CRTC tells businesses to prepare for anti-spam

telecom | 10/10/2012 7:07 pm EDT

The CRTC posted two information bulletins Wednesday to help Canadian businesses understand Canada’s anti-spam legislation. Canada’s anti-spam law received royal assent on Dec. 15, 2010, granting new powers to the CRTC, the privacy commissioner and the Competition Bureau. The goal of the law, the CRTC said, is to protect Canadian users from...

‘No American company provides this technology,’ Huawei says

telecom | 10/09/2012 9:00 pm EDT

Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies Co., the target of spying allegations by a new U.S. House committee report, should be recognized for employing about 450 people in Canada and supplying “transformative” fourth-generation telecom equipment in Canadian rural areas that no American company...

CRTC approves broadcast distribution licences

telecom | 10/05/2012 7:52 pm EDT

The CRTC approved applications by Internet company Zazeen Inc. to operate terrestrial broadcast distribution services in and around major cities in Quebec and southern Ontario, the commission said in two decisions Friday. In one...

CIRA names new board members

telecom | 10/05/2012 7:44 pm EDT

Bill Sandiford, president of the Canadian Network Operator Consortium (CNOC) and Michael Geist were elected to the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) board of directors. In election results posted on CIRA’s website last week, the member-driven organization that manages Canada’s .ca domain registrations said Sandiford and Geist,...

CRTC to help build ‘informed and empowered’ base of consumers, Blais says

Media | 10/04/2012 11:19 pm EDT

OTTAWA—The CRTC will inform the public about their telecommunications options in an effort to build an “informed and empowered” constituency of consumers, new CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais said. “I firmly believe that a well-functioning communications system requires a number of service providers that are able to compete fairly,” Blais, appointed head of the CRTC in June, told the House of Commons heritage committee Thursday. “But a healthy marketplace also...

Sandvine reports loss, rise in revenues

telecom | 10/04/2012 9:31 pm EDT

Canadian network technology company Sandvine Inc. reported a third-quarter loss of $851,000 US. In a release for its quarterly earnings for the three-month period ending Aug. 31, Sandvine reported an improvement on the $4.2 million US loss it recorded in the second quarter this year. The company reported $1.7 million US in profit for its third quarter...

Wi-Lan launches patent lawsuits

telecom | 10/04/2012 9:27 pm EDT

Ottawa-based licencing company Wi-Lan Inc. launched patent infringement lawsuits against three major telecom equipment companies in U.S. courts this week, the company said. In a release Tuesday, Wi-Lan said it has “initiated two separate litigations claiming patent infringement,” related to its fourth-generation LTE intellectual property...

Mobile Internet driving growth, OECD says

telecom | 10/04/2012 9:23 pm EDT

The rising popularity of the mobile Internet fuelled six per cent growth of information and communications technology companies in the past 11 years, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said. In the OECD's “Internet Economy Outlook 2012” report released Thursday, the organization said the top information...

Northwestel forms Borealis Communications

telecom | 10/03/2012 8:30 pm EDT

Northwestel Inc. partnered with Aurora Communications of Norman Wells to form Borealis Communications Inc., Northwestel said Monday. In a release, Northwestel, a subsidiary of BCE Inc., said the new business would focus on providing voice and data solutions for the exploration industry, focusing on the Tulita District in the Northwest Territories, the...

Ontario requests qualifications for Ontera sale

telecom | 10/03/2012 7:59 pm EDT

The government of Ontario is moving forward in its efforts to sell off its northern telecom agency with a request for qualifications to determine a short list of potential buyers. In a request posted on Canada’s public sector tendering website Tuesday, provincial Crown corporation Infrastructure Ontario said it will use the qualifications process...

T-Mobile, MetroPCS, would have 23% market share: analyst

telecom | 10/03/2012 7:52 pm EDT

Deutsche Telekom AG subsidiary T-Mobile USA will merge with MetroPCS Communications Inc., combining the United States' fourth- and sixth-largest wireless carriers, the companies said Wednesday. T-Mobile and MetroPCS said in a release the merger would “create the leading value carrier in the U.S. wireless...

Samsung tablet sales ban removed

telecom | 10/02/2012 8:16 pm EDT

A U.S. District Court removed an American sales ban on Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet as part of the company’s patent dispute with Apple Inc., Bloomberg reported Monday. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh imposed the sales ban in June before the patent infringement trial began. On Aug. 24, a U.S. federal jury ruled that Samsung...

Canadian tablet numbers doubled in Q2: survey

telecom | 10/02/2012 8:12 pm EDT

The number of Canadian homes with tablets doubled in the second quarter of 2012, a survey by Solutions Research Group Consultants Inc. (SRG) said. In a release Tuesday, SRG said new data showed that in 2012’s second quarter, 18 per cent of 11 million connected homes in Canada had a tablet. SRG said the number rose from nine per cent one year ago....

CRTC posts commission vacancies

Media | 10/02/2012 11:45 am EDT

The CRTC posted a notice of vacancies for the positions of vice-chair of telecommunications and regional member for Ontario. The CRTC said in the posting Monday that the successful candidate for the vice-chair position, which ranges from $196,800 to $231,500 in salary, will have “extensive” experience providing corporate direction and leadership, as well as experience in the operation and conduct of a quasi-judicial tribunal, an agency or equivalent. “The ideal candidate possesses proven senior level decision-making experience with respect to sensitive and complex issues, as well as experience in developing, maintaining and managing successful stakeholder relationships and partnerships within and outside an organization,” the CRTC said. A CRTC official confirmed at the end of September that Len Katz’s term is ending and will not be renewed. Katz, who is the commission’s vice-chair of telecom and who served as acting chair from January to June, will leave on Oct. 11. The regional member position has a...

10-digit dialing coming to N.S., P.E.I.

telecom | 10/02/2012 11:37 am EDT

New area code 782 will be introduced into the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island on Nov. 30, 2014, the CRTC said Monday. In the decision, the commission said the new area code is being introduced to deal with a shortage of phone numbers in the province currently being served by area code 902. The CRTC said customers with existing phone...

CWTA asked about initiatives on stolen cellphones

telecom | 10/02/2012 11:27 am EDT

The CRTC is giving the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) until the end of November to provide detailed explanations of what the group and its members are doing to combat mobile device theft in Canada. In a...

Canada the ‘fastest growing’ smartphone market in G7, comScore says

telecom | 10/01/2012 5:27 pm EDT

OTTAWA—Canadian smartphone penetration rate reached 54 per cent this summer and Canada is now the fastest growing smartphone market among G7 countries, new data released by comScore Inc. said. In a presentation at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Mixx Canada 2012 conference on Friday, Darrick Li,...

SaskTel gets 2500 MHz extension

telecom | 09/28/2012 8:16 pm EDT

Industry Canada extended SaskTel’s licence to use 2500 MHz spectrum for fixed wireless services through March 2014. In a release, the Conservative government said it gave the provincial Crown corporation a 15-month extension on its 2500 MHz spectrum licence that was set to expire on Dec. 31. The extension will ensure SaskTel's rural...

CIRA calls for more exchanges to improve Internet speed, costs

telecom | 09/28/2012 7:19 pm EDT

Canadian Internet service providers (ISPs) and network operators should increase the number of domestic Internet exchange points to improve the speed and cost of accessing the Internet in Canada, a new white paper by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) said. Typically found in large, urban centres with multiple ISPs, the exchange points allow ISPs and companies that operate their own networks, such as Google Inc. or Microsoft Corp., to connect to the Internet and exchange traffic through a single, centrally located hub. A traffic exchange, known as “peering,” allows Internet traffic on one ISP’s network to connect with other networks and ISPs. In a white paper released this month titled “Toward Efficiencies in Canadian Internet Traffic...

RIM grows subscribers; sales decline

telecom | 09/27/2012 9:25 pm EDT

Research In Motion Ltd. reported slowed subscriber growth and the third straight quarter of declining device sales as the company warned of “continued pressure on operating results” for another six months. In a...

Court’s satellite piracy decision raises questions about CRTC data collection: Experts

Media | 09/27/2012 8:08 pm EDT

A Quebec judge's decision in Quebecor Media Inc.'s satellite piracy lawsuit against BCE Inc. raises questions about the quality and thoroughness of company data filed with the CRTC, experts say. “The whole premise of the regulatory system to date has been that companies are honestly...

Supreme Court permits anonymous request for IP info

telecom | 09/27/2012 7:48 pm EDT

A 15-year-old girl who was bullied on Facebook can receive a court order to obtain the address of those who bullied her without putting her name on the public record, the Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday. In a unanimous decision for A.B. v Bragg Communications Inc., the court said the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia erred when it ruled the young...

Tory MP calls for changes to Health Canada mobile regulation

telecom | 09/27/2012 7:15 pm EDT

Conservative MP Terrence Young wants to make changes to Health Canada's Safety Code 6, which sets out limits for human exposure to radio frequencies and electromagnetic fields emitted from equipment like mobile towers, the Toronto Sun reported Wednesday. Young told the Sun he wants the government to update the code...

Bureau official Pecman named interim competition commissioner

Media | 09/26/2012 9:32 pm EDT

Competition Bureau official John Pecman was appointed the new interim commissioner of competition for up to a one-year term, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said Wednesday. Pecman replaces Melanie Aitken, whose last day as commissioner passed last week. "With nearly 30 years of experience at the Bureau, Mr....

Incumbent data revenues to rise 24%: report

telecom | 09/25/2012 8:32 pm EDT

More smartphone users will grow data revenues for Canada’s big three incumbent providers BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. by 24 per cent in 2012, Convergence Consulting Group Ltd. said in a new report. The report, entitled “Canadian Wireless: Assessing the Impact of New Entrants,” estimated that Canadian smartphone...

MTS turns on LTE in Manitoba

telecom | 09/25/2012 8:21 pm EDT

MTS Allstream Inc. turned on its fourth-generation LTE network in Winnipeg and Brandon, Man. at the end of August, the company said Tuesday. In a release, MTS said its new LTE network offers download speeds of up to 75 Mbps and...

SaskTel announces fixed wireless alternatives

telecom | 09/24/2012 8:59 pm EDT

SaskTel will use Internet sticks and its high-throughput satellite signals to serve thousands of rural customers who will lose fixed wireless Internet service at the end of 2012, the provincial Crown corporation said Monday. Last...

CRTC deregulates 35 markets for business lines

telecom | 09/24/2012 8:39 pm EDT

The CRTC agreed to a Telus Corp. request to deregulate local telephone competition for business lines in 35 areas in Alberta, B.C. and Quebec and rejected the company’s proposal to deregulate another 54 markets, the commission said Monday. In its decision, the CRTC said it approved Telus’ request to deregulate local business services in 35 markets in which a competitor had facilities-based operations capable of covering 75 per cent of the service area. The commission said the other 54 markets in which Telus had requested deregulation did not have sufficient facilities-based...

New provincial laws curbing copper thefts from telcos, companies say

telecom | 09/24/2012 4:13 pm EDT

The number of copper thefts from telecom providers has tumbled in British Columbia due to a new provincial law regulating the metal recycling industry, Telus Corp. said. In a Sept. 14 document filed...

Telus expands LTE footprint

telecom | 09/21/2012 8:32 pm EDT

Telus Corp. turned on its fourth-generation LTE network in more than a dozen areas of British Columbia and Quebec, the company said last week. In a series of releases, Telus said it had activated its LTE networks in the B.C. communities of Strathmore, Drayton Valley, Surrey, Richmond, North Delta,...

Shaw seeks to join U.S. WiFi consortium

telecom | 09/21/2012 8:21 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. is interested in joining a U.S. consortium of cable companies that have agreed to let each other’s customers roam freely on their WiFi networks, Brad Shaw, the company’s CEO, said Wednesday....

Maximum penalties a strong message against misleading advertising: Aitken

telecom | 09/20/2012 9:12 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau sought maximum penalties against Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. to send a strong message to the market against misleading advertising, outgoing Commissioner of Competition Melanie Aitken said. “We have also signalled how importantly we regard misleading advertising by...

Tories ‘considering all options’ on CRTC size, vacancies

Media | 09/20/2012 8:54 pm EDT

The Conservative government is “considering all options” related to the size of the CRTC and the filling of upcoming vacancies, Heritage Minister James Moore said. “We’re considering all options and haven’t made up our mind yet,” Moore said on Parliament Hill Thursday, when asked by The Wire Report whether the government would consider reducing the commission’s size. “Of course, we look at our appointments all the time,” he said when asked whether the government had begun the process of identifying potential candidates. In January,...

China Unicom opens Toronto office

telecom | 09/19/2012 9:11 pm EDT

China Unicom, China’s second-largest mobile carrier, opened a new Toronto office to support its global operations, The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday. The company—which previously had North American offices in San Jose and Los Angeles, Calif., as well as in Hendron, Va., and Iselin, N.J.—opened its new Toronto office following a...

Internet companies form new D.C. lobby group

Media | 09/19/2012 9:05 pm EDT

A coalition of some of the world’s largest Internet companies launched a new U.S. lobby group to promote their interests and those of the Internet economy. In a release Wednesday, the newly launched Internet Association said it will lobby Washington policy makers on three areas of interest, including “protecting Internet freedom; fostering...

Bell Aliant aims to pass 1M homes with fibre-to-the-home

telecom | 09/19/2012 9:03 pm EDT

BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Aliant Inc. plans to bring its fibre-to-the-home service to one million homes “in the coming years,” Glen LeBlanc, the company’s executive vice-president and...

Competition Bureau lawsuit challenges ‘intermediary’ roles online: CWTA

telecom | 09/19/2012 7:45 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau's $31-million dollar lawsuit against Canada's incumbent wireless carriers for their role in misleading mobile advertising “goes in the other direction” of regulatory moves to ensure telecom operators are treated as third-party intermediaries, said Bernard Lord, president and CEO of...

New entrants not likely to carry iPhone before 2014, analyst says

telecom | 09/19/2012 4:19 pm EDT

Canada’s new entrant carriers are not likely to carry Apple Inc.’s popular iPhone smartphone before 2014 after their network configurations were shut out of Apple’s newly released...

Finance Department consulting on code for mobile wallet payments

telecom | 09/18/2012 9:14 pm EDT

The federal Finance Department has opened a call for comments on its plan to include regulation of mobile payments in the department’s Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry. In a release Tuesday, the Finance Department said it has proposed an addition to the code of conduct to recognize the rising...

Android makes gains in Canada

telecom | 09/18/2012 9:02 pm EDT

Canadian consumers increasingly use smartphones and tablets running Google Inc.’s Android operating system, a new Ipsos-Reid poll said Tuesday. In a release, Ipsos said its latest Mobil-ology study found Android-powered...

Iristel, Huawei team up on northern telecom network

telecom | 09/18/2012 8:54 pm EDT

Iristel Inc. and northern wireless company Ice Wireless signed a multi-year deal with Huawei Technologies Co.’s Canadian division to provide “3G cellular services” in rural and remote northern communities, the companies said. In a release, Iristel said the companies will partner with Huawei to offer “3G and wireless broadband...

Wind tops 500,000 subs

telecom | 09/18/2012 8:46 pm EDT

Globalive Wireless Management Corp.’s Wind Mobile wireless brand has surpassed 500,000 Canadian subscribers, the company said Tuesday. In a release, Wind said it now provides voice and data services to “more than 500,000 subscribers across Canada” through its HSPA+ network, reaching 13.5 million people in the country. In June, Tony Lacavera, Wind’s chairman and CEO, said the company had abandoned the “doomed” strategy of targeting low-end, pre-paid subscribers in favour of more lucrative post-paid customers. He later told The Wire Report that this shift caused the company to post lower net subscriber additions during the first three months of 2012, but that the added subscribers generated more revenue than those the company was no longer courting. VimpelCom Ltd., Globalive’s international parent...

Cogeco reorganizes marketing team

Media | 09/17/2012 9:01 pm EDT

Cogeco Cable Inc. has adopted a new organizational structure for greater marketing efficiency for its residential services, Ron Perrotta, vice-president of marketing and strategic planning at Cogeco, said in a release Monday....

MTS undertakes strategic review

telecom | 09/14/2012 9:25 pm EDT

MTS Allstream Inc. is undertaking a “wide-ranging strategic review” of its Allstream telecom business with an eye on appealing to potential foreign investors, the company said Thursday. In a release, MTS said the...

Competition Bureau suing Big Three over premium text messaging advertisements

telecom | 09/14/2012 5:14 pm EDT

The federal Competition Bureau is suing Canada’s three largest wireless carriers for more than $30 million over what it calls “misleading advertising” relating to...

Court blocks Mason’s attempt to meet with Telus shareholders

telecom | 09/13/2012 3:22 am EDT

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has rejected Mason Capital Management LLC’s latest effort to block Telus Corp.’s plan to consolidate its voting and non-voting shares. Mason, a...

Rogers expanding LTE network this month

telecom | 09/13/2012 3:21 am EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. will expand its fourth-generation LTE service to 10 new cities by Oct. 1, the company said on its RedBoard blog Wednesday. Rogers said it will bring LTE to the cities of Kingston, Oakville, Burlington, London, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Barrie, Ont., as well as Quebec City and Edmonton. The company said it plans to bring LTE to 60 per cent of the population by the end of the year. Rogers added its LTE service offers theoretical download speeds of up to 100 Mbps, with typically experienced speeds ranging from 12 to 40 Mbps. Rogers has launched LTE services...

SaskTel and Huawei to trial fixed broadband on LTE

telecom | 09/10/2012 9:21 pm EDT

SaskTel is teaming up with Huawei Technologies Co. to trial a fourth-generation LTE fixed wireless network in Saskatchewan, the companies said Monday. In a release, SaskTel said the trial will use Huawei “solutions and...

TeraGo undertakes ‘strategic review’

telecom | 09/06/2012 8:56 pm EDT

TeraGo Inc. initiated a strategic review process aimed at enhancing its shareholder value, the small and medium business wireless broadband provider said Wednesday. In a release, TeraGo said its board of directors initiated a review process to identify, examine and consider a range of strategic options available to the company. TeraGo added the review...

Bell Aliant bringing fibre network to Gander

telecom | 09/06/2012 8:52 pm EDT

BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Aliant will invest $2.75 million to expand its fibre-to-the-home services into Gander, N.L., later this month, the company said Thursday. In a release, Bell said the investment would allow it to bring its...

Quebec plan to invest in rural fibre stalled, ISPs say

telecom | 09/05/2012 8:56 pm EDT

A $900 million investment by the Quebec government to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to its unserved and underserved residents over 10 years has made little progress since it was first...

Canadians continue to text more, CWTA says

telecom | 09/04/2012 9:01 pm EDT

Canadians’ use of text messaging continued to climb in the first three months of 2012, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association’s (CWTA) txt.ca division said Tuesday. In a series of statistics posted on txt.ca’s website, the CWTA said Canadians sent 23 billion “person-to-person” text messages in the first...

Canadians consuming more content on traditional and new media platforms, CRTC says

Media | 09/04/2012 8:51 pm EDT

Canadians are watching and listening to more content across both traditional and new media platforms, but still turn to TV and radio for the bulk of their media consumption, the CRTC said in an annual...

Competition Bureau-Chatr court hearing breaks

telecom | 08/31/2012 8:57 pm EDT

An Ontario Superior Court hearing for the Competition Bureau's lawsuit against Rogers Communications Inc. for "misleading advertising" has adjourned until Nov. 5 due to a scheduling issue. The Competition Bureau launched a court action against Rogers in 2010, seeking a $10-million penalty for “misleading advertising” that ran...

Telus launching legal proceeding to block Mason meeting

telecom | 08/31/2012 8:41 pm EDT

Telus Corp. will launch legal proceedings to seek a court order determining that New York-based hedge fund Mason Capital Management LLC’s attempt to hold its own shareholder meeting is...

Blais appoints chief consumer officer in first move as CRTC chair

Media | 08/31/2012 8:36 pm EDT

In his first decision as the new CRTC chair, Jean-Pierre Blais appointed a chief consumer officer to the commission and renamed the commission’s research bureau to reflect consumer priorities, a CRTC spokesman said. Barbara Motzney, who has 20 years in the public service and most recently as the director general of border policy and international affairs at the Department of Public Safety, will take on the commission’s new chief consumer role starting Oct. 1, a CRTC release said...

Telus to service City of Timmins for five years

telecom | 08/31/2012 6:55 pm EDT

Telus Corp. won a five-year, quarter-million-dollar contract to provide wireless services to the City of Timmins, the Timmins Times reported this month. Under the new contract, Telus will provide wireless services to 147 city-owned devices at an annual cost of $59,400, the Times said. To secure the contract, Telus beat competing bids by rival national...

BCE appoints new Quebec VP of sales

telecom | 08/31/2012 6:51 pm EDT

BCE Inc. appointed Alain Brisson to the position of vice-president sales for Bell business markets in Québec, the company said Thursday. Bell said in a release that Brisson, who holds a bachelor’s degree in science...

SaskTel reports 600,000 wireless customers

telecom | 08/30/2012 9:04 pm EDT

SaskTel reached 600,000 wireless customers in the province of Saskatchewan, the company said Wednesday. SaskTel said in a release that its mobile network is “the most extensive” in the province and currently available...

Lawford to head PIAC

Media | 08/30/2012 9:01 pm EDT

John Lawford will become the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (PIAC) new executive director and general counsel as of Sept. 1, PIAC said Thursday. In a release, PIAC said Lawford will replace Michael Janigan, who has held the executive director and general counsel position since 1992. Janigan will replace Toronto counsel Michael Buonaguro as lead counsel representing PIAC’s clients before the Ontario Energy...

Canadian fibre providers ‘blessed’ with shorter loop lines, analysts say

telecom | 08/30/2012 8:19 pm EDT

Closer multi-family homes and shorter “loop lines” allow fibre-to-the-node network providers in Canada to offer faster Internet speeds with fewer capital-intensive upgrades than comparable networks in the United States, industry analysts said. Fibre-to-the-node networks use slower, copper wires to complete “last mile” connections to homes and other buildings. That means Internet or Internet protocol TV (IPTV) subscribers who connect to the network further from the fibre “node” receive slower service than those closer to the node. The length of loop lines are important to carriers now as they roll out fibre-to-the-node networks and face rising demand for...

Bell Aliant, Bragg, potential suitors among 13 parties interested in Ontera: analysts

telecom | 08/29/2012 6:59 pm EDT

BCE Inc.'s Bell Aliant, Bragg Communications Inc., MTS Allstream Inc. and smaller “niche” service providers are potential suitors to purchase Ontera, the...

Industry Canada consulting on public safety 700 MHz framework

telecom | 08/28/2012 9:34 pm EDT

Industry Canada is consulting on a plan to use an undesignated block of 700 MHz spectrum for public safety purposes, the department said in a notice posted on its website Saturday. In the...

Google releases global broadband data

telecom | 08/28/2012 3:32 pm EDT

Google Inc. released new data comparing retail Internet offerings from top service providers in more than 100 countries, including a handful of Canadian telecom providers.  On the company’s “Policy By the Numbers” blog on Aug. 22, Google said it commissioned consulting firm Communications Chambers to compile “an...

Samsung patent decision may delay new Android phones: research firm

telecom | 08/27/2012 8:40 pm EDT

Leading Android smartphone manufacturers may delay new device launches as they analyse a $1.05-billion patent verdict against Samsung and attempt to “design around Apple's patents,”...

CRTC fines Guelph Liberals for robocalls

telecom | 08/24/2012 7:48 pm EDT

The CRTC fined a federal Liberal party riding association $4,900 for making automated robocalls in the 2011 election campaign, the commission said Friday. In a release, the CRTC said the Guelph Liberal riding association broke the commission’s telemarketing rules with unsolicited, automated calls on behalf of Liberal candidate Frank Valeriote...

Telus to retry share conversion in October

telecom | 08/23/2012 1:57 am EDT

Telus Corp. rejected a Mason Capital Management LLC request that the company offer a “mandatory minimum premium” to voting shareholders and will again attempt to consolidate its voting and non-voting shares at a...

Liberals call on Tory government for cellphone legislation

telecom | 08/22/2012 8:46 pm EDT

The Conservative government should introduce legislation to regulate Canada’s wireless industry to ensure cellphone costs are “reasonable and consistent” across the country, Liberal industry and consumer affairs critic Geoff Regan said Wednesday. At a press conference in Ottawa, Regan said high mobile...

Vecima considering partnerships, new strategies

telecom | 08/22/2012 8:39 pm EDT

Vecima Networks Inc. is considering “partnerships, alternative strategic business models, a sale of assets or other transactions,” the company said Wednesday. In a release, Vecima said it does not believe its share price accurately represents the current or potential value of its core technologies. Vecima, which designs, manufactures and...

Wind boosts subs, ARPU in Q2

telecom | 08/15/2012 9:14 pm EDT

Wind Mobile added 41,000 subscribers during the second quarter by targeting high-value, postpaid customers, Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. said in a quarterly report released Wednesday. Orascom, which backed Wind’s parent company, Globalive Wireless Management Corp., prior to being acquired by VimpelCom Ltd. last year, said Wind’s subscriber base grew to 456,886 in the three-month period ending June 30. That number was up 10 per cent from 415,364 at the end of March, and up 44.1 per cent from 317,000 at the end of June, 2011. Orascom said Wind “primarily” added more lucrative postpaid subscribers during the second quarter as it continued its “Value Plus” strategy focusing on the higher-end customers, as first announced in June. It said Wind was also “carefully managing prepaid economics for both...

Bell Aliant expands Atlantic fibre service

telecom | 08/15/2012 9:12 pm EDT

BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Aliant said Wednesday that it is investing $11.5 million to expand its fibre optic Internet service to 22,000 more homes and businesses in Atlantic Canada. In a release, the company said it will use the...

Public Mobile to release ‘unlimited’ music service

telecom | 08/14/2012 8:40 pm EDT

Public Mobile is partnering with mobile media firm Livewire Mobile Inc. to offer the new entrant carrier’s subscribers “Canada’s first truly unlimited mobile music experience,”...

Android surged in Q2 despite weakened cell phone sales: Gartner

telecom | 08/14/2012 8:28 pm EDT

Worldwide smartphone sales increased year-over-year by 42.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 despite a 2.3 per cent decline in overall cell phone sales, research firm Gartner Inc. said in a new...

CRTC orders Telus to answer foreign ownership questions

telecom | 08/14/2012 8:25 pm EDT

The CRTC is giving Telus Corp. until Aug. 24 to answer questions about its foreign ownership levels and the mechanisms it uses to ensure it does not pass federal foreign ownership limits for large...

SaskTel launches fibre optik network

telecom | 08/13/2012 9:09 pm EDT

SaskTel launched a new “fibre to the premises” network service Friday that promises download speeds of up to 200 Mbps, the company said in a release. In the release, SaskTel said its infiNet fibre optic network will be rolled out to more than 40,000 customers by the end of 2012 as the company initially converts its customers in Regina and Saskatoon to the new network. It said the customers will receive a maximum upload speed of 60 Mbps. SaksTel said infiNET is the result of a $670 million investment to deploy fibre to homes and upgrade the broadband network in the communities of...

Iristel proposes new northern telecom funding regime

telecom | 08/13/2012 8:23 pm EDT

The CRTC should create two new funds to foster competition while improving northern telecom services, Iristel Inc. and Ice Wireless said in an application filed with the commission last week. In a joint-application, northern...

Sandvine director dies

telecom | 08/10/2012 7:29 pm EDT

Sandvine Corp. said Friday it is “deeply saddened” by the sudden death of company director David Thomson. “The Board of Directors and the entire Sandvine team extends its deepest sympathies to David’s family,” the company said in a statement. Sandvine said Thomson joined its board of directors in October 2011. He was also a member of the corporate governance committee and the compensation...

Google, Apple share of shipments surge to 85%

telecom | 08/10/2012 5:18 pm EDT

Mobile operating systems by Google Inc. and Apple Inc. powered 85 per cent of all smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2012, the International Data Corporation (IDC) said Wednesday. IDC cited its Worldwide Quarterly...

U.S. company acquires Canadian telco Globility under new rules

telecom | 08/10/2012 5:00 pm EDT

American company  Primus Telecommunications Group Inc.  acquired the remaining 54.4 per cent share of Toronto-based Globility Communications Corp., giving it 100 per cent ownership of the formerly Canadian company, Primus said Tuesday. The Conservative government’s omnibus budget bill, C-38, which passed...

Northwestel launches new satellite service

telecom | 08/10/2012 4:47 pm EDT

Northwestel Inc. launched a next generation satellite service in six Nunavut communities this week. Northwestel, a subsidiary of Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., said in a release Tuesday that faster Internet speeds and unlimited long distance calling are now available in the Nunavut communities of Arviat, Baker Lake, Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Kugluktuk...

Glentel selling tower assets

telecom | 08/10/2012 4:39 pm EDT

Glentel Inc., a telecommunications provider based in Burnaby, B.C., said it is selling its tower assets to SBA Communications Corp., the company said Wednesday. In a release, Glentel said the towers are being sold “for a price of up to $12 million.” “We believe the timing’s right for GLENTEL to divest its non-core tower...

Quebecor revenues rise on wireless growth

telecom | 08/10/2012 4:35 pm EDT

Revenues at Quebecor Media Inc. reached $1.09 billion in the second quarter of 2012, the company said Thursday. In a release, Quebecor said the number rose 3.1 per cent, or $33 million, from the same quarter in 2011. Profits at...

Rogers says judge can ‘light a match’ to Competition Bureau case

telecom | 08/09/2012 10:40 pm EDT

TORONTO—Rogers Communications Inc. conducted industry standard tests to support its “fewer dropped calls” advertisements in 2010 that proved the ads to be true and now provide a...

Primus launches prepaid home phone service

telecom | 08/08/2012 10:25 pm EDT

Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. said Wednesday it launched the first prepaid home phone service in Canada. Primus said in a release that the new service is available in Ontario and Quebec. The company said its prepaid plans start at $42.50 per month and include features such as voicemail, call waiting and call display. Primus said its plans include long distance rates as well as a long distance plan with international rates and customers are billed in real time. “This is a first for home phone in Canada as customers are paying as they go in ‘real-time,’” the release said. “Customers can easily check their balance right from their home phone to find out how much they have left in their account.” Rob Warden, senior vice-president of...

Harper government renews CANARIE funding

telecom | 08/08/2012 9:07 pm EDT

Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear said Wednesday that the government has renewed funding for Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network (CANARIE). In a release, Industry Canada said the Economic Action Plan 2012 allocated $62 million to CANARIE and renewed its mandate for three years. “The Harper...

BCE profits rise on wireless, climbing TV subs

telecom | 08/08/2012 8:53 pm EDT

Profits for BCE Inc. rose 31 per cent since last year to reach $773 million in the second quarter of 2012, the company said Wednesday. Bell said in a release the number was up from $590 million in the same period a year...

Competition Bureau, Rogers, open arguments in $10M ‘misleading advertising’ case

telecom | 08/08/2012 6:26 pm EDT

TORONTO—The Competition Bureau and Rogers Communications Inc. started opening arguments Wednesday in a $10-million lawsuit against the telco at the Ontario Superior Court. The federal...

Bell Aliant continues fibre rollout in N.B.

telecom | 08/07/2012 8:48 pm EDT

BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Aliant Inc. will invest $4.2 million to bring its fibre-to-the-home network to residents in Edmundston, N.B., the company said Tuesday. Bell Aliant said the expansion will bring its FibreOP Internet...

CRTC working group to report on telco access to municipalities

telecom | 08/03/2012 7:19 pm EDT

A CRTC working group plans to file a report to develop a model agreement between telcos and municipalities for access to municipal infrastructure, the commission said Friday. The working group will issue its report by Dec. 4, 2012, the CRTC said in a notice on its website.  Last fall, the commission launched a call for comments on municipal access agreements, and in February said a working group would develop the model agreement and standards for telecom companies seeking to expand their fibre networks into Canadian municipalities. In March,  BCE Inc. asked the CRTC to step...

MTS grows bundled customers

telecom | 08/03/2012 6:53 pm EDT

MTS Allstream Inc. reported profits of $44.5 million in the three-month period ending June 30, down from $49.8 million in the same quarter a year earlier. In a release Thursday, MTS said earnings per share in the second quarter of 2012 rose 4.7 per cent to reach $0.67. The company said...

Telus reports lower churn, higher ARPU in Q2

telecom | 08/03/2012 6:44 pm EDT

Telus Corp. reported 112,000 net additions to its postpaid wireless subscribers in the three-month period ending June 30 due to its “best churn rate in over five years,” the company said in a quarterly financial...

Manley joins Telus board

telecom | 08/03/2012 5:56 pm EDT

Telus Corp. has appointed Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) president and CEO John Manley to its board of directors, the company said Friday. A former MP in the House of Commons from 1988 to 2004, Manley served as a cabinet minister in prime minister Jean Chrétien’s Liberal...

Telus still faces foreign ownership questions, Wind says

telecom | 08/02/2012 9:05 pm EDT

Wind Mobile has reiterated its call for a CRTC-led public review of Telus Corp.’s foreign investment levels and the mechanisms Telus uses to ensure it does not pass federal foreign ownership...

Pacific Fibre’s trans-Pacific cable plan fails

telecom | 08/02/2012 8:12 pm EDT

New Zealand company Pacific Fibre Ltd. folded and cancelled plans to build a second trans-Pacific fibre link connecting Australia’s and New Zealand’s Internet infrastructure to the United States. In a release, Pacific Fibre said it is shutting down operations after failing to raise the necessary $324 million US to build a proposed 13,000...

Allow regional carriers to share 700 MHz networks, bid separately in auction, Quebecor says

telecom | 08/02/2012 6:51 pm EDT

Industry Canada should allow regional wireless carriers operating in different parts of the country to share network infrastructure and bid in next year's 700 MHz auction...

NorthwesTel plan would kill competition, competitor says

telecom | 07/31/2012 8:13 pm EDT

NorthwesTel Inc.’s request to use tangible benefits spending to improve and expand its northern telecom services is a “shell game” that aims to “kill” its competition,...

CRTC reopens local competition proceeding

telecom | 07/30/2012 8:42 pm EDT

The CRTC issued a renewed call for comments Monday on its proposed framework for implementing local landline competition in small markets as a part of its “obligation to serve” decision last May. In a notice of consultation, the CRTC said l’Association des Compagnies de téléphone du Québec Inc. (ACTQ) and the...

Arctic Fibre lobbying telcos, governments, to sign onto Arctic fibre link

telecom | 07/30/2012 5:56 pm EDT

Arctic Fibre Inc. is asking Canadian telecos and government agencies to commit to using its proposed fibre backbone network for Internet services across Canada’s northern territories instead of satellite. On July 1, the Toronto-area startup launched an “open access season” throughout which it is encouraging Canadian carriers and government agencies to “request specific bandwidth” on its proposed fibre network, which will connect Tokyo, Japan to New York City and...