just look at the economics and we...

Former RIM CEO heads clean technology foundation

telecom | 06/26/2013 2:08 pm EDT

Jim Balsillie, former CEO of Research in Motion Ltd., is the new chairman of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, the Department of Natural Resources said in release a Tuesday. Balsillie left RIM in 2012, before the company changed its name to BlackBerry this year. SDTC “is a not-for-profit foundation that finances and supports the...

Bell, CGI, win $398m contract to consolidate government email

telecom | 06/25/2013 9:06 pm EDT

BCE Inc. division Bell Canada and an IT company won a $398-million contract to implement a single email system across the federal government, Shared Services Canada said. The federal government now...

Kenney says message getting through in Silicon Valley

telecom | 06/24/2013 8:58 pm EDT

The message that American companies have many good reasons to set up shop in Canada is getting through to entrepreneurs south of the border, said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. “We have lower taxes, lower business taxes on new investments. We have lower capital gains taxes. We have a startup ecosystem and venture capital industry that is...

Mobilicity delays recapitalization vote

telecom | 06/24/2013 8:18 pm EDT

Dave Wireless Inc.’s debtholders will vote next week on a plan to recapitalize the struggling new entrant wireless carrier, the company said on Friday. Dave Wireless, which operates as Mobilicity, said this month that it...

Shaw opens WiFi network to flood victims

telecom | 06/24/2013 7:51 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. is allowing flood-affected Albertans to use its Western Canada WiFi network, even if they don't subscribe to the company's services, Shaw said. Shaw, which began rolling out a WiFi network in 2011...

Dish abandons Sprint bid

telecom | 06/21/2013 8:39 pm EDT

Dish Network Corp. won’t be making a new offer for Sprint Nextel Corp., the company said on Tuesday, clearing the way for Japanese mobile carrier Softbank Corp.to acquire Sprint. Dish, a U.S. satellite TV provider, bid $25.5 million US in April to acquire Sprint, the third-largest wireless provider in the U.S., as Sprint was already mulling a $20.1 million bid by Softbank. Last week, Softbank said in a release...

‘Named data’ Internet architecture would boost capacity, fix address shortages

telecom | 06/21/2013 7:44 pm EDT

When your smartphone and iPad are sitting on your kitchen table, it seems pretty reasonable they should be able to talk to each other directly. Except that communicating within the cloud means a lot of travelling. When you send a file to yourself via email, to transfer it from your phone to your...

Competitors: Northwestel ‘thwarting’ competition

telecom | 06/20/2013 9:19 pm EDT

Northwestel Inc.’s new modernization plan contains an “unhealthy emphasis” on delaying potential competitors from offering services in the North, competitor SSi Micro Ltd. told a panel of CRTC commissioners. “The latest iteration of the modernization plan still contains inadequate commitments,” Dean Proctor, SSi’s...

PC Mobile launches mobile plans

telecom | 06/20/2013 8:47 pm EDT

PC Mobile, owned by George Weston Ltd. subsidiary Loblaw Companies Ltd., is offering plans for wireless services, the company announced on Wednesday. The plans, which include notifications when users approach, reach, or go over their monthly usage thresholds, were described by the company in a release as “the perfect choice for families who want to monitor their mobile usage and help avoid 'billing shock.'” Customers can choose an 18- or 30-month contract, with an introductory rate of $35 for 400 “Canada-wide” minutes and 200 MB of data, $50 for 1,000 minutes and 1 GB of data and $65 for unlimited minutes and 2 GB of data, the release said. All plans include unlimited international text messaging, including picture and video, as well as voicemail, call display, call waiting and call forwarding, and free...

Fibre transport could solve North’s telecom problems, Arctic Fibre says

telecom | 06/19/2013 10:00 pm EDT

The CRTC's or federal government's subsidies for rolling out fibre “transport” infrastructure in Canada’s northern territories would be a long-term solution to the high cost...

Orascom to continue ‘working with government’ on Wind deal

telecom | 06/19/2013 8:47 pm EDT

Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., owned by Amsterdam-based VimpelCom Ltd., said it is withdrawing a request to Industry Canada to acquire control of Wind Mobile, though it still wants to work with the government to consolidate its interest in Wind. Wind Mobile, owned by Globalive Wireless Management Corp., announced a plan...

Wireless code’s retroactive application ‘mandatory,’ Motzney says

telecom | 06/19/2013 6:38 pm EDT

The retroactive application of the CRTC’s wireless code on all existing wireless contracts will be “mandatory” on June 3, 2015, allowing customers on the tail end of three-year agreements to exit without paying an early cancellation fee, said Barbara Motzney, the CRTC’s chief consumer officer....

NWTel plan doesn’t meet residents’ needs, governments say

telecom | 06/18/2013 9:07 pm EDT

Northwestel Inc.’s revised modernization plan fails to meet northerners’ telecom needs, representatives from the Yukon and Northwest Territories governments told a panel of CRTC commissioners Monday. “The problem is that Northwestel still has no plan to deal with the current unmet needs for broadband and...

Shammo: Verizon ‘dipping its toe’ in Canadian waters

telecom | 06/18/2013 8:55 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. is “looking at the opportunity” of entering the Canadian wireless market, Fran Shammo, the company’s chief financial officer, told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re looking at the opportunity,” Shammo told WSJ in an interview Tuesday. “This is just us dipping our toe in the water.” The Globe and Mail reported on Monday that Verizon is considering entering the Canadian wireless market with a bid for struggling new entrant carriers Wind Mobile (owned by VimpelCom Ltd.) or Dave Wireless Inc. (operating as Mobilicity). Industry analysts said Verizon’s entry into Canada is unlikely due to the capital costs required to build one of the new entrants into a sustainable competitor in the Canadian market, which...

LTSS passed 20,000 subs in April

telecom | 06/18/2013 8:48 pm EDT

Shaw Communication Inc. has enrolled more than 20,000 homes in its free satellite TV program, CRTC data shows. In an email Tuesday, the CRTC said Shaw had 20,008 “active accounts” in the Local Television Satellite Solution (LTSS) program as of Apr. 29. Another 4,058 accounts were “waiting to be activated,” the...

Google Glass ‘raises significant privacy issues,’ Stoddart says

Media | 06/18/2013 8:34 pm EDT

Jennifer Stoddart, Canada’s privacy commissioner, is among 36 data protection authorities who issued a joint letter Tuesday raising concerns about Google Glass. The letter, addressed to Google Inc. CEO Larry Page, asked the company to answer questions about privacy implications related to Google Glass, a smart...

No CETA deal following Harper’s European visit

telecom | 06/18/2013 8:27 pm EDT

Prime Minister Stephen Harper returns to Canada from Northern Ireland Tuesday without a free-trade deal with the European Union. Michael Geist, the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, wrote in a blog post Monday that there were indications of a deal could be concluded before the end of this week's G8...

Modernization plan a ‘fair balance:’ Flaherty

telecom | 06/18/2013 12:50 am EDT

Northwestel Inc.'s modernization plan is a “fair balance” between the needs of consumers, the company, and its competitors, Paul Flaherty, Northwestel's president and CEO, told a panel of commissioners Monday. “The modernization plan cannot be everything to everybody. The key is finding the...

Menzies promoted to vice-chair; CBC’s Shoan named to CRTC

Media | 06/18/2013 12:32 am EDT

The federal Conservative government appointed Peter Menzies as the CRTC’s new vice-chair of telecommunications and former CBC/Radio-Canada employee Raj Shoan as a regional commissioner for Ontario, the Heritage Department said.  In a release Monday, Heritage Minister James Moore said Menzies will take over the...

New organization to promote spectrum access technologies

telecom | 06/17/2013 8:59 pm EDT

    The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, an international organization focused on “advocating more efficient and effective spectrum management,” launched Monday. Its membership is comprised of 23 companies and organizations, including Microsoft Corp. and Canadian startup 6Harmonics. It promotes dynamic...

Analysts skeptical of a Verizon expansion North

telecom | 06/17/2013 7:59 pm EDT

Verizon Communications Inc. held “exploratory talks” with investors in Wind Mobile about operating in Canada, The Globe and Mail reported, though analysts said they are skeptical of a Verizon expansion North. “Verizon has held exploratory talks with investors in Wind Mobile—one of two struggling new entrants in the wireless...

Next generation 911 services need coordination: CITIG

telecom | 06/14/2013 8:42 pm EDT

Top emergency management officials across the country should prioritize establishing "appropriate” governance and coordination mechanisms for the launch of national “next generation” 911 services, the Canadian Interoperability Technology Internet Group (CITIG) said. “Next Generation (NG) 9-1-1 is fast approaching. It brings...

Wind Mobile emphasizes secure network as national security issues raised

telecom | 06/14/2013 7:25 pm EDT

Wind Mobile emphasized the security of its network as Industry Canada continues to review an application to transfer ownership of the company to Amsterdam-based VimpelCom Ltd. The Globe and Mail reported Friday, citing anonymous sources, that the federal government's delayed approval of the transfer of ownership to VimpelCom is due to national security concerns related to Mikhail Fridman, a major Russian shareholder in VimpelCom, as well as Wind’s use of network infrastructure made by Chinese manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. "WIND Mobile is proud to say there has never been a security breach (hacking, spying or otherwise) on our network,” Alexandra Maxwell, a...