TAGGED AS TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Telcos meet with Paradis to lobby on auction rules

telecom | 08/30/2011 2:44 pm EDT

Telco executives from across the country had the opportunity to lobby the new minister of industry with their visions for next year’s 700 MHz spectrum auction in a series of one-on-one meetings this month. In all, Paradis met with CEOs and other executives from 13 telcos over four days of meetings from Aug. 16-24, the minister's press secretary, Pascale Boulay, confirmed in an email to The Wire Report Monday. At the top of the agenda during the hour-long meetings were the companies' views on what rules should govern the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction: whether to enforce purchasing caps, minimum bids, or spectrum “set asides” for smaller players. “Everyone came with their own perspective on what they’d like to see as the rules on the [auctions],”...

Von Finckenstein would like to stay on in 2012, sources say

Media | 08/25/2011 8:54 pm EDT

CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein would like to remain on the job for the time being but a term renewal beyond January 2012 appears unlikely, industry sources say. The Conservative government's public skirmishes with the regulator over the past few years—on issues such as wholesale usage-based billing and whether Globalive Communications Corp. can operate in Canada as a Canadian-owned carrier—has made it difficult for the government to reappoint the chair without appearing awkward, industry insiders say. “I don't think he has a snowball's chance [in hell] of getting reappointed,” one industry source said on a background basis. Although the Conservative government never expressed it publicly, sources add that it also disagreed strongly with the...

Telcos starting to ‘salivate’ over new Shared Services IT plan, analyst says

telecom | 08/25/2011 8:26 pm EDT

Although the federal government says it has not yet decided what role the private sector will play in renewed efforts to streamline and consolidate government IT services, one industry expert says telcos are already “salivating” at the “hundreds of millions of dollars” in...

Industry Canada preparing to release multi-year spectrum plan

telecom | 08/24/2011 2:49 pm EDT

As the telecom sector gears up for a mobile spectrum auction in late 2012, Industry Canada is in the final stages of developing a multi-year plan to make further spectrum available in the long-run, department officials confirmed this week. “Growth in mobile services over the next 10 years is expected to have an...

CRTC, Rogers face net neutrality complaint with Ontario government

telecom | 08/23/2011 9:34 pm EDT

The CRTC and Rogers Communications Inc. on Monday became targets of a complaint about Internet throttling practices from a new advocacy group representing online videogame fans. In complaints filed with the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services and the CRTC's Commissioner for Complaints for...

Shaw Communications, the ‘rebellious teenager’ among Canadian media companies

Media | 08/23/2011 8:53 pm EDT

In the winter of 2006-2007, Shaw Communications Inc. stopped its payments to the Canadian Television Fund for a few months. The company held them back until it was forcibly ordered to contribute by the CRTC. At the time, Jim Shaw, then CEO of Shaw, said he was dissatisfied by the fund’s...

Communications companies well-positioned to weather possible economic storm

Media | 08/22/2011 6:10 pm EDT

Canadian telco and media companies are well-positioned to weather a potential double dip in the American economy thanks to firm consumer attitudes about telecom services and interest in new technologies, industry insiders say. Their assurances come amidst significant volatility on stock markets around the globe as investors reflect concerns about a struggling U.S. economy and destabilized European banking system. In an appearance before the House of Commons finance committee last Friday, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney acknowledged that the Canadian economy stalled during the last quarter but that the bank expects growth to accelerate in the second half of the year. Carney said the...

CRTC questions need for mandated wholesale access as mobile broadband rises

Media | 08/18/2011 8:32 pm EDT

Next-generation wireless networks could make mandated wholesale access to the incumbents' Internet and telephone services unnecessary, the CRTC said in a new report released Thursday. The commission report, entitled Navigating Convergence II: Charting Canadian Communications Change and Regulatory Implications, says...

Free texting app not a threat to wireless providers’ texting revenues, Gogii says

telecom | 08/17/2011 8:28 pm EDT

A new app that’s giving away free phone numbers for texting in Canada will do more to keep people within the “telephone ecosystem” than it will hurt wireless providers’ texting revenues, app maker Gogii Inc. says. The makers of textPlus—who announced last week that...

Eastlink to ‘shake up’ Atlantic wireless market in 2012, analysts predict

telecom | 08/11/2011 8:55 pm EDT

As Eastlink plans to launch wireless services in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. sometime next year, analysts say they like the cable company’s chances of competing with incumbents by bundling services and providing a “shake up” of the mobile market in the region. “They have a...

Reseller ISPs feeling squeezed in Internet market

telecom | 08/09/2011 9:51 pm EDT

Overall Internet service revenues increased in 2010 but the market share of small, reseller ISPs continues to decline, CRTC statistics show. The commission’s annual Communications Monitoring Report, released at the end of July, showed an overall increase in Internet service revenue, from $6.5 billion in 2009 to $6.8 billion in 2010,...

With an eye to top policy issues, major telcos appoint former cabinet ministers to boards

telecom | 08/09/2011 3:07 am EDT

The appointment of former senior Conservative cabinet ministers to the boards of leading Canadian telcos is turning attention to the companies’ potential influence with the Harper government. Telus Corp. announced Friday that it has appointed former Treasury Board president Stockwell...

Canada-U.S. spectrum agreement will eliminate interference in border areas: Industry Canada

telecom | 08/08/2011 9:52 pm EDT

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new arrangement with Canada to share the 700 MHz and 800 MHz spectrum bands in border areas will help eliminate interference and strengthen public safety, Industry Canada says. “The arrangement with the U.S. ensures that future...

Blue Jays games not ‘exclusive to Rogers in perpetuity’: Purdy

Media | 08/03/2011 10:12 pm EDT

Toronto Blue Jays baseball games will be available for online and mobile streaming to customers of Rogers Communications Inc. for the rest of the season, but the cable and wireless provider says it does not intend to “hoard content.” David Purdy, Rogers’ vice-president of video product management, said...

Cablecos confirm support for Bell’s volume-based UBB proposal

telecom | 08/02/2011 9:41 pm EDT

Canada's major cable companies have confirmed their support for Bell Canada's aggregated volume pricing model for wholesale Internet access services. In final comments submitted to the CRTC Friday for its review of wholesale usage-based billing, Shaw Communications Inc., as well as a coalition of cable companies...

CRTC releases annual data, says mobile broadband subscriptions on the rise

Media | 07/28/2011 9:31 pm EDT

The number of Canadians subscribing to mobile wireless services grew by 8.5 per cent during 2010, reaching a total of 25.8 million subscribers, the CRTC said in a new statistical report released Thursday. The data, released in the commission's annual Communications Monitoring Report, also showed mobile TV viewers grew significantly over 2009, but other new technologies, including personal video recorders, Internet TV, and video-on-demand, declined. The commission said the number of Canadians watching videos on their cellphones nearly doubled over the numbers from 2009, with nine per cent of anglophones and four per cent of francophones using the technology in 2010. The data showed...

Polar Mobile capitalizing on ‘the app revolution’

Media | 07/27/2011 9:13 pm EDT

Ontario company Polar Mobile appears to be a prime example of a startup that is capitalizing on “the app revolution.” Founded in 2007 in Waterloo, Ont., the company says it now has 300 customers across 10 countries and more than a thousand apps available that count over nine million subscribers. In four...

RIM cutting roughly 10 per cent of global workforce

telecom | 07/25/2011 8:20 pm EDT

Research in Motion Ltd.’s (RIM) attempt to “be all things to all people” caused problems for the company, one analyst said, as RIM announced Monday that it was cutting 2,000 jobs worldwide. RIM also announced the retirement of its chief operating officer, Don Morrison, who had been on medical leave. “The workforce reduction...

Time to review 2006 policy directive to the CRTC, consumer advocates say

Media | 07/22/2011 7:53 pm EDT

The past two years or so have been turbulent for the CRTC. Many regulatory developments emerged—such as court decisions on Globalive Communications Corp. and value-for-signal, a politically charged review of wholesale usage-based billing, and large-scale broadcasting acquisitions—that directly affect the way...

‘Half-pregnant’ Shaw needs to decide on wireless: analyst

telecom | 07/20/2011 8:43 pm EDT

Shaw Communications Inc. is facing awkward timing and stiff competition as it plans its wireless future, leaving industry experts questioning what the company will do next. According to a report released by Canaccord Genuity on July 13, Shaw is in a weak position when it comes to the latest wireless technology....

Small ISPs make final push for peak capacity pricing at last UBB hearing

telecom | 07/19/2011 10:11 pm EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—Small, competing Internet service providers (ISPs) spent the final day of the CRTC’s hearings on wholesale usage-based billing pushing against the incumbents’ volume-based models and advocating for various forms of peak capacity pricing. “There’s no perfect model. We’re looking for the least imperfect model,” CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said Tuesday, the final day of the commission’s hearings on how incumbent ISPs should charge small, reseller ISPs that lease access to their networks. Most presenters were united on the point that models based on peak capacity had fewer flaws than volume-based ones. Jean Francois...

Bell proposes new volume pricing model to push UBB issue ‘over the hill’

telecom | 07/19/2011 1:05 am EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—For the third time, BCE Inc. has proposed a tariff to the CRTC for wholesale usage-based billing. At a hearing Monday, the company proposed lowering its rates in the hopes of bridging the divide between incumbents and competing reseller Internet service providers (ISPs). Bell’s...

New anti-spam regulations could hurt business growth, industry says

telecom | 07/15/2011 8:04 pm EDT

While industry experts say Canada’s new anti-spam consent regulations are necessary, some are worried the rules could also prevent startup companies from reaching out to clients and impede established firms from maintaining business relationships. Canada’s anti-spam law, Bill C-28, was given royal assent...

Small competitors again fire at Bell’s ‘revenue grab’ wholesale model

telecom | 07/14/2011 10:22 pm EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—BCE Inc.’s aggregated volume pricing model for wholesale Internet services was the target of further criticism at a CRTC hearing Thursday as smaller competitors said the proposal would lead to extra billing, elevated costs and the imposition of per-gigabyte retail billing...

Rogers new LTE service signals the higher pricing of 4G

telecom | 07/14/2011 8:15 pm EDT

Telecom analysts say they expect Rogers Communications Inc.’s new LTE pricing to be the norm in Canada. The fourth-generation, super-fast wireless service provides connection speeds of up to 150 Mbps and facilitates better mobile applications like video-conferencing, on-demand movies and multi-player gaming....

Volume-based pricing will force resellers to move to usage-based billing: Primus

telecom | 07/13/2011 9:25 pm EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—BCE Inc.’s proposed aggregated volume pricing model for wholesale Internet services would create an incentive for less Internet use and force small, competing providers to adopt usage-based pricing, Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. told the CRTC Wednesday. After espousing the benefits of a...

Cost of transmitting GB of data between eight and one cent, advocacy groups say

telecom | 07/13/2011 1:52 pm EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—Incumbent Internet providers’ data transmission costs are much less expensive than they say, public interest groups told CRTC commissioners at a hearing Tuesday. Tamir Israel, staff lawyer with the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC)—which appeared on a panel...

CNOC says its ’95th percentile’ pricing model easy, practical to adopt

telecom | 07/13/2011 1:20 am EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—The Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc.’s (CNOC) “95th percentile” peak usage pricing model for wholesale Internet services would be easy to implement on all networks, the coaltion told the CRTC at a hearing Tuesday, contradicting the incumbents’ arguments that...

Public interest groups call for more network investments

telecom | 07/13/2011 1:00 am EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—The incumbent telcos aren’t investing enough of their revenues into their networks, Steve Anderson, executive director of OpenMedia.ca, the group whose Stop the Meter petition played a significant role in the commission’s review of its wholesale usage-based billing policy, told...

Peak pricing wholesale system does not solve congestion issue: Bell

telecom | 07/11/2011 11:05 pm EDT

GATINEAU, QUE.—Charging for Internet usage based on peak pricing does not provide incentives to reduce congestion and leaves the door open to gaming by Internet service providers (ISPs), BCE Inc. told the CRTC Monday. Opening the commission’s hearings to review residential wholesale usage-based billing, Bell defended its proposal for “aggregated volume pricing.” Bell told CRTC commissioners at a hearing in Gatineau that its capital expenditures on Internet services in 2010 exceeded its Internet revenues while subscribers have remained flat and traffic growth has “exploded.” The company said the model for recovering its network investment costs...

Geist unloads CRTC net neutrality complaints, says enforcement is ‘abysmal’

telecom | 07/08/2011 9:41 pm EDT

Enforcement of the CRTC’s net neutrality policy is “abysmal.” Those are the words of Michael Geist, the Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, who on Friday made headlines with documents obtained under access-to-information law...

New broadcasting participation fund expected to be running next spring

Media | 07/08/2011 9:24 pm EDT

Consumer groups say they are underrepresented in the CRTC’s broadcasting consultations but that they hope a new fund will soon help level the playing field and allow them to keep up with the big industry players. “I’ve spoken to quite a number of groups over the years and asked them why they...

Opinion: Broadband access problem ‘will be solved with minimal government subsidy’

telecom | 07/08/2011 7:14 pm EDT

On June 30, The Wire Report ran a story headlined “Tory broadband plan falls short of target for 98 per cent of homes, experts say.” The Wire Report is a major source of timely and relevant news on telecom matters, so this response is not meant as a criticism. As the CEO of...

Public interest arguments surrounding AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile drawing sharp divisions, opposition

telecom | 07/06/2011 6:39 pm EDT

AT&T Inc.'s proposed deal to purchase T-Mobile USA Inc. is drawing sharp divisions in the U.S. as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers whether the transaction is in the public interest. Opposition to the merger has reached the point that some observers say regulators may...

‘No great rush’ to liberalize foreign ownership limits internationally

Media | 07/05/2011 5:54 pm EDT

If the world is moving toward liberalizing its foreign ownership restrictions, it's not happening fast. That's one of the points made in the introduction to the newly released edition of Telecoms and Media 2011, a collection by British publisher Getting the Deal Through, that looks at the telecom and media regulatory frameworks in 48 jurisdictions around the world. In an introduction to the book, contributing editors Laurent Garzaniti, Natasha Good and Ben Graham, with the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, note that a significant number of jurisdictions continue to require—not just national ownership—but state ownership of the country's incumbent telecom...

Tory broadband plan falls short of target for 98 per cent of homes, experts say

telecom | 06/30/2011 9:13 pm EDT

Industry experts say the Conservative government’s Broadband Canada plan will fall short of its 98 per cent broadband connectivity target—depending on how broadband is defined. “I don’t think we have a plan to get from 95 to 98 per cent,” Catherine Middleton, the Canada research chair in...

Competition Bureau’s $10 million fine a strong message to industry, insiders say

telecom | 06/29/2011 9:08 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau’s $10 million fine against Bell Canada for “misleading advertising” on Tuesday came as a surprise to industry insiders who say it marks a more active approach from the tribunal in the telecom sector. John Lawford, counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy...

Bell wants access to cable in institutional buildings, cablecos say no

telecom | 06/27/2011 7:03 pm EDT

Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. is in a regulatory fight with cablecos over the definition of “inside wire” and how much access Bell should have to it. Cogeco Cable Inc., Rogers Telecommunications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. told the CRTC this month that a Bell proposal for access to inside wire would...

Remove foreign ownership limits in telecom, broadcasting distribution: Report

Media | 06/24/2011 8:48 pm EDT

The C.D. Howe Institute is calling for an end to Canada's foreign ownership restrictions in telecom and broadcasting distribution, the Toronto-based think tank announced in a report Thursday. The institute’s competition policy council, which held an inaugural meeting June 17, called for a blanket removal of foreign...

Waterfront Toronto community network comes with mandatory $60 fibre service

telecom | 06/24/2011 5:30 pm EDT

Waterfront Toronto’s new fibre-to-the-home network is intended to give smaller carriers a chance to compete, the organization’s representatives say. But Beanfield Metroconnect Inc., the company selected to build and operate an “open access” fibre network for the new development, will have the...

Copyright, digital privacy rights, expected to be top issues at house committees

Media | 06/23/2011 9:19 pm EDT

Copyright reform legislation and digital privacy rights are expected to be major topics for the newly struck House of Commons industry and heritage committees, committee members say. The House of Commons established parliamentary committees last week, but the June start of the 41st Parliament offered too little time...

CRTC’s interim wholesale access rates ‘sensible’ but lack transparency, MTS says

telecom | 06/21/2011 7:16 pm EDT

The CRTC’s interim rates for wholesale high-speed access services won’t lead to “significant change” from the status quo but may lack transparency, MTS Allsteam says. Chris Peirce, MTS’ chief corporate officer, said in an interview that the commission’s...

RIM acknowledges ‘challenging’ start to the year

telecom | 06/17/2011 3:39 pm EDT

Research in Motion Ltd. said Thursday that it shipped shipped about 13.2 million BlackBerrys during the first quarter of 2011 and about 500,000 BlackBerry Playbook tablets in what the company called a “challenging start” to fiscal 2012. The BlackBerry shipments of 13.2 million just missed forecasts of 13.5...

MTS opposes unbundled loop rate increase, says prices should ‘go down, not up’

telecom | 06/16/2011 5:59 pm EDT

MTS Allstream says it will be forced to charge its customers a seven-per-cent per-month retroactive rate increase over 13 months should the CRTC’s decision on unbundled loops stand. “I think prices in the enterprise business marketplace typically go down, not up,” Chris Peirce, chief corporate officer of regulatory affairs for MTS Allstream, said in an interview. “Increases in costs are something we’d like to avoid. But again, as we pointed out, there are problems with the decision that are clear on the evidence.” In new comments filed with the commission June 7, MTS continued to side with Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc.,...

Regulation, competition for roaming fees can have unintended consequences, analyst says

telecom | 06/16/2011 12:52 pm EDT

A study last month on roaming fees by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has sparked a pointed debate in Canada about whether increased regulation can help lower international roaming rates. On May 30, the OECD released a report on wireless data roaming that ranked...

CRTC’s definition of Internet ‘access’ clouds connectivity statistics, critics say

telecom | 06/10/2011 8:32 pm EDT

The CRTC is blurring the true levels of broadband usage across the country with its definition and measurement of broadband Internet “access,” critics say. They say the commission should take a page from Statistics Canada’s book and focus more on the number of Internet...

Federal cabinet upholds CRTC decision on Telus-Bell contract dispute

telecom | 06/10/2011 8:23 pm EDT

The Conservative government has denied Telus Corp.’s petition to cabinet to review a controversial CRTC decision that weighed into a dispute between Telus and Bell Canada over a federal government contract. The CRTC decision, issued in January 2009, allowed Bell to continue to charge for network services on a...

UN report confirms online copyright infringement should be for courts to decide: Geist

Media | 06/09/2011 9:23 pm EDT

Canadian experts are divided on the recommendations and significance of a United Nations report that linked Internet use to freedom of expression and criticized some countries’ approaches to copyright infringement. The report from Frank La Rue, UN special rapporteur on freedom of...

Industry Minister Paradis keeping chief of staff, policy adviser

Media | 06/09/2011 8:45 pm EDT

Companies, lobbyists and advocacy groups are now setting up to track policy development and meet with key members of the new majority Conservative government. Part of that job involves identifying the top players, and The Wire Report hears that Christian Paradis, MP for Mégantic-L’Érable, Que., is taking his staff with him as he moves into his new position as industry minister. The chief of staff for Paradis will continue to be Marc Vallières, who has worked with the minister in that position since he became public works minister in 2008. A Conservative insider told The Wire Report that Vallières is a staple of Minister Paradis’ team, having been a part of it almost since his political debut. Until his appointment as industry minister in a...

Globalive wins, but control-in-fact is ‘contextual’ and ‘imprecise,’ appeals court says

telecom | 06/08/2011 10:18 pm EDT

Globalive Wireless Management Corp. celebrated a major court victory Wednesday that struck down a lower court ruling and upheld the federal cabinet’s decision that said the company is Canadian-owned. But the decision acknowledged that the court challenge raised important issues about a...

Broadband Commission report espouses social benefits of connectivity, recommends fibre

telecom | 06/08/2011 7:47 pm EDT

Canadian experts say a new UN report this week that espouses the economic and social impacts of broadband, covering issues from e-health to regulatory policy, makes useful data available to policy makers. The international Broadband Commission for Digital Development—created last year by the...

New Parliament, new opposition critics

Media | 06/06/2011 9:33 pm EDT

The NDP and Liberals have appointed a new stable of critics to advocate on broadcasting, telecom, and digital policy issues in Parliament. Canada's 41st Parliament returned last Thursday with the NDP, for the first time in history, taking up 103 seats in the opposition benches as Her Majesty's loyal opposition. Charlie Angus, formerly the...

CRTC dismisses Globalive roaming complaint against Rogers

telecom | 06/03/2011 8:47 pm EDT

The CRTC dismissed on Friday Globalive Wireless Management Corp.’s complaint that Rogers Communications Inc. is discriminating against it in the companies’ roaming arrangements. Globalive had claimed that Rogers gave itself an undue preference and disadvantaged Globalive’s Wind Mobile brand by not...

Investors like business risks, but ‘despise’ regulatory uncertainty, Lacavera says

telecom | 06/02/2011 9:15 pm EDT

TORONTO—Regulatory uncertainty could interfere with Industry Canada's upcoming spectrum auctions if foreign investors feel they have to take a chance in an “ambiguous” Canadian market, Globalive Wireless Management Corp. chairman Anthony Lacavera said Thursday. “Investors...

‘Everybody knows, nobody can regulate the Internet,’ von Finckenstein says

Media | 06/02/2011 3:05 am EDT

TORONTO--CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein said Wednesday that he doesn’t know whether over-the-top services represent “the globalization of broadcasting” but acknowledged that nobody can regulate the Internet. Following a keynote discussion at the Canadian Telecom Summit, von...

Bell, Rogers, Telus, Globalive, Videotron, and PIAC butt heads on telecom

Media | 06/02/2011 3:00 am EDT

TORONTO--The new minister of industry may have had his telecom industry coming-out party Tuesday when he spoke at the Canadian Telecom Summit, but Wednesday’s regulatory panel would have provided a rousing introduction to the issues Christian Paradis has inherited in his new role. At the conference Wednesday,...

Connectivity, consolidation, convergence creating new privacy threats

telecom | 06/02/2011 2:09 am EDT

TORONTO--An era of increased connectivity, technological convergence and media consolidation represents something of a triple threat to the private information of citizens and companies, Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart suggested Wednesday. “Most Canadians don’t grasp the scope or the magnitude of the...

Australian national digital strategy raises questions about Canada’s place in the digital economy, experts say

telecom | 06/01/2011 10:51 pm EDT

Canadian experts say the Australian government's newly released national digital economy strategy is a bold effort that recognizes the social importance of broadband connectivity—but also demonstrates how far behind Canada is. “They want to make the investment and support particularly the social importance of broadband,” Bill St. Arnaud, an independent technology consultant in Ottawa, said in an interview. “There's no question this will make them a leader ... In terms of the broad adoption of digital applications and so forth, they clearly will be up there with the Dutch or the Swedes.” Stephen Conroy, the Australian government's minister for...

Canadians watching U.S. Protect IP Act, now stalled in Senate

Media | 06/01/2011 4:40 pm EDT

Canadian copyright players are keeping their eyes on the United States Congress for developments related to new “rogue website” legislation that advocacy groups say would hinder innovation and effectively give the U.S. government the power to “block” websites. Three U.S. Senators, Democrat Patrick...

Paradis says no decision yet on foreign ownership rules, coming soon

telecom | 05/31/2011 9:41 pm EDT

TORONTO—Industry Minister Christian Paradis reaffirmed a government commitment to spurring competition in the telecom sector but remained mum on the specifics of spectrum auction rules and any changes to the foreign ownership rules in his first address in his new portfolio. Speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit...

2500 MHz auction debate heats up as players argue over block sizes

telecom | 05/27/2011 8:25 pm EDT

Incumbents and smaller players disagree about the size of 2500 MHz spectrum blocks for auction, a key point that one industry expert says could determine the market’s evolution. Among the points of contention revealed in the companies’ reply comments for Industry Canada's consultation for the auction are the...

Shaw’s new Internet plans may not have national impact, analysts say

telecom | 05/26/2011 10:52 pm EDT

Industry experts are divided about what Shaw Communications Inc.’s new bit caps will mean for the rest of Canada's Internet service plans. Telus Corp. is expected to follow Shaw as the western company’s main rival, but no changes are immediately anticipated for eastern Internet service providers Bell Canada and...

Post wireless-deployment, Quebecor refocuses on content distribution

Media | 05/26/2011 10:17 pm EDT

MONTREAL—Now that its new wireless network is mostly in place, Quebecor Media Inc. will focus its energy on content distribution, company president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said Thursday at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. “As much as we concentrated these past months on building our network, we will now and in the coming months direct our efforts to making our wireless service a new distribution platform for the extensive content produced daily by other Quebecor employees,” Péladeau said at the meeting. Quebecor released its first quarter 2011 results Thursday morning, revealing a 1.7 per cent decrease in net income attributed in...

E-G8 meeting considers role of Internet regulation, ability to move quickly

Media | 05/26/2011 8:04 pm EDT

The question of Internet regulation took centre stage at the first-ever e-G8 forum in Paris this week, where French President Nicholas Sarkozy and European policy makers contrasted their vision of the Internet’s future with executives from Google Inc., Facebook Inc., News Corp. and dozens of other companies. The...

Financing available for smaller players, even in shallow Canadian pool, executives say

telecom | 05/25/2011 3:59 pm EDT

Canadian financing is available for telcos with strong business plans and proven track records, even if it requires a some searching, executives say. Xplornet Communications Inc. (formerly Barrett Xplore Inc.) announced $230 million in new financing Tuesday, a few weeks after new wireless entrant...

Small ISPs say Bell’s Fibe TV service running on shared wholesale IP networks

telecom | 05/24/2011 8:22 pm EDT

A coalition of small ISPs is disputing Bell Canada's comments to the CRTC in April that said traffic for its fibre-based Internet protocol television (IPTV) service does not transit over “the shared network.” Toronto-based ISP Interlink Connectivity Inc., an Internet service provider (ISP) specializing in...

‘Little guy from Thetford Mines’ expected to keep low profile, follow ‘the Centre’

Media | 05/20/2011 9:24 pm EDT

Canada’s new Industry Minister Christian Paradis hasn’t issued a single tweet since May 6. Since Wednesday’s cabinet shuffle, his predecessor, Tony Clement, has held forth on cranberry lemon muffins, a trip to the dentist, Rush bobbleheads, and, of course, his new position as...

Alberta searches for last mile proposals for SuperNet

telecom | 05/19/2011 8:39 pm EDT

The government of Alberta will soon issue a request for proposals to complete the province’s broadband expansion into communities, but not everyone is convinced that government funding is needed for the last mile. The Alberta government invested nearly $200 million in the SuperNet to bridge the digital divide between urban areas and...

Lawyers argue whether government ‘applied the recipe’ for Globalive decision

telecom | 05/19/2011 1:09 pm EDT

OTTAWA--The federal cabinet rewrote “the recipe” of the foreign ownership test when it included an interpretation of the Telecom Act in its decision to overturn a CRTC ruling on Globalive Wireless Management Corp., lawyers for Public Mobile Inc. told the Federal Court of Appeal...

Telus says Shaw ‘creating confusion with customers,’ files CRTC complaint

Media | 05/18/2011 5:59 pm EDT

Telus Corp. has filed an undue preference complaint with the CRTC, accusing competitor Shaw Communications Inc. of delaying the cancellation of service for customers switching from Shaw cable to Telus’ Optik TV. Telus wrote in a complaint to the commission, dated May 6, that it is...

Proposed Manitoba consumer mobile law modeled on Quebec’s

telecom | 05/17/2011 10:43 pm EDT

Manitoba's new mobile phone legislation put forward by Consumer Affairs Minister Gord Mackintosh reflects the desires of users to prevent carriers from making changes to their contracts unilaterally, industry insiders say. As part of Manitoba’s “Let’s Make a Better Deal” strategy, a five-year...

Netflix now accounts for 13.5 per cent of downstream traffic: Sandvine

Media | 05/17/2011 9:59 pm EDT

Following Netflix Inc.'s launch in Canada last fall, the service's 800,000 Canadian users now amount to 10 per cent of broadband households nationally and 13.5 per cent of peak downstream traffic in Canada, Sandvine Inc. reported in a new study Tuesday. “The quick and widespread adoption is due in part to the fact Netflix has been aggressive about investing in content and services that are important to Canadians,” the report states. Sandvine suggested other countries should take heed of Netflix's quick adoption in Canada to see what to expect if the service continues to expand to other jurisdictions. The Sandvine report also said Netflix now represents North...

Public Mobile, Telus argue it’s too late to send Globalive decision back to cabinet

telecom | 05/17/2011 2:58 am EDT

Public Mobile Inc. and Telus Corp. say it’s too late for the Federal Court of Appeal to refer a lower court decision on Globalive Wireless Management Corp. back to the federal cabinet. Public Mobile and Telus argue that the Federal Court was correct when it ruled in February not to refer the...

‘Diesel Day’ disconnects power at major Toronto carrier hotel

telecom | 05/13/2011 5:10 pm EDT

“Diesel Day” at 151 Front St. passed without a hitch on April 9. The day is a major undertaking aimed at shutting down electricity to one of Canada’s largest carrier hotels to test its emergency power systems and diesel fuel generators. “They used to do it at night,” Myke Geiger, owner...

Primus says unbundled loop decision forces rate increases on customers 13 months back

telecom | 05/12/2011 7:24 pm EDT

The CRTC’s decision this year on a rate increase for the leasing of unbundled loops would force Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. to chase down current and former customers and apply retroactive rate increases, the company says. “The issue we take with that is that it’s...

Axia challenges Telus deferral accounts decision to cabinet

telecom | 05/11/2011 9:05 pm EDT

Axia SuperNet Ltd. has filed a petition with the federal cabinet requesting a review of the CRTC’s decision this year on Telus Corp.’s use of deferral account funds. The commission’s ruling last January might have ended a battle dating back to 2006—when it laid out rules regarding the use of...

GB of data costs 17 cents to transmit; charge UBB as ‘cost plus profit margin’: Sandvine

telecom | 05/11/2011 7:40 pm EDT

The CRTC’s wholesale usage-based billing regime should charge independent Internet service providers (ISPs) on a “cost plus profit margin” basis with the cost of delivering a gigabyte of data set at about 17 cents, Sandvine Inc. says. “Incumbent network providers should charge Small ISPs for their traffic in aggregate, not an individual user basis,” Sandvine, a network equipment and applications developer, wrote in a submission for the CRTC’s review of its wholesale usage-based billing policy. “The UBB [usage-based billing] rate charged by the incumbent network provider should be based on a ‘cost plus profit margin’ basis, as with...

LightSquared plans to make wholesale satellite broadband available to 92% of U.S.

telecom | 05/10/2011 10:25 pm EDT

New wholesale satellite broadband provider LightSquared Inc. is planning to bring Internet access to rural Americans this year. Since the launch of its LightSquared SkyTerra I satellite on Nov. 14, U.S.-based LightSquared says it is now building one of the only national 4G-LTE open wireless broadband networks in...

CRTC’s national broadband target nods to government to make next move, insiders say

telecom | 05/10/2011 3:53 pm EDT

Industry insiders say the CRTC’s new national targets for broadband Internet speeds are a first step towards a government-led national broadband plan. The CRTC decision, released last week, said that “market forces and targeted government funding, an approach which encourages private...

Canada’s fibre future depends on where you look

telecom | 05/09/2011 8:07 pm EDT

How does Canada’s fibre future look? SaskTel, Telus Corp., Bell Canada and Bell Aliant have all announced plans to extend fibre Internet and television services to regions across the country. In the near-term, Canada’s fibre future seems to depend on whether you’re looking at fibre-to-the-home or fibre-to-the-node. Some...

‘Regulatory protection’ slowing Canadian telcos’ expansion abroad: Lacavera

telecom | 05/04/2011 9:26 pm EDT

KANATA, ONT.—Globalive Wireless Management Corp. would reapply to the CRTC for approval of its Canadian operations if it loses its fight in court—but company chairman Anthony Lacavera says he thinks changes to the Telecommunications Act are on the way. “The idea is, hopefully, we...

CRTC sets national broadband target, dodges subsidy fund for deployment

telecom | 05/04/2011 12:02 am EDT

The CRTC released a new national broadband target Tuesday, saying all Canadians should have access to 5 Mbps Internet or faster by 2015. But the commission is not establishing a fund to subsidize broadband deployment. The target came Tuesday in a decision resulting from last October’s proceeding on access to...

Shaw’s new Internet billing plans to be released this month or early June

telecom | 05/02/2011 8:57 pm EDT

Following Shaw Communications Inc.’s suggestion last month that there is room in its pricing for usage-based billing, observers expect the company to release a new usage-based billing scheme for customers—but one that may be less controversial than other plans. In February, amid the controversy over the...

European Commission to ‘name and shame’ ISPs on traffic management

telecom | 04/28/2011 6:07 pm EDT

European regulators are investigating member countries’ enforcement of net neutrality, a move Canadian industry experts say should be copied here. Last week, the European Commission asked its members’ communications regulators to spend the rest of the year investigating Internet service providers’ (ISPs)...

Lower education levels in management drops Canada’s ICT ranking, expert says

Media | 04/27/2011 5:15 pm EDT

Canada’s business leaders aren’t as educated as their U.S. counterparts—a factor that may have impacted its ranking in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual Global Information Technology Report. Released last week, the 2010-2011 report ranked Canada eighth out of 138 countries for “network...

Functional separation in Canada? It’s complicated: Report

telecom | 04/21/2011 8:55 pm EDT

A new report by a leading Canadian communications scholar says that functional separation wouldn’t shake up the Canadian broadband market the way it has in other jurisdictions, where it’s left more room for independent ISPs to compete. Catherine Middleton, a Ryerson University professor and Canada research chair of communications technologies in the information society, said she recognizes the merits in the regulatory approach known as functional separation, where an incumbent Internet service provider’s (ISP) retail and wholesale operations are separated into divisions under the same ownership. Variations of the method have been employed in the United Kingdom, Australia and Sweden, among other countries, and former Liberal industry critic Marc...

Clement talks digital issues, says functional separation ‘completely unrealistic’

Media | 04/21/2011 8:25 pm EDT

Conservative candidate and Industry Minister Tony Clement calls the Liberal party “completely unrealistic” for its support of functional separation, a regulatory approach that attempts to encourage competition by requiring incumbent telcos to divide their wholesale and retail services....

Industry quarrels over coverage size of 700 MHz spectrum licences

telecom | 04/21/2011 4:54 pm EDT

As incumbent telcos and regional mobile carriers quarrel over whether the 700 MHz spectrum should be broken up into small or large geographic areas for bidders, one industry analyst says offering different sizes may be the best solution. “If you’re giving the market what it wants and you’re making the...

‘Drastic remedy’ of functional separation gaining attention in Canada

telecom | 04/20/2011 7:38 pm EDT

A new approach to dealing with vertical integration and competition in the Internet services market is catching the attention of industry insiders and even some Canadian politicians. The regulatory approach, called functional separation, has been employed in other jurisdictions for years but Canadian experts remain divided...

RIM looking at fighting Google for Nortel patents to avoid NTP repeat, analysts say

telecom | 04/20/2011 5:28 pm EDT

Research In Motion Ltd.’s (RIM) reported foray into the bidding war for Nortel Networks’ technology patents suggests the BlackBerry maker doesn’t want a repeat of the patent battle it fought with NTP Inc. Bloomberg reported last week that RIM is considering entering the auction for Nortel’s 6,000...

Shaw’s wireless delay Telus’ gain, analysts say

telecom | 04/19/2011 10:21 pm EDT

Industry analysts agree that Shaw Communications Inc.’s latest delay in its wireless launch is Telus Corp.’s gain—but they’re divided about what the setback means for Shaw. “For a number of different reasons, from the strategic to the financial to the regulatory, [wireless] is absolutely vital,” Dvai Ghose, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said in an interview. “So I think that they’ve made a strategic mistake myself.” Ghose said Shaw did not prioritize its wireless network enough from the beginning and has now been knocked off course by Telus’ recent announcement that it will launch LTE early next year. Shaw announced in a quarterly report last week that it would delay the launch of its wireless network for...

PwC warns of costs of unlimited data plans

telecom | 04/18/2011 8:02 pm EDT

Telecom carriers should avoid unlimited mobile data plans as the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other devices can congest networks and impact profit margins, research and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says. “In the course of our research, we did find international operators (in the U.S. and Europe) who were in the course...

Canada slips to No. 28 in OECD broadband pricing ranking

telecom | 04/14/2011 9:51 pm EDT

Newly released broadband data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks Canada 28 out of 33 countries on average monthly broadband pricing. In new data released this week, the OECD said that, as of September 2010, Canada’s average monthly subscription price was $46.27 US for...

SaskTel steps up competition in Saskatchewan with fibre network investments

telecom | 04/13/2011 9:01 pm EDT

Regional competitors say they’re not concerned about SaskTel’s recent move to “future-proof” its network with a $670-million investment over seven years to build fibre to the home in the province’s major urban centres. The company’s next generation broadband plan aims to cover 100 per...

Incumbents continue push for no set-asides in 700 MHz auction

telecom | 04/12/2011 9:49 pm EDT

Debate about the rules for Industry Canada’s upcoming 700 MHz auction is intensifying as Canada’s incumbent telcos continue a vigorous push for an “open auction” that does not set aside spectrum for small players. “Given the very limited amount of 700 MHz spectrum available, a set-aside in the...

18 months on, industry divided on effectiveness of CRTC net neutrality policy

Media | 04/12/2011 6:51 pm EDT

Nearly 18 months since the CRTC adopted its Internet traffic management practices (ITMP) policy, industry experts are divided on its effectiveness in securing net neutrality. Some suggest that the commission needs more powers to investigate and enforce the policy. Others say the CRTC has not faced serious enough cases to...

Party campaign platforms underwhelming on digital issues

Media | 04/11/2011 10:20 pm EDT

Following the release of the top five political parties’ campaign platforms for the 2011 election, Canadian voters and policy experts are weighing in on who’s out front on digital policy issues. But the results are a little underwhelming. “In a word: yawn,” Ottawa technology consultant Bill...

Quebec’s $900 million broadband pledge expected to light up dark fibre networks

telecom | 04/08/2011 7:31 pm EDT

The Quebec government is expected to “light up” thousands of kilometres of dark fibre in the province as it plans to spend $900 million over the next 10 years on broadband connectivity. The Quebec government’s provincial budget, introduced March 17, announced a priority “to...

BlackBerry holds on to security lead, industry experts say

telecom | 04/06/2011 10:03 pm EDT

Despite efforts from competitors to close the gap, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry is holding on to its lead as the most secure wireless handheld device on the market, industry experts say. Since its debut in 1999, the BlackBerry has had a reputation for providing secure communications. Emails sent on...

Lobby groups push Internet policy, foreign ownership, Canadian broadcasting as campaign issues

Media | 04/06/2011 3:32 pm EDT

Internet policy is expected to be in the foreground in the 2011 election campaign as lobby groups push candidates and parties to put their issues onto the political agenda. Advocacy group OpenMedia.ca says it plans to build on the success of its “Stop the Meter” petition with another online campaign to raise the profile of Internet policy issues. “We’re advocating that the Internet be a central issue in the election itself,” Steve Anderson, executive director OpenMedia, said in an interview. “We want to force the parties to answer to the public and admit to where they stand on broadband access.” The advocacy group plans to launch a website,...