CRTC the target of consumer ‘outrage,’ but the government has more power to make change

Media | 04/01/2010 9:44 pm EDT

On most days, the CRTC is not top-of-mind for the average Canadian, but on March 22 the commission issued a key decision on value for signal, and the public took notice.  The lament that it’s “time the CRTC start thinking about consumers”—as one newspaper expressed...

Location-based apps a gold mine for advertisers but minefield for privacy advocates

Media | 04/01/2010 9:33 pm EDT

The rising popularity of location-based services and applications has been described as potential gold mine for advertisers and a potential minefield for privacy advocates.  Applications like FourSquare, Yelp, Google Latitude, AroundMe and Poynt use the GPS capabilities on mobile devices to track users’...

Inukshuk’s Craig Wireless spectrum scoop to give Bell, Rogers stronger wireless positions

telecom | 04/01/2010 8:38 pm EDT

Broadband service provider Inukshuk Wireless’s acquisition of British Columbia and Manitoba WiMax spectrum from Craig Wireless Systems Ltd. will position Inukshuk to gain a stronger foothold in the wireless market, analysts say.  Following the announcement of the $80 million...

Cannot rely on market forces to ensure Canadian content, witnesses tell industry committee

Media | 04/01/2010 7:24 pm EDT

OTTAWA—What started as an ideological debate about foreign ownership turned emotional Thursday as groups representing Canada’s broadcasting artists went head-to-head with Tory members of the Commons industry committee.  “You’re not listening to what we’re telling...

House parties discussing special legislative committee to study copyright bill

Media | 03/31/2010 3:09 pm EDT

OTTAWA—Liberal Party MPs are pushing for a special legislative committee of the House of Commons to review the government’s new copyright reform bill once it is tabled in Parliament.  The move would be a way to handle potential conflicts over copyright policy within parties and for the MPs responsible for reviewing the legislation.  A study by the House heritage committee would emphasize the needs of copyright owners over users and intermediaries, observers say, and the industry committee vice versa.  Members on the Commons heritage committee would want the bill to face scrutiny under their charge, but MPs on the industry committee have a similar interest....

Bell tells Senate committee telcos need to free up funds for network investments

telecom | 03/30/2010 10:10 pm EDT

OTTAWA--After emphasizing the need to free up funds for network investments, officials from Bell Canada and Bell Aliant received questions Tuesday about mobile pricing and broadband access from members of the Senate transport and communications committee. The committee is studying emerging issues related to the wireless...

Opening foreign ownership for integrated telecom sector will impact broadcasting, Morrison tells committee

Media | 03/30/2010 8:27 pm EDT

OTTAWA--The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting warned the Commons industry committee Tuesday that loosening the foreign ownership restrictions in a vertically integrated telecommunications sector would have adverse ripple effects on the Canadian broadcasting sector.  “In this integrated...

Bring back the federal department of communications: O’Farrell

Media | 03/29/2010 11:03 pm EDT

Canada should recreate a federal department of culture and communications, Glenn O’Farrell, former president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), said Saturday during a panel at the Liberal Party’s Canada at 150 conference in Montreal.  O’Farrell, now CEO and principal at...

Augmented reality apps boosting smart phone uptake

Media | 03/26/2010 10:08 pm EDT

It’s said the next big thing for tech-hipsters is augmented reality, and carriers stand to profit from a coming wave of these cool and groovy applications for smart phones.   Augmented reality (AR) is a catch-all term for a wide range of smart phone applications that operate with image-capturing functions.  “It’s...

‘Let’s let customers decide,’ Wind’s Ken Campbell tells critics

telecom | 03/26/2010 9:33 pm EDT

Responding to criticism that Wind Mobile launched too fast too soon to go head-to-head with Canada’s wireless incumbents, company CEO Ken Campbell told The Wire Report that he’ll “let customers decide.”  “Let’s let customers decide,” Campbell said in...

Industry Canada to launch spectrum auctions for wireless mobile technologies in 700 and 2500 MHz bands

telecom | 03/25/2010 9:54 pm EDT

Industry Canada will launch a consultation processes in preparation for spectrum auctions in the 2500 MHz and 700 MHz bands to “support new mobile technologies and services,” the department said in its annual report on departmental plans and priorities, released Thursday.  As...

Lobbyists line up for reintroduction of government tech bills

telecom | 03/24/2010 8:28 pm EDT

Several telecommunications and e-commerce organizations have registered to lobby the government on key technology bills that the Tories are preparing to reintroduce. An informed government source told The Wire Report that the government is preparing to reintroduce bills C-27, C-46, C-47 and C-58, which dealt with spam,...

Aerospace industry makes urgent call for spectrum at airports, others say allocation needs further study

telecom | 03/22/2010 7:46 pm EDT

An industry disagreement about the allocation of spectrum in the L-band continues as parties argue whether a portion of the frequency should be set aside for aeronautical use, Industry Canada consultation documents show. The disagreement appears to show significant competition for Canadian spectrum...

Conservative government to introduce digital economy discussion paper ‘very shortly’

Media | 03/19/2010 9:24 pm EDT

The Conservative government will be introducing a digital economy discussion paper “very shortly,” Industry Minister Tony Clement told the House industry committee Thursday.  “We’ll be launching a discussion paper very shortly that will go to the country, and the fact of the matter is we’re doing some things already,” he said.  Michael Hennessy, senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs at Telus Corp., said industry stakeholders have been expecting some form of consultation. “They’re not going to be starting from zero,” Hennessy said of the government, adding that it is ahead with policies like anti-spam...

Copyright bill this spring; ‘our laws will trump ACTA,’ Clement says

Media | 03/18/2010 10:22 pm EDT

OTTAWA--The Conservative government intends to introduce a copyright reform bill before Parliament’s summer recess, Industry Minister Tony Clement told The Wire Report.  The government held national public consultations last summer on copyright reform. Over the past several months the industry and heritage...

CRTC denies Bell proposal to freeze price cap during deflation

telecom | 03/17/2010 9:49 pm EDT

The CRTC has denied an application by Bell Canada, and its affiliates Bell Aliant and Telebec, to freeze the 2010 price cap on local phone rates due to potential deflation in the market.  The CRTC allows local phone rates to increase over time with inflation. In times of deflation, telecommunications companies are...

Videotron’s wireless play raises the competition stakes, but also the risks, say analysts

telecom | 03/17/2010 9:25 pm EDT

Industry observers say Videotron Ltd.’s upcoming mobile wireless services could have a profound impact on Quebec’s wireless sector, but that the greatest impact could be on Videotron itself.  “Videotron’s wireless bet could turn out to be the company’s riskiest...

Industry committee prioritizes foreign ownership study; to hear from industry, CRTC, government officials

Media | 03/17/2010 6:00 pm EDT

The House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is giving top priority to its review of the foreign ownership rules in the telecom and broadcasting sectors, committee chair and Conservative MP Michael Chong says.  The committee will give the telecom review first priority...

FCC’s national broadband plan to impact wireless broadband in Canada

telecom | 03/16/2010 10:34 pm EDT

Industry experts say the US Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new 360-page National Broadband Plan is likely to influence Canada’s wireless spectrum allocation and broadband coverage.  The plan, released Tuesday, recommends that the United States government make 500 MHz of spectrum newly available for broadband within the next 10 years.  It says the FCC could share wireless auction proceeds with over-the-air broadcasters that drop some of their signals to make room for broadband. “Once the US makes a determination about re-purposing bandwidth spectrum, Canada follows that lead because it helps with the availability of equipment and it helps with...

Clement endorses Rawat in her campaign for ITU-R position

telecom | 03/16/2010 6:34 pm EDT

Industry Minister Tony Clement has endorsed Industry Canada Communications Research Centre (CRC) president Veena Rawat’s campaign bid for the position of director of the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication bureau (ITU-R).  The ITU-R is a United Nations agency that deals with international...

CAP cuts will broaden the digital divide, say critics

telecom | 03/15/2010 9:56 pm EDT

OTTAWA—Critics say Industry Canada’s cuts to the Community Access Program (CAP)—at times the only source of Internet access for rural communities—will broaden the digital divide and put communities at risk of falling further behind in the digital economy.  “All across the country, it will have some devastating...

Wireless carriers searching for the right mix with mobile advertising

telecom | 03/12/2010 9:41 pm EST

Mobile operators and other players are looking for ways to monetize the mobile Web through advertising—but consumers are leery of spam on their cellphones. Toronto mobile advertising provider MyScreen Mobile Inc. says it has the right approach—one that benefits consumers, carriers and advertisers. MyScreen...

CRTC ‘control in fact’ review of DAVE Wireless to look at debt, licensing

telecom | 03/12/2010 9:34 pm EST

The CRTC’s ownership review of Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc. (DAVE Wireless) will focus on “control in fact” questions such as the control of licensing, branding, debt, and patents, telecom experts say.   In a public letter to DAVE Wireless, the CRTC...

Plan to loosen foreign ownership for satellites to benefit investment, innovation

Media | 03/12/2010 8:06 pm EST

The Conservative government’s plan to remove foreign ownership restrictions for the Canadian satellite sector will help Canadian companies compete internationally, but the policy change isn’t likely to impact consumers, telecom experts say.  The federal government announced in its 2010 budget last week...

Bloc pushes for health subcommittee on wireless and health, but critics question evidence

telecom | 03/11/2010 11:01 pm EST

The Bloc Québécois is citing a report criticized by the scientific community in its push for the formation of a health subcommittee to explore the health risks associated with cellphones and exposure to radio frequencies.  Bloc Québécois MP Luc Malo, a member of...

Wireless carriers should look at mobile VoIP as opportunity, not threat, say analysts

telecom | 03/11/2010 10:56 pm EST

North American wireless operators should view the impending rise of mobile voice-over IP (VoIP) as more of an opportunity than a threat, wireless analysts say.  One of the biggest issues arising from mobile VoIP is its stress on network capacity. Mobile data traffic already is...

New EU wireless roaming rules should encourage similar practices in Canada, say observers

telecom | 03/10/2010 10:16 pm EST

New data-roaming rules designed to reduce “bill shock” for wireless users in the European Union should encourage the Canadian wireless carriers to consider similar measures, industry observers say.  The EU is enacting new wireless data roaming rules to curtail incidents of...

Government holds more than 20 meetings, will make digital strategy announcement in ‘coming weeks’

Media | 03/10/2010 8:05 pm EST

Canada’s most powerful lobby group for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector reported 21 meetings between January and November 2009 with top federal officials and cabinet ministers who were laying the groundwork for a national digital strategy.  The sessions with representatives from the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) included a meeting last May with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Industry Minister Tony Clement—possibly signalling the importance the government is attaching to the wide-reaching plan the Conservatives have promised but so far failed to deliver. But with the country’s largest telephone and...

Bell rural Internet plan to cost $454 million for 61,000 homes

telecom | 03/09/2010 11:18 pm EST

Bell Canada and Bell Aliant’s plan to provide 112 Ontario and Quebec rural communities with broadband Internet is expected to cost $454 million, say the companies’ roll-out plan, submitted to the CRTC Feb. 26.  “That’s a breathtaking subsidy,” Mark Goldberg, a telecommunications analyst...

Industry awaits government’s next move; MTS urges legislation to liberalize telecom

telecom | 03/09/2010 11:08 pm EST

MTS Allstream is calling on the government to keep to its pledge to “open the doors” for foreign investment in the telecommunications sector and table legislation in Parliament to eliminate the “sector specific” foreign ownership restrictions in the Telecommunications...

Bloc bill to regionalize CRTC meets strong opposition

Media | 03/08/2010 10:07 pm EST

Bloc Québécois private member’s Bill C-444, which would create a regional CRTC office in Quebec, met strong opposition from Conservative, Liberal and NDP MPs during a House debate Monday. The bill, introduced by Bloc MP Nicolas Dufour on Sept. 28, 2009, was debated at second reading in the House of Commons. Dufour proposes...

Canada shouldn’t be relying on 20th-century telecom industrial model: Benkler

telecom | 03/06/2010 6:12 pm EST

OTTAWA—Twentieth-century industrial models should no longer hold sway over broadband development in Canada, says the author of a Harvard University report that criticized Canada’s broadband infrastructure, access and pricing. Yochai Benkler, the Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman professor of entrepreneurial...

Bill to be debated Monday as Bloc, Quebec government push for regional communications regulator

Media | 03/05/2010 6:59 pm EST

Regionalizing telecommunications and broadcast regulations in Quebec could hamper Canadian innovation policy, experts say.  Experts are weighing in on the issue as Members of Parliament are scheduled to debate private member’s Bill C-444 Monday.  The bill, introduced by Bloc Québécois MP Nicolas Dufour, would allow provinces to regulate telecommunications and broadcasting policies. The Wire Report reported last week that the Province of Quebec is also calling for the regionalization of certain CRTC activities and the establishment of a provincial consultation mechanism when federal telecom and broadcasting laws are reviewed or when the federal Cabinet...

Experts, critics, surprised by budget’s announcement on satellites

telecom | 03/05/2010 12:53 am EST

Experts and opposition critics were surprised Thursday by the government’s plan to “open the doors” on foreign ownership—but only to the Canadian satellite sector. In its 2010 budget, released Thursday, the Conservative government announced that it intends to increase competition in the...

Northern line could connect territories to fibre-optic broadband

telecom | 03/04/2010 10:45 pm EST

A new fibre-optic line planned to connect London to Tokyo is expected to improve connectivity in the 43 northern Canadian communities currently served by satellite.  The Kodiak Kenai Cable Company, based in Alaska, has undertaken a project worth an estimated $1.2 billion to connect Europe to Asia with a fibre-optic...

Clement looking at legislative changes to increase foreign investment for telecom, satellite

telecom | 03/04/2010 12:26 am EST

OTTAWA--The federal government is considering legislative changes so that Canada’s telecommunications and satellite sectors can receive foreign direct investment.  Following the Conservative government’s throne speech Wednesday, Industry Minister Tony Clement said he has been...

Canada should view CETA process as an opportunity to carve out its interests, says de Beer

Media | 03/02/2010 11:38 pm EST

Canada shouldn’t necessarily view the ongoing negotiations surrounding the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) as a threat.  The country should instead view the process as a way to leverage some of its Intellectual property (IP) interests onto the agenda, Jeremy...

Canyon TV files lawsuit, says broadcast carriers fall under Telecom Act

Media | 03/01/2010 11:12 pm EST

Calgary company Canyon TV Inc. has posed the question of whether broadcast carriers should have to air channels that have received CRTC licences. Canyon TV has filed a lawsuit with the Alberta provincial court against Telus Corp., seeking damages for a failure to carry its channel.  The company argues that...

iBwave’s 3D in-building software improving indoor wireless coverage

telecom | 02/26/2010 9:00 pm EST

Trouble is brewing for some wireless operators as data usage increases and customers complain about indoor coverage.  Existing networks were designed for outdoor cellphone usage, but today, 80 per cent of traffic comes from inside buildings, said Dominique Gauthier, chief technology officer at iBwave Solutions, a...

Quebec lobbying federal government for regional communications regulator

Media | 02/25/2010 11:31 pm EST

OTTAWA—The Province of Quebec is lobbying the federal government to regionalize some CRTC responsibilities, a spokeswoman for the Quebec minister of culture told The Wire Report. “[We are asking for] the establishment of a consultation mechanism when federal laws are revised involving telecommunications and...

Liberal Party supports speed matching; broadband access to be in campaign platform: Garneau

telecom | 02/25/2010 10:23 pm EST

The Liberal Party supports the issue of speed matching for wholesale broadband and will make Internet access a major piece of its campaign platform in the next election, the party's industry critic, Marc Garneau, said in an interview.  Speed matching regulation would require that the...

Parties file submissions on speed matching, hope next CRTC hearing will finally resolve it

telecom | 02/23/2010 11:45 pm EST

Bell Canada and Telus Corp. say they hope the upcoming CRTC hearing on speed matching will finally settle the divisive issue.  “I do think this is the definitive decision because I am expecting a positive decision,” Bell Canada vice-president of regulatory affairs, Jonathan Daniels, said in an interview. “You’ll see that the market will become even more competitive with wireless.”   While the incumbents say mandating speed matching will ultimately affect their ability to roll out their networks, competitors say it is key to enhancing competition in Canada’s broadband market.  On March 3, 2009, the CRTC issued a decision requiring...

Clement’s words under scrutiny at Federal Court

telecom | 02/23/2010 9:41 pm EST

OTTAWA--Industry Minister Tony Clement’s words are under scrutiny at the Federal Court—literally.   Public Mobile Inc., which has challenged the federal government’s decision to overturn a CRTC ruling on Globalive Communications Corp., has filed an exhaustive list of Clement’s public statements before and after the...

DFAIT to lead ICT trade mission to Mexico

Media | 02/22/2010 5:46 pm EST

Canadian telecommunications and new media companies will showcase their information and communications technology (ICT) services this week during a trade mission in Mexico.  The Canadian trade mission, sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), will be held from Feb. 22 to 26 in Monterrey and Guadalajara,...

CRTC has lost its ‘structure of control,’ says von Finckenstein

Media | 02/19/2010 10:41 pm EST

OTTAWA—The role of the CRTC could change significantly in the coming years as converging technologies change how Canadians use and access media, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said at the Prime Time Ottawa conference Friday.  “The Broadcasting Act is based on the principle of limited access,...

Canadian companies head to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress

telecom | 02/19/2010 9:57 pm EST

Canadians at the Mobile World Congress in Spain this week say the event has changed, with one major handset provider no longer participating, but the show helped shine a light on Canadian wireless advancements. “Barcelona definitely noticed us,” Vince Kadar, CEO of Ottawa-based mobile financial software...

Canada’s digital strategy can’t wait for federal government: panel

Media | 02/19/2010 4:58 pm EST

OTTAWA—Canada’s digital strategy efforts should be spearheaded by players in the communications industry, not a slower-moving federal government, experts agreed at a panel discussion Thursday.  Entitled “Looking at a National Digital Strategy with a Creative Eye,” the panel was part of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s (CFTPA) Prime Time in Ottawa conference.  “Government looks to us to advise them and to provide guidance,” said Canada Digital Media Network (CDMN) managing director Kevin Tuer. “That’s a huge responsibility. We need to bring [a strategy] together, unify that strategy, and bring it to...

‘Youtuber kids’ offer advice to film and television industry

Media | 02/18/2010 11:51 pm EST

OTTAWA—The Canadian film and television industry received an earful of advice from young video producers Thursday. At a discussion panel, titled “Meet the kids of the brave new world,” held at the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s Prime Time Ottawa conference, young, successful...

Vast potential for mobile entertainment, experts say

Media | 02/18/2010 11:31 pm EST

OTTAWA—A panel of experts on the mobile industry said Thursday there is significant potential for mobile entertainment sales as more Canadians engage in “impulse commerce” and use their wireless devices for more than communication.  The panel, called “Mobile Entertainment—Understanding the Value Chain,” was...

Mobile operators partner to simplify–and shake up–app distribution

Media | 02/18/2010 11:11 pm EST

Canada’s three big wireless operators are joining forces on an application-distribution initiative that could change the online app-store landscape—a move that industry analysts say is designed to win a piece of the Apple Inc. App Store market.  “They obviously and understandably want to find a way...

Rogers sells 400,000 smart phones in fourth quarter

Media | 02/17/2010 9:40 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. sold 400,000 smart phones in the fourth quarter of 2009 that helped drive wireless data revenues to 24 per cent of the company’s total wireless earnings, the company reported Wednesday.  About 40 per cent of the smart phones were sold to new Rogers customers, the company said. The company carries more than 20...

‘Expect a spirited CRTC review’ of Shaw-Canwest deal: BMO report

Media | 02/16/2010 11:07 pm EST

Shaw Communications Inc.’s plans to acquire a controlling stake in Canwest Global Communications Corp. may be held up by the CRTC’s approval over concerns about foreign ownership and media convergence, says a BMO Capital Markets report released Tuesday.  Shaw announced Friday its intentions to acquire a...

Harper government considering thorny policy of loosening foreign ownership rules

Media | 02/16/2010 10:52 pm EST

The federal Conservative government is taking stock of whether to announce this spring the liberalization of foreign ownership rules in Canada’s communications industry, insiders say. An announcement could be made in the government’s Throne Speech, to be delivered March 3, but it’s not clear how far the...

Large ISPs under CRTC pressure to disclose traffic management practices

telecom | 02/16/2010 10:31 pm EST

Some of Canada’s largest Internet service providers have until Feb. 22 to comply with a CRTC request to more prominently disclose their Internet traffic management policies. In January, the commission sent letters to Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Primus Telecommunications Canada...

RCMP rolls out new wireless network for G8 Summit

telecom | 02/12/2010 9:29 pm EST

The RCMP’s Ontario division is installing a new Internet protocol (IP)-based wireless network in time for this summer’s G8 summit in Huntsville.  While some say new network—called the P25 system—is a leap forward for emergency services communications, others say it might not be all it’s cracked up to be. ...

Wireless providers say CRTC report suggests they could face broadcast regulatory framework

Media | 02/12/2010 9:00 pm EST

The Canadian wireless industry says it is concerned that the language contained in a new CRTC report suggests wireless providers could face the same regulation as broadcasters.   A 90-page CRTC report released this week, titled “Navigating Convergence: Charting Canadian Communications Change and Regulatory Implications,” contains a brief passage on the CRTC’s potential for regulating wireless services. “Any reasonable person reading that is going to worry that [the CRTC] is going to intervene more in the wireless market,” Michael Hennessy, senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs at Telus Communications Company, told The Wire...

Facing budget constraints, Tories can pursue regulatory reform, say experts

Media | 02/12/2010 12:08 am EST

Strapped for the necessary revenues to help develop a national digital strategy, the Conservative government should pursue less-costly regulatory reforms, experts said at a roundtable Thursday.  The Liberal Party hosted the roundtable on Parliament Hill to discuss Canada’s digital economy, where panelists...

Telus offers DRM-free music to cellphone customers

Media | 02/10/2010 11:49 pm EST

Telus announced Wednesday that it is the first cellphone carrier in Canada to offer wireless music free of digital rights management (DRM)—but the company will charge customers 30 cents per track to replace their DRM music.  DRM limits what a users can do with songs or other media after they download them. Often, the technology will...

Public Mobile CEO warned Industry Minister of ‘cloud of confusion’ if Globalive decision overturned

telecom | 02/10/2010 11:20 pm EST

Public Mobile CEO Alek Krstajic warned Industry Minister Tony Clement in November that reversing the CRTC’s decision on Globalive Wireless Management Corp. would create a “cloud of confusion.”  In the letter, dated Nov. 13 and obtained by The Wire Report through a federal...

New wireless market entrants to push smart phone penetration, but unlikely to affect data services market: report

telecom | 02/09/2010 10:29 pm EST

New market entrants in Canada’s telecommunications industry are expected to push smart phone penetration, prepaid services and wireless substitution, but they are unlikely to affect the market for data services, says a new report.  Released Monday by UBS Investment Research, and titled...

Novus 200 Mbps broadband targeted at ‘younger, high-tech savvy’ customers

telecom | 02/05/2010 11:10 pm EST

Novus Entertainment Inc., a Vancouver-based high-speed Internet provider, will be providing Vancouver residents with Canada’s fastest residential Internet service at 200 Mbps.  The fast Internet service will be available in select buildings configured for 200 Mbps technology starting Feb. 12, 2010, and will cost $279.95 per month. According to a press release from the company, the price works out to “one of the lowest costs per megabit per second in Canada.” The 200 Mbps service has a monthly download cap of 500 Gb. Novus also offers a 200 Mbps service for small businesses that has a 700 Gb monthly cap. “It’s targeted at younger, high-tech savvy...

New HSPA network ‘make or break’ for MTS Allstream, say analysts

telecom | 02/05/2010 10:53 pm EST

MTS Allstream Inc.’s ability to survive in the telecommunications market is dependent on its ability to operate on a HSPA network, according to analysts.  The Manitoba communications company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. and biggest player in the province, confirmed Thursday the...

Bell acknowledges it wrongly charged rotary phone users a touch-tone fee

telecom | 02/05/2010 8:00 pm EST

Bell Canada did not intend to charge touch-tone service fees to rotary phone customers, the company says in answer to an application filed with the CRTC by a public interest advocacy group.  On Dec. 23, 2009, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), on behalf of the Consumers’ Association of Canada and...

Rural communities frustrated by high costs of wireless, and lack of it

telecom | 02/05/2010 7:42 pm EST

As the CRTC prepares to hold hearings in October that will look at telecommunications services in underserved areas, Canadian rural communities are expressing frustration about access to wireless and broadband, and its high costs.  “We have no coverage,” Steven Gould, who provides IT support for the Town...

Government not releasing any internal Globalive documents, feds tell Public Mobile

telecom | 02/04/2010 10:35 pm EST

The federal government has responded to Public Mobile’s federal court challenge on the Globalive decision, saying it will not release documents related to the government decision.  Public Mobile’s federal court application, filed Jan. 8, requested that the government release “All relevant materials...

Bell Aliant to remain competitive with expansion of aerial fibre network, say analysts

telecom | 02/03/2010 11:06 pm EST

Bell Aliant says it plans to double spending on fibre technology to expand its fibreOP Internet and HDTV coverage to 140,000 homes by the end of 2010.  The announcement was made as part of the company’s fourth quarter results for 2009, released Wednesday.  The coverage that Bell...

One Laptop per Child Program to increase connectivity in Canadian aboriginal communities

telecom | 02/01/2010 10:52 pm EST

In September the Belinda Stronach Foundation, working with aboriginal groups and potentially businesses and the federal government, will bring the One Laptop per Child Program to Canada’s aboriginal communities, expanding Internet access in many remote First Nations areas.  A project...

News business should look at wireless delivery, aggregation, experts say

Media | 02/01/2010 3:23 pm EST

TORONTO—The battered newspaper industry’s salvation will be to plunge whole-heartedly into new media technology.   That was the key message at Innovate News, a conference held Saturday by the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) at the Mars Centre in Toronto.  In a panel session, speakers...

Industry Canada official to launch campaign for position as ITU director

telecom | 01/29/2010 11:09 pm EST

Industry Canada Communications Research Centre (CRC) president Veena Rawat is putting forward her candidacy as radiocommunication director at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).  Rawat intends to submit her candidacy by September 2010, and if she is elected, would increase Canada’s influence on...

Eliminating Cancon quotas could ghettoize it, says CFPTA’s Bolen

Media | 01/29/2010 10:16 pm EST

A recent policy proposal to replace Canadian content quotas with direct subsidies risks “ghettoizing” Canadian content on select channels like the CBC, says Norm Bolen, president and CEO of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA).  Bolen’s comments came in response to a report released Thursday by the C.D. Howe Institute. The report, titled “Scrambled Signals: Canadian Content Policies in a World of Technological Abundance,” addresses the policy framework for the English Canada communications industry, and says important regulatory instruments that in the past promoted and protected Canadian content are not viable in the...

Internet, new media supports community radio, but it’s too early to solve its problems

Media | 01/29/2010 10:01 pm EST

New media and the Internet have made it easier than ever for organizations to share information and capture new audiences—but for the moment community radio stations don’t appear to be maximizing its potential.  During the CRTC’s hearings on the review the campus and...

Government will not accede to ACTA unless ‘fully satisfied’ that it’s in best interest of Canadians: Van Loan

Media | 01/27/2010 10:58 pm EST

The Government of Canada will not accede to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) unless it is “fully satisfied that it reflects the best interests of Canadians,” International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan says.  In response to a questions about a letter received this...

Privacy Commissioner launches second probe into Facebook

Media | 01/27/2010 10:26 pm EST

A public interest advocacy group is pleased to see the Privacy Commissioner of Canada launch a second investigation into Facebook’s privacy settings, saying “we are not done with Facebook.” This is Stoddart’s second probe into Facebook’s privacy policies. In July 2009, the commissioner...

Ten 911 call centres won’t make CRTC deadline for enhanced 911 cellphone services

telecom | 01/27/2010 7:59 pm EST

Ten communities across Canada will not be ready to meet the CRTC’s Feb. 1 deadline for enhanced 911 cellphone services, the commission says.  Phase II of the enhanced 911 services, known as E911, enables 911 call centres to pinpoint the locations of people making emergency 911 calls on cellphones.  The...

Bell using ‘public money’ to roll out HSPA mobile network in rural Ontario and Quebec, competitors say

telecom | 01/26/2010 10:22 pm EST

Bell Canada and Bell Aliant are taking heat from competitors for proposing to use “public money” held in deferral accounts to roll out a high speed packet access (HSPA) mobile network in rural and remote areas.  Incumbent phone companies such as Bell and Telus operate “deferral accounts” containing funds collected from urban telephone customers during the previous price cap period (2002-2006). The accounts are funded by local telephone services in urban areas, where higher charges are used to subsidize the cost of providing telephone services in rural and remote areas. CRTC regulations stipulate that incumbent phone companies use deferral account funds...

Rogers investigating risk of ‘sandwich attack’ eavesdropping on cellphones

telecom | 01/26/2010 7:23 pm EST

Following a cryptography investigation by researchers in Israel, Rogers Communications is looking at whether its consumers’ cellular phone conversations are open to an eavesdropping hack.  Israeli researchers published a report on Jan. 12, in which they described hacking the A5/3...

Host of new wireless entrants expected to shake up pricing, data plans

telecom | 01/25/2010 10:50 pm EST

Canada’s cell phone industry is bracing for a major shakeup as a number of new carriers are expected to compete with new pricing and “all you can eat” data plans, experts say.  As Videotron, Shaw, Wind Mobile, Dave Wireless—and potentially Public Mobile—become active in the Canadian...

Feds working on a broad national digital strategy; could be released in budget, experts say

Media | 01/25/2010 9:30 pm EST

The federal government is developing a broad, national digital strategy that could be released in the March budget, say experts and insiders. Insiders say they expect a made-in-Canada, national digital strategy that will touch upon modern spectrum management; information and communications...

CRTC’s complaints-based net neutrality regime won’t result in ‘any complaints at all,’ critics say

telecom | 01/22/2010 9:45 pm EST

Critics say the CRTC’s complaints-based regulatory approach to net neutrality is so complex, expensive, and cumbersome that they don’t expect “any complaints at all” against ISPs engaging in net throttling. The enforcement regime that the CRTC put into place last October...

Rogers blinks, withdraws telecom application on walkaways

telecom | 01/22/2010 9:29 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. withdrew its telecom application from the CRTC on Friday, which had requested that cellphone customers take their balances with them when switching phone companies. Since 2007, wireless customers can take their phone numbers with them when they change carriers. However the practice increased...

Rogers says its telecom application is ‘probably a money loser’

telecom | 01/21/2010 11:03 pm EST

Rogers Communications Inc. says its CRTC application—which would force customers to take their balances with them when they switch phone companies—will “probably be a money loser.”  “It will probably be a money loser for us, because, quite frankly, we attract more people who pour...

Vecima’s long-term spectrum holdings paying off

telecom | 01/20/2010 8:42 pm EST

Victoria-headquartered company Vecima Networks Inc. initiated a spectrum divestiture strategy last year, realizing significant profits from selling previously fallow spectrum.  The broadband equipment maker announced earlier this month that it had sold 6 per cent of its entire spectrum holdings for $2.3 million, a massive profit over the $32,500...

Welcome to The Wire Report: Letter from the editor

Media | 01/18/2010 12:26 am EST

Today I’m happy to introduce you, our readers, to Hill Times Publishing’s newest service, The Wire Report.  In fact anticipation has been building for a number of weeks now. At Hill Times Publishing, myself, publisher Anne Marie Creskey, reader sales and services director Ryan O’Neill and online services manager Dan Hulton have...

Google’s Nexus One to disrupt Canadian wireless market, analysts say

telecom | 01/16/2010 1:20 am EST

The Google Nexus One smart phone—designed by the HTC Corp.—has the potential to be a game changer in the Canadian marketplace, but not for reasons that have to do with its hardware, say analysts.  Peter Misek of Canaccord Adams in Toronto wrote in a recent newsletter that he believes the Nexus One and Android, the open-source operating system that runs the Google phone, have the potential to disrupt the contract-based business model that dominates the North American wireless market.  “For carriers, Google seems to be trying to circumvent their ownership of networks, spectrum, and the very customers they bill each month,” Misek wrote in a Canaccord...

Public Mobile says it was unnecessarily denied access to foreign capital

telecom | 01/14/2010 3:10 pm EST

 Public Mobile CEO Alek Krstajic is calling for changes to the law if it will permit access to foreign capital that he says his company was unfairly denied. Krstajic is on the warpath after the government's decision to hand wireless rival Globalive Wireless Management Corp. access to the Canadian market in December,...

Bell finds allies and foes in bid to avoid cutting phone rates starting June 1

telecom | 01/13/2010 10:08 pm EST

The CRTC allows local phone rates to increase in times of inflation, but should rates be allowed to drop in times of deflation? It’s a thorny regulatory question that has pitted Canada’s largest telco against its competitors and consumer advocates.  A new proceeding is now under way to decide whether...

Commentary: Less regulation key to Canada becoming a leader in the digital economy

Media | 01/13/2010 6:19 pm EST

The debate around Canadian rules governing foreign ownership and control in the telecom sector has been reignited by the federal government's recent decision which allowed mobile services provider Globalive to enter the Canadian market, overruling a CRTC determination that the company is not under Canadian control. The...

Liberal Party supports net neutrality, but mum on private member’s bill

telecom | 01/12/2010 10:29 pm EST

Liberal Party MP and industry critic Marc Garneau has come forward in support of the issue of net neutrality, saying that the party wants “to keep (the) flow of information moving as freely as possible.”  In a question and answer session with the grassroots organization SaveOurNet.ca, Garneau, the...

OTA appeals CRTC decision on deregulation for small ILECs

telecom | 01/11/2010 5:24 pm EST

The Ontario Telecommunications Association (OTA) is telling the CRTC that its new deregulation rules for small local telephone companies won’t work. A large percentage of the companies will never be able to take advantage of deregulation under the regime established last summer, says the association’s executive director Jonathan Holmes.  “Over half of the exchanges where there is cable company presence wouldn’t be able to use the decision, ever,” Holmes tells Tech Media Reports. “So if it’s over half, then we need to do something to make this more potentially usable for our members.” Last June, the CRTC determined in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-379 that the small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECs) should follow the same...

Industry Canada considers sharing digital radio spectrum with wireless services

Media | 01/08/2010 4:54 pm EST

Industry Canada is hoping a greater reliance on market forces will help revive commercial interest in portions of the L-band spectrum currently used for digital radio services.  In consultation DGTP-010-09, the department proposes to replace the digital audio broadcast (DAB) designation in the 1452-1492 MHz...

Consumer groups decry Bell charging touch tone service fee to rotary phone customer

telecom | 01/07/2010 3:01 pm EST

Consumer groups have filed an application with the CRTC in an effort to find out how many Bell Canada customers still using rotary phones are being charged a monthly $2.80 touch tone service fee. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), on behalf of the Consumers’ Association of Canada and Canada Without...

Shaw gets access to more satellite TV spectrum, wireless companies squeezed for backhaul

Media | 01/06/2010 6:52 pm EST

A decision from Industry Canada last month to allocate additional spectrum in the 11 GHz band to direct-to-home (DTH) services allows Shaw Communications Inc.’s satellite TV company Shaw Direct to meet growing demand for additional satellite TV services, including high-definition channels....

Sandvine, Optenet partner to make broadband safer for children; analysts divided on revenue potential

telecom | 01/04/2010 2:43 pm EST

Waterloo, ON-headquartered broadband equipment provider Sandvine, Inc. and IT security specialist Optenet, S.A. have signed a new partnership that moves parental controls off the desktop and onto the network itself. They are targeting wired and wireless broadband subscribers worldwide, although...

CRTC launches foreign ownership review of OMERS-backed Public Mobile

telecom | 12/21/2009 3:30 pm EST

Just one week after the federal government gave Globalive Wireless the green light to launch in Canada, the CRTC has said it will review the ownership structure of another wireless startup. It’s doubtful, however, the CRTC will find as much fault with Public Mobile Inc., which is getting the majority of its financing...

Anti-spam bill under contention, referred to Senate committee for study

telecom | 12/18/2009 3:37 pm EST

With the Senate set to study the Conservative government’s anti-spam bill in the New Year, provisions around existing business relationships, the sharing non-sensitive customer information among business affiliates or partners and the ability of consumers to opt out of further email communications are likely to be...

CRTC postpones decision on new regulatory framework for small ILECs

telecom | 12/17/2009 6:32 pm EST

Canada’s 36 small telcos will have to wait a bit longer to find out if the CRTC will grant them financial relief to make up for revenues they lose to large established telcos that move into their territories. The small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECS) from Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia were hoping...

Commentary: Why Canada and other countries should consider a stimulus package for ICT

Media | 12/17/2009 2:31 pm EST

Governments are trying to save or create well paying jobs in a variety of sectors including auto manufacturers, construction and other industries. But where’s the government in attempting to save jobs or create new innovation in information and communication technologies (ICT)? Not a...

Cabinet misses “obvious opportunity” to fix competition in business market: MTS

telecom | 12/15/2009 9:31 pm EST

MTS Allstream Inc. says businesses, both large and small, are the big losers after the federal government denied its appeal to overturn a CRTC decision limiting access to incumbent telcos’ advanced telecommunications infrastructure. “We think that it’s a big blow to competition. It’s a lost opportunity and really consigns large swaths, especially small businesses in Canada, to little choice and rising prices,” MTS’ chief corporate officer Chris Peirce tells Network Letter. “This government had a clear path forward and they didn’t take it. And it’s the economy and the competitiveness of Canadian business that’s going to suffer as...