Globalive decision draws focus on key objectives of Telecom Act

telecom | 12/11/2009 11:11 pm EST

The Conservative government’s announcement Friday that Globalive Wireless Management Corp. can enter the Canadian wireless market drew marked attention to the key objectives outlined in section 7 of the Telecommunications Act. “Oh yes, definitely,” says Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public...

Outdated laws prevent regulators from keeping pace with technological changes: AIMS report

Media | 12/09/2009 3:23 pm EST

An East Coast think tank argues that even though Canada’s communication landscape is substantially different than it was 20 or 30 years ago, our regulations still sport disco suits. The group says it’s time to reorganize – but how would its suggestions impact the market? Would...

Commentary: Expect other countries to follow Telus and Bell’s lead in sharing a HSPA network

telecom | 12/09/2009 2:16 pm EST

I was recently invited to participate in a Telus 3G Media Roundtable in Toronto that was attended by business and industry press. The purpose of this event was to introduce the new Telus HSPA+ network. I asked why this network as so special since HSPA+ is being rolled out by AT&T and T-Mobile in...

Novatel Wireless’ MiFi service helps Bell drive data revenue and backhaul – for now

telecom | 12/06/2009 1:05 am EST

Novatel Wireless, of San Diego CA, has signed deals this past week with Bell Mobility for its MiFi 2372 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot (Mi-Fi), and with Bell subsidiary Virgin Mobile Canada for its Broadband2Go Data Stick – two transitional technologies that, according to analysts, will drive data...

PIAC wants government to intervene in net neutrality on behalf of consumers

telecom | 12/05/2009 11:09 pm EST

Consumer advocates are telling the federal government that it must intervene to better protect individual’s rights to unfettered Internet services and champion consumers’ rights to a neutral Internet. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) says consumers are frustrated by the actions of the ISPs to slow-down Internet connections as a way to deal with bandwidth congestion. “People don’t know what the hell [traffic management] is but when you explain it to them they have a pretty strong viewpoint on what they think. They don’t like being throttled and they don’t necessarily want pricing to go up,” Lawford tells Network Letter in an interview....

CRTC makes it easier for telecom service provider groups to share customer information

telecom | 12/03/2009 5:05 pm EST

Citing a need for more symmetrical and competitively neutral regulations, the CRTC will start allowing telecommunications service providers (TSPs) to share confidential customer information (CCI) with affiliate companies – a move that’s expected to make it easier for companies to offer...

MyScreen bringing mobile ad platform to Latin America, Brazil; rollout plans for Canada less certain

Media | 11/30/2009 3:33 pm EST

Toronto-based MyScreen Mobile Inc. inked a major deal last week to bring its interactive mobile advertising service to over 194 million cell phone users in Latin America and the Caribbean. Then there’s the 42 million Brazilians it will reach following a separate deal announced last month. Yet,...

Ordering a taxi or a pizza creating new revenue stream for Canadian and U.S. cell carriers

telecom | 11/30/2009 2:54 pm EST

Canadian companies specializing in mobile apps and fleet management are creating new business opportunities and new revenue streams for the major wireless carriers in both Canada and the United States – simply by making it easier for people to order a taxi or a pizza. “We go...

Bad customer service costs Canadian communications industry $4 billion annually: Study

Media | 11/26/2009 2:15 pm EST

Canadian companies lose a whopping $9.7 billion in a year because of poor customer service, with landline, wireless, ISP and television signal distributors among the worst hit, according to a study from Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc. The call-centre-equipment division of...

Open letter: Industry minister, not CRTC, should have first say in Globealive’s ownership: PIAC

telecom | 11/25/2009 11:37 pm EST

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has added its name to the growing list of groups urging the federal government to overturn a CRTC ruling blocking Egyptian-backed Globalive Wireless Management Corp. from launching a competitive wireless service in Canada. In a Nov. 20 letter to Industry minister...

Commentary: Cabinet must tread wearily on Globalive appeal

telecom | 11/24/2009 10:44 pm EST

The decision seems so simple for Industry minister Tony Clement: if you believe in free markets, one needs to overturn the CRTC’s decision to block would-be wireless entrant Globalive from rolling out a national discount cell phone service. But, as he well knows, nothing has been simple since he took over one of...

Consumers and business could see lower phone rates in 2010 unless CRTC intervenes

telecom | 11/24/2009 3:38 pm EST

What may be good for consumers is not always good for the economy, it seems. The real prospect of economic deflation in 2009 could result in lower phone rates for consumers and businesses across Canada starting next June. In a petition filed with the CRTC last week, Bell Canada and two affiliates say the unintended...

CRTC denies Bell bid to share area code costs with other local telephone providers

telecom | 11/23/2009 7:15 pm EST

A push by Bell Canada to share the costs of new area codes with other telephony providers was dealt a blow last week when the CRTC denied an application on the issue. But previous area code relief decisions show the commission is moving in the right direction with providing more preparation time and leaning towards...

Antenna order backlogs stall wireless broadband rollout in some rural communities

telecom | 11/23/2009 3:59 pm EST

The recession is being blamed for a backlog of orders for antennas, which is delaying the rollout of broadband Internet in some rural communities. It comes at a time when Canada and the United States are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on WiMAX and other wireless broadband as part of ambitious broadband stimulus plans. In the Algoma District of northern Ontario, for example, two rural broadband projects near Sault Ste. Marie have been delayed. Originally scheduled to be complete in October, the towns of Heyden and Batchawana Bay won't have high-speed Internet access until at least late-December. The delay is caused, in part, by the demand structure for the antennas used to...

Broadband data put spotlight back on application-specific traffic management

telecom | 11/20/2009 5:59 pm EST

Two findings in Sandvine Inc.’s 2009 global wireline broadband report are stirring the traffic management debate: P2P filesharing has dropped by 25% as a share of total traffic, and peak hours condensed to 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in 2009, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. in 2008. The biggest slice of the bandwidth pie these...

Rogers challenges Bell’s neutrality in managing 9-1-1 service; Bell calls allegations “preposterous”

telecom | 11/19/2009 4:45 pm EST

Rogers Cable Communications Inc. (RCCI) no longer wants its main competitor, Bell Canada, managing Ontario’s 9-1-1 emergency service. The carrier has formally asked the CRTC to replace the ILECs as the service’s administrators, singling out Bell for what it describes as an...

Bell and Telus’ move to HSPA avoids wreckage of CDMA, but challenges lie ahead

telecom | 11/17/2009 3:09 pm EST

Hailed as a game changer, the launch of Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility’s high-speed packet access (HSPA) network will give the two companies a significant tool in their arsenal in the competitive marketplace, but they will also face challenges as they strive to migrate subscribers to the new superfast mobile...

Government sets up Ottawa testbed to showcase mobile DTV to broadcast industry

Media | 11/16/2009 1:48 am EST

Now that an international network-standards body has approved technology enabling mobile digital TV broadcasts, Industry Canada’s Communications Research Centre (CRC) plans to conduct mobile DTV tests in the Ottawa region. According to people involved in the project, the technology might change the broadcasting...

Weak economy and inventory clear outs blamed for poor mobile phone sales: IDC report

telecom | 11/16/2009 1:31 am EST

A healthy market for smart phones hasn’t been enough to put mobile phone shipments into the black in Canada. The country’s mobile phone market has now receded for three straight quarters – down 8% between June and September this year, according to preliminary figures released by ICT research firm IDC Canada’s Mobile Phone Tracker. The Tracker also found that handset makers shipped 4% fewer units to wireless service providers and other channel partners in Canada in the third quarter compared to the same quarter last year, despite double-digit converged mobile device growth. Converged mobile devices – defined as having high-level operating systems, such as...

SIM technology can help carriers compete with smart phone vendors for apps revenue: SeaBoard

telecom | 11/11/2009 9:20 pm EST

Wireless carriers have been losing control of applications-related revenue to the apps stores launched by smartphone vendors such as Apple and Research In Motion, but a new report from the SeaBoard Group says carriers can stem the tide if they adopt new device and application management software on...

Telus boosts research spending 147% in 2008 while BCE slips below $1 billion for first time in six years

telecom | 11/05/2009 6:42 pm EST

BCE Inc. has slipped below the $1-billion mark for spending on research and development for the first time since 2003, according to the latest top 100 list of industrial R&D spenders. And while Canada’s largest telco still maintains the number two ranking, Telus Corp. has narrowed the gap...

Octasic expanding reach of wireless products with new low-cost, low-power next-gen base stations

telecom | 11/02/2009 8:50 pm EST

Montreal-based Octasic Inc. is leveraging its early success in the 2G GSM base station space to expand into the broader 3G and 4G wireless infrastructure market with high performance chips that cost less and use less power than competing products. “We believe that the same fundamental...

Globalive debacle an “embarrassment” for Canada; single review for foreign ownership overdue: Lemay

telecom | 11/01/2009 3:43 pm EST

Canada should take steps to streamline its review process for foreign ownership of telecoms, or risk putting a further chill on foreign investment, warns an analyst in response to last Thursday’s CRTC ruling that Globalive Wireless is not Canadian-owned and controlled. The call for change...

SaskTel sells Navigata; focuses on innovation and long-term fibre roll-out

telecom | 10/30/2009 3:18 pm EDT

SaskTel has reached an agreement to sell its BC-based IP phone division, Navigata, taking a significant loss as it sets its sights on an ambitious, province-wide broadband roll-out, and a push to sell its innovative OpenSwitchGate activation solution. “We are happy; we got good value for it,” SaskTel...

Telus still pressing for information on Bell’s DND “exit tariff” following appeal court’s ruling

telecom | 10/27/2009 12:40 am EDT

The saga pitting Telus Corp. against Bell Canada and the CRTC regarding access to information on the disputed Department of Defence (DND) contract continues, with the companies still sparring over sensitive pricing data. “We have to sort out what we are going to be allowed access to,”...

CRTC’s web traffic decision wins praise although privacy and higher bills could still be an issue

telecom | 10/22/2009 8:18 pm EDT

Yesterday’s CRTC ruling on net neutrality has earned Canada’ s big telcos and cablecos a victory by allowing Internet traffic management, but the decision may have unforeseen repercussions in the form of privacy issues and higher bills for users, warns one technology analyst. The...

Analysts criticize use of OECD data in Harvard report giving Canada poor broadband ranking

Media | 10/21/2009 4:12 pm EDT

Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society wasn’t expecting to create a tempest in a tea pot when it released data last week showing Canada having some of the poorest broadband service in the developed world. And while some Canadian analysts are criticizing the study...

Toronto software shop bringing BlackBerry experience to non-smartphone users

telecom | 10/21/2009 2:14 pm EDT

Mobile phone users in India will soon be offered a rich, BlackBerry-like experience without having to purchase the high-end device or subscribe to expensive wireless data packages, thanks to a new Canadian technology that is targeting the two billion people in emerging markets who continue to use lower-end devices. Iseemedia Inc., Toronto, says it will reveal its new customer in India by the end of the month or early November. The company’s CFO, David Berman, says the deal represents a big first step for the Iseemail solution. “It’s very significant for us in that we’ll start gaining market traction in a hurry, primarily overseas,” he tells Tech Media...

Appeals court reaffirms CRTC’s jurisdiction in municipal rights-of-way dispute

telecom | 10/19/2009 6:54 pm EDT

Municipalities could face a tougher time requiring cablecos and telcos to participate in provincial “call before you dig” registries following a Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) ruling last week that shores up the CRTC’s authority to decide such issues. The Oct. 13 decision ends a two-year battle between...

New legislation and regulations needed to deal swiftly with “industry misconduct”: Senate told

telecom | 10/14/2009 6:06 pm EDT

Tougher laws that curb identify theft, protect children from mobile marketers and promote greater competition among wireless providers are among the recommendations tabled by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) last week as part of study of Canada’s wireless sector by the Senate...

Concerns raised over small ILECs regulatory framework proposal

telecom | 10/06/2009 2:41 pm EDT

A proposal from the Canadian Independent Telephone Company Joint Task Force (CITC-JTF) to create a new price cap regime for small local telcos, including a new subsidy pool to help fund them, is being met with stern criticism from some of the larger telcos and cablecos. According to the JTF, the new regime is required to...

Senate committee urged to support a national plan and funding for broadband internet

telecom | 10/05/2009 5:42 pm EDT

Adopting a national plan and national funding for broadband internet, maintaining telecom subsidies for high-cost serving areas and declaring broadband an essential telecom service are among the initiatives needed to bring high speed access to all Canadians, SaskTel told a Senate committee last week. Appearing Sept. 30...

CRTC should deregulate deposit and disconnection policies for all local telephone providers

telecom | 10/01/2009 4:54 pm EDT

The country’s biggest cable companies have told the CRTC that it should deregulate deposit and disconnection policies in unregulated markets for all local exchange carriers (LECs), including incumbent providers. They say market forces are sufficient to ensure reasonable policies are developed, therefore eliminating the need for regulation. Bragg Communications (EastLink), Cogeco Cable Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc, and Quebecor Media Inc. (Vidéotron ltée) were responding to comments from the telephone companies (Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, SaskTel, Telebec and Telus) to an appeal the cablecos made of Telecom Decision 2009-424. This ruling...

Thunder Bay wins long fought battle for relief from local phone regulation; delayed on business side

telecom | 09/28/2009 6:22 pm EDT

Nearly 500 communities across Canada have been effectively deregulated when it comes to local phone competition. Now, after several years of trying, TBayTel has won approval from the CRTC to operate its residential local exchanges services free from regulatory oversight. It wasn’t as...

Canadian wireless exporters taking advantage of broadband stimulus opportunities in US

telecom | 09/28/2009 3:08 pm EDT

Canadian WiMAX companies are becoming major beneficiaries of the US government’s $7.2-billion rural broadband funding program, despite the Buy American provisions. Tranzeo Wireless Technologies, Vecima Networks, DragonWave, and Bridgewater Systems are four home-grown companies finding...

Regulation & Policy Update: Usage-based billing under attack from competitors

telecom | 09/28/2009 2:30 pm EDT

Small- and medium-sized enterprises, including home-based businesses, across Ontario and Quebec stand to see higher internet costs if plans by Bell Canada to introduce usage-based billing (UBB) are allowed to proceed, according to oppo­nents of the new billing structure.  Vaxination Informatique, a...

Commentary: Globalive gets rough ride from incumbents at first day of CRTC hearing

telecom | 09/24/2009 1:37 pm EDT

At the CRTC hearings into Globalive’s ownership structure Telus Corp, Rogers Communications Inc., and Bell Canada made a consistent and compelling case that Globalive does not comply with Canada’s foreign ownership regulations. Of course, as incumbents, it is in their interest to stall Globalive’s entry...

Top court affirms CRTC’s authority to set up deferral accounts and decide how money is spent

telecom | 09/21/2009 7:08 pm EDT

A three-year-old battle over the controversial use of deferral accounts came to an end on Friday when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Telus Corp. and Bell Canada will have to reimburse consumers one-time credits totally about $300 million. The ruling also reaffirms the CRTC’s...

VoIP still scary for many enterprises

telecom | 09/21/2009 12:05 am EDT

For companies clinging to traditional telephony, the great leap forward into IP remains a scary proposition. Never mind that it’s a decade or more since the first VoIP pioneers set off in their covered wagons. What will happen to call quality? What will happen to service reliability? How will users respond? What about the...

New Brunswick transit companies jump on Wi-Fi access but big city transit remains cautious

telecom | 09/16/2009 2:20 pm EDT

Moncton did it, Fredericton is testing, and Bathurst is on deck, but large scale Wi-Fi access rollouts to municipal transit systems are daunting for larger municipalities. As a result, many are taking a wait-and-see approach, despite proof that Wi-Fi on public transit pays for itself with increased...

Pricey IP networks an adoption barrier for digital security video

telecom | 09/15/2009 4:48 pm EDT

With more data, voice and video traffic converging on IP networks, it would make sense that security video would move from traditional separate coaxial cable networks to sharing IP infrastructure with other traffic. And as that happens, it seems logical that digital security cameras would replace older...

Telcos and broadcasters take their regulatory battles directly to the public – but does it work?

Media | 09/14/2009 8:09 pm EDT

No longer content to rely solely on regulatory and Cabinet appeals, a growing number of communications companies are taking their battles directly to the court of public opinion. MTS Allstream Inc., CTVglobemedia Inc., Canwest Global Communications Inc., and the CBC are among those who have launched high-profile campaigns to sway politicians and the public against CRTC decisions they say are detrimental to their businesses. But some analysts question the effectiveness of such drives. Last week, MTS Allstream, supported by the Canadian Association of Internet Service Providers (CAIP), launched a public relations campaign against major telecom players Bell and Telus. It follows the...

Appeals to CRTC’s usage based billing decision mount

telecom | 09/14/2009 5:06 pm EDT

On August 20, it was Vaxination Informatique – a computing consulting company – that requested a stay in the implementation of Bell Canada’s usage-based billing (UBB) tariff (TN 7181), but now MTS Allstream Inc. and TekSavvy Solutions Inc. (TSI) jumped into the fray late last week with their own appeals....

Industry Canada reviewing R&D provision for wireless spectrum licence holders

telecom | 09/10/2009 2:29 pm EDT

Industry Canada's long-standing requirement that holders of wireless spectrum licences spend a minimum of 2% on research and development could be discontinued if Canada's largest wireless operators convince the government that the provision is no longer necessary. The department is currently reviewing the condition of...

Carrier Ethernet services give Canada’s enterprises competitive edge

telecom | 09/09/2009 2:59 pm EDT

Carrier Ethernet services are becoming increasingly popular: less expensive to install, easy for carriers to lay down a 100-megabit interface to sell bandwidth on demand. And Canada is actually ahead of the US. This puts a lot of options in front of the customer. Which one is right for you?   ...

Feds get kudos as broadband stimulus program opens call for applications

telecom | 09/08/2009 11:51 pm EDT

Canada’s $225-million rural broadband stimulus plan – which began accepting funding applications last week – may pale in comparison to billion dollar initiatives in Australia and the United States, but it’s still getting positive reviews here at home where one analyst suggested spending more would...

Globalive fires back against “imaginary” and “ridiculous” claims that it’s foreign controlled

telecom | 09/04/2009 5:30 pm EDT

Imaginary and ridiculous are among the colourful adjectives Globalive Wireless Management Corp. uses to describe allegations from its competitors that the company is controlled by an Egyptian-based corporation, in violation of Canada’s foreign ownership restrictions. In a 27-page submission filed with the CRTC Aug. 28, Globalive responds to allegations from Telus Corp., Rogers Communications Inc. and Bell Canada (TRB) that Globalive’s complex ownership structure gives the company’s foreign investor, Orascom, effective control over the wireless start-up. According to the incumbent carriers, there is little doubt that Orascom, which is putting $500 million of its money on...

Carriers should leverage Olympics to negotiate lower international data roaming rates: SeaBoard

telecom | 09/03/2009 5:23 pm EDT

A new report from The SeaBoard Group says now that Canada’s three national wireless operators have reduced domestic mobile data rates to more manageable levels, they should turn their attention to lowering international roaming rates for wireless data. The study, Heart of [Wireless]...

Approval of Globalive ownership could open door for greater foreign control of Canadian telecom

telecom | 09/02/2009 4:26 pm EDT

Canada’s Telecommunications Act could be put to its toughest test yet as the CRTC begins unraveling Globalive Wireless Management Corp.’s complex ownership structure to determine if Egypt-based Orascom effectively controls the wireless start-up. According to its competitors, there is...

Nortel and LG demo enhances CDMA support for emerging LTE networks

telecom | 08/30/2009 2:26 pm EDT

Nortel Networks and LG Electronics’ 3GPP data transmission between an LTE and CDMA network proves that Ericcson got what it paid for when it bought Nortel’s wireless unit, say analysts, though this first standards compliant and active transmission will have little impact on Canada’s incumbent CDMA players,...

Bell gets green light on usage-based billing

telecom | 08/27/2009 2:04 pm EDT

Smaller ISPs who purchase capacity from Bell Canada and then resell it to retail customers will have fewer service differ­entiation options after a CRTC decision gave the country’s largest phone the green light to bill wholesale customers on a usage basis. The CRTC ruled on August 12 that Bell could begin charging wholesale ISP...

Commentary: Be aware that throttling affects dedicated enterprise networks too

telecom | 08/27/2009 1:34 pm EDT

Peer-to-peer file sharing has been por­trayed by some as the great evil that will bring down the public Internet, or at least grind it to a halt, if internet providers aren’t allowed to min­imize the bandwidth that music, video and other file sharing use. But business users should also be concerned because,...

Operators spar over MCS/MDS transition to commercial spectrum licences

telecom | 08/26/2009 2:18 pm EDT

An Industry Canada consultation on the migration of MCS/MDS licences to commercial broadband radio service (BRS) licences has divided the country’s wireless Internet providers regarding the appropriate geographic market size for licences. Small operators want smaller and more localized tier 3 or tier 4 licences,...

Mobile Video lagging behind the hype

telecom | 08/26/2009 1:04 am EDT

Sure, you can stream ESPN highlights and the latest cute-cat YouTube videos to your iPhone, and the video quality is – amazing. (‘Amazing’ as in, it’s a wonder this device and network can do video at all.) And yes, you can connect your dongle-equipped laptop to the Internet over a 3G (HSPA or EVDO) network and use any...

Wavefront connects Vancouver’s wireless, new media communities to new markets

Media | 08/20/2009 5:34 pm EDT

British Columbia commercialization centre, Wavefront, celebrated the grand opening of its new facilities this week in Vancouver with the unveiling of two major agreements that forge closer ties with the Chinese and Japanese markets and strengthen Canada’s position as a go-to country for mobile content development....

Growth in defence and satellite spending fuels growth at Calian, despite recession

telecom | 08/18/2009 8:44 pm EDT

As the world struggles to shake off the deepest slowdown in 80 years, Ottawa-headquartered Calian Technologies Ltd. is cashing in on growing defence spending and demand for its systems engineering division. And new analysis of global trends suggests the turnaround is real. “We have two divisions: Business and Technology services, or BTS, and the Systems Engineering Division, or SED,” explains Calian’s president and chief executive officer, Ray Basler, in conversation with Tech Media Reports. “BTS is the people side and represents about two thirds of our revenue, whereas the SED side is systems and hardware.” The company recently reported 14% growth in...

Don’t count on governments to pay for national broadband rollout, St. Arnaud tells FCC

telecom | 08/17/2009 11:17 pm EDT

In an era of trillion dollar deficits and near bankrupt state and local governments, policy makers shouldn’t count on governments to pay billions of dollars to rollout broadband nationally, CANARIE’s chief research officer, Bill St. Arnaud, told the US Federal Communications...

New Toronto venture capital firm targeting later-stage technology companies

Media | 08/14/2009 6:37 pm EDT

Rob Chaplinksy, the managing director of a California-based private equity firm that’s set to open a branch in Toronto this summer, says poor returns on early stage venture investments in Canada’s tech sector is due to lack of quality managers. “The money is there but it has not been going to great...

WebTech expands reach into government vertical through Grey Island acquisition

telecom | 08/13/2009 5:51 pm EDT

Driven by the need to consolidate a fragmented telematics market and to diversify its customer base to a much larger degree, WebTech Wireless Inc. reached an agreement to acquire Grey Island Systems International Inc. last week. The purchase will vault the combined entity into the top 20 of telematics solutions providers in...

Axia NetMedia flexes business model to attract broadband stimulus spending

telecom | 08/13/2009 4:06 pm EDT

Calgary-headquartered Axia NetMedia Corp. is negotiating with Newfoundland and Labrador to build an Alberta Supernet-type network in the province, as part of the government’s efforts to rollout an advanced broadband network for government, commercial and residential customers across the province. Meanwhile, Axia...

Canada criticized by OECD for high wireless prices, but numbers don’t tell the entire story

telecom | 08/12/2009 4:18 pm EDT

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has given Canada’s wireless pricing a not-so-good grade, but a closer look at the numbers reveals that prices for mobile services aren’t that bad. The international economic and social policy organization released its 2009 Communications Outlook this week and proclaimed Canada to have some of the highest wireless prices among OECD nations. According to the 300-plus page report, Canada ranked 28th out of the 30 OECD countries for a medium usage plan, which consists of 780 minutes of voice calls, 600 text messages and eight multimedia messages per year. With an annual price tag of $500.63, this is more than three...

Foreign ownership restrictions in telecom not needed: OECD

telecom | 08/12/2009 4:15 pm EDT

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has noted in its recently released 2009 Communications Outlook that foreign ownership restrictions in the telecommunications services sector aren’t needed. It points a finger at Canada as well as Korea and Mexico as having unnecessary limits. Foreign...

TV services, wireless and Internet spur revenue growth in broadcast and telecom: CRTC report

Media | 08/06/2009 6:36 pm EDT

Television services and the wireless and Internet sectors are crucial factors that have fuelled revenue growth totaling $54 billion last year for the broadcast and telecommunications industries, according to figures in the second annual Communications Monitoring Report released by the CRTC this...

IT professionals say deep tax cuts needed to stimulate ICT sector

Media | 08/05/2009 6:19 pm EDT

The Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) is calling on Ottawa to eliminate income tax for information and communication technologies (ICT) workers as well as taxes on technology sold in Canada in an effort to stimulate the ICT sector and kick-start a national ICT strategy. Greg Lane says there’s need for...

Absence of VRS in accessibility decision riles disability group

Media | 07/30/2009 6:25 pm EDT

The Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) is criticizing a recent CRTC ruling on access to telecommunications and broadcast services for not mandating video relay service (VRS). Disability groups praise several directives but the provision exonerating companies from a mandatory VRS is not one of them. Released July 21, the...

Rogers and MTS Allstream forge new relationship

telecom | 07/30/2009 6:19 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. has inked an agreement with MTS Allstream Inc. that will see the Manitoba-based company launch a national wireless offering as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) under the Allstream brand. The two companies have also agreed to jointly build an HSPA network in Manitoba. Rob Bruce, president of Rogers Wireless,...

Network management is essential, but shouldn’t be discriminatory: BitTorrent

Media | 07/29/2009 4:30 pm EDT

BitTorrent Inc. has shot back at ISPs arguing that peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic is hogging the network and therefore requires them to perform application-specific throttling. In a letter to the CRTC, the company says that while “network management is essential to the preservation of Internet-based business models, it is...

Create new agency to fix wireless regulation, says Hoey

telecom | 07/28/2009 6:24 pm EDT

Industry Canada’s close relationship with the wireless carriers and the CRTC’s willingness to turn a blind eye to the lack of competition in the mobile services sector needs to be reversed, according to a one of the country’s most outspoken telecom consultants. Speaking with Report on Wireless, Eamon Hoey...

Here are the facts on mobile spectrum use in Canada

telecom | 07/27/2009 6:07 pm EDT

Let’s get the facts straight. The complaint by Telus Corp. of paying too much for spectrum must be examined in light of the overall Canadian wireless situation. Let’s consider the following facts: the three dominant Canadian wireless carriers (the Big Three) have 95% of the licensed mobile spectrum and over 95% of market share of the...

Telesat clarifies position on staying in Canada if satellite auctions adopted

telecom | 07/23/2009 7:59 pm EDT

Telesat says it has no intention of pulling its Ottawa headquarters and research division out of Canada if the government introduces auctions for satellite orbital slots. In an interview with Tech Media Reports, the president and CEO of world’s fourth-largest communications satellite operator did warn, however, that using foreign-controlled frequencies to serve the Canadian market is still a possibility if more onerous regulations are implemented. “We want to be clear. We really weren’t trying to threaten that we would physically move from here. If we were threatening anything it was that we could register our slots in the future through another jurisdiction, and that...

There may be a method behind RIM’s mad bid for Nortel assets

telecom | 07/23/2009 6:36 pm EDT

Research in Motion’s media blitz to force a rule change on the auction for Nortel Networks' assets appears to have backfired, leaving many analysts and pundits scratching their heads. But others wonder if a larger strategy is at play. As it stands, the Waterloo-based company has thrown a wrench into the auction...

Fonolo skips to market with “deep-dialing” for enterprises

telecom | 07/22/2009 6:41 pm EDT

Toronto-headquartered Fonolo, a subsidiary of privately-held FōnCloud Inc., has unveiled a hosted enterprise offering that incorporates “deep dialing” into a company’s own website, allowing users to skip phone menus and get to the right person. But one analyst says challenges remain in getting the...

Telus report levels harsh criticism at Industry Canada for AWS auction design

telecom | 07/22/2009 4:18 pm EDT

Flaws in Industry Canada’s Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum auction design resulted in bidders, largely the incumbent providers, paying $2.4 billion more than they should have, according to a report conducted for Telus Corp. But the department says the auction did exactly what it was designed to do which was...

UPDATE: CRTC creates flexible ownership review regime; Globalive subjected to most stringent test

telecom | 07/20/2009 6:25 pm EDT

Globalive Wireless Management Corp. could still launch wireless service in late 2009 as scheduled. According to a correction issued today, the CRTC intends to issue a decision on the company’s ownership and control review within 30 days of the close of the oral hearing. Globalive will still...

TerreStar Canada begins six-month testing process before commercial launch

telecom | 07/20/2009 6:21 pm EDT

TerreStar Networks Canada Inc. took a big step forward last week as the company prepares for commercial services launch next year. Steve Nichols, executive VP of operations, tells Tech Media Reports that placing TerreStar-1 in its assigned orbital location marks a significant milestone that allows the satellite provider to begin six months of testing. “There’s a whole series of engineering tests that will be done to make sure that the core ground network and all of our calibration stations, which are distributed around North America, are all on line and everything is working smoothly,” he says. TerreStar has two gateway earth stations and 20 calibration earth stations,...

Rogers’ internet throttling practices could open door to class action lawsuit: Geist

Media | 07/15/2009 5:23 pm EDT

The last two days of the CRTC’s hearing into traffic management practices saw the large ISPs reveal details on how they throttle peer-to-peer traffic – practices that might prove illegal for at least one of those ISPs, according to an Ottawa law professor. Speaking with Tech Media...

Hamilton Tiger Cats and Vex Canada unveil new business case for Wi-Fi

telecom | 07/10/2009 7:10 pm EDT

Vex Canada’s recent announcement that it has a deal to deliver Wi-Fi to Hamilton Tiger Cats’ fans at Ivor Wynne Stadium is early proof that dual mode handsets and ad-based funding are breathing new life into public access Wi-Fi. “The model we are putting out there is based on sponsorship,” Asif...

Hospital telethon mishap raises Internet throttling questions: CFTPA/ IFTA

Media | 07/08/2009 8:49 pm EDT

An online telethon for sick children last year went offline periodically because the ISP treated the broadcast’s video stream as an unwanted peer-to-peer (P2P) upload, according to the telethon’s producer. At the CRTC hearings into Internet neutrality today, Brad Fox argued that it’s time for the...

Commentary: Industry Canada should refrain from using a sealed bid, second price auction

telecom | 07/08/2009 7:31 pm EDT

The results of the auction of previously unassigned broadband wireless spectrum in the 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands came to a close last month and while the bandwidth finds itself in the hands of some deserving players, Industry Canada shouldn’t be patting itself on the back for this one. Sure...

Turn consumers into their own internet traffic managers, Juniper tells CRTC

telecom | 07/07/2009 7:26 pm EDT

The CRTC’s first day of hearings on Internet traffic management practices, or Net Neutrality, focused largely on the technological solutions available to ISPs to deal with network congestion, but a solution from Juniper Networks to give consumers greater control in managing their own Internet uses grabbed some...

Municipal wireless pulling remote workers off expensive cellular networks

telecom | 07/06/2009 7:46 pm EDT

The ‘BlackBerry experience’ is driving community stakeholders to demand remote broadband access – but some Canadian cities are pulling their workers off of costly cellular networks and driving data over Wi-Fi or WiMAX. “It was the BlackBerry experience that piqued the business units’...

Canadian network gear makers get a shot at US broadband stimulus projects

telecom | 07/03/2009 8:18 pm EDT

The good news: the US government has clarified the rules of engagement for its rural broadband expansion projects, paving the way for Canadian network equipment makers to get a piece of the action. The bad news: the rules provide no favours for members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), so Canadians will be...

Wireless technology big winner in latest Ontario broadband funding announcements

telecom | 07/02/2009 1:55 pm EDT

In a province rocked by the financial downturn, the Ontario government is injecting millions of dollars into wireless broadband infrastructure to enhance rural connectivity. According to funding recipients and a government spokesperson, the money could have an important impact on Ontario’s economy. “It...

Industry Canada calls on small ISPs to bid on $225 million rural broadband stimulus

telecom | 07/02/2009 1:49 pm EDT

Industry Canada is encouraging small ISPs to compete for a share of the government’s $225 million in rural broadband stimulus money, but tight timelines and anticipated competition from wireless and satellite companies could dampen their response. Janet DiFrancesco, director general for broadband at Industry Canada, told a Toronto conference that the government will accept bids for all providers and technologies, but are particularly hoping that smaller ISPs respond. “The competitive process encourages the least cost to extend coverage to the maximum number of households,” said DiFrancesco in her address to last month’s Optimum Broadband Strategies for Cities...

Zip.ca to bring legal movie streaming to Canada this fall; internet throttling remains an issue

Media | 06/28/2009 4:00 pm EDT

An Ottawa company has unveiled plans to bring the first large-scale movie download service to Canada. Its announcement on Friday comes just days before a CRTC hearing begins into internet throttling and other bandwidth management practices. Company executives are preparing to make their case before...

Bell fires back at CAIP appeal on wholesale traffic shaping, no decision soon

telecom | 06/25/2009 7:10 pm EDT

Bell Canada is dismissing an appeal by the Canadian Association of Internet Providers and other parties to overturn a CRTC decision that allows the ILEC to keep throttling wholesale bandwidth, saying its critics are re-hashing old arguments and unfounded allegations for a decision they “are simply unhappy with”....

Telecom Summit wrap-up: Data mining and marketing dominate mobile internet chatter

Media | 06/24/2009 7:13 pm EDT

The 2009 Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto this June made one thing very clear: the mobile internet will change our world in ways we are only beginning to understand. Specifically, traffic management will be a neces­sity, and advertising will increasingly be pushed to mobile users who are well-known based on their...

Telesat warns of Canadian exodus if Industry Canada auctions orbital slots

telecom | 06/24/2009 6:25 pm EDT

Telesat Canada warns it may leave Canada for countries with more hospitable regulations if Industry Canada moves forward with a proposal to use auctions to assign future satellite orbital slots and spectrum. The 40-year-old Ottawa company complains it already pays 10 times the amount for satellite spectrum licences than do...

Recession opens door for new telecom business models: MTS Allstream

telecom | 06/22/2009 7:58 pm EDT

Since taking over as president of the enterprise solutions division at MTS Allstream Inc. about seven months ago, Dean Prevost has seen changes in the market, resulting from a slowdown in the economy and the ensuing recession. But despite the challenges facing the business market, he says there are opportunities that lie ahead for enterprise communications providers. Business customers are looking for ways to reduce costs and save on telecom expenses, while they ride out the economic storm, says Prevost, and this opens the door for companies such as MTS Allstream to give enterprises several options to address new market realities. Through unified communications, for example, telecom...

HP takes a ProCurve at Cisco Systems’ Canadian data centre customers

telecom | 06/19/2009 2:55 am EDT

Earlier this year Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced that its ProCurve networking division had rolled out the first of a series of purpose-built data centre switches, and that it had expanded its alliance program with the ProCurve Open Network Ecosystem (ONE) Alliance.  Six months later, and the message is...

Telecom industry seeks incentives, less barriers to implement a national digital strategy

Media | 06/17/2009 8:17 pm EDT

The federal government should remove regulatory and fiscal barriers and offer incentives if it expects the telecom industry to build the broadband infrastructure required to underpin a digital economy. Executives from Bell Canada and Telus Corp. made the comments a week before Industry minister Tony...

Person-to-person mobile money transfer service launches in Canada

telecom | 06/16/2009 9:02 pm EDT

The electronic or mobile wallet got a major boost this week when EnStream LP formally launched its person-to-person money transfer service, called Zoompass. The company is jointly owned by Bell Canada, Rogers Communications and Telus Corp. “The Zoompass service ushers in a new era in electronic payments that...

Broadband stimulus should not focus only on infrastructure: Goldberg

Media | 06/16/2009 1:21 pm EDT

The federal government should depart from previous practices of funding broadband and take a more creative approach to allocating funds under its $225-million broadband stimulus program, according to one of the organizers of the Canadian Telecom Summit. Speaking with Tech Media Reports, Mark Goldberg said that it would be a...

Qualified bidders for unassigned 2300/3500 MHz spectrum revealed

telecom | 06/15/2009 5:58 pm EDT

Broadpoint International Inc. as well as a numbered company affiliated with Vianet are among the companies vying for all of the unassigned 2300 MHz and 3500 MHZ spectrum licences, documents from Industry Canada reveal. Broadpoint, which lists Patrick Iriah as sole shareholder and president, and 768812 Ontario Inc., whose...

Nielsen reports Canadian mobile data surge despite slowdown

telecom | 06/14/2009 4:01 pm EDT

Mobile Internet adoption in Canada is showing healthy and ongoing growth despite the economic slowdown, according to Nielsen Online’s Q1 2009 Canadian Mobile Internet Report. “Market players are being very creative and progressive in their efforts at growing the data side of their business,” Eric...

RIM jostles for share of LBS market with Dash purchase, but there is a darker side to the acquisition

telecom | 06/12/2009 5:05 pm EDT

Research in Motion’s purchase this month of location-based services (LBS) software maker Dash Navigation Inc. helps to build the BlackBerry’s application relevance beyond the enterprise, say analysts. It could also be good business for RIM to know where its users are. “They need...

Industry divided on public review of Globalive Wireless’ foreign ownership

telecom | 06/11/2009 6:15 pm EDT

Industry reaction is mixed on whether the CRTC should conduct a public and open review of Globalive Wireless Management Corp.’s ownership structure. Proponents say it’s high time the commission drop its antiquated closed-door review process, while opponents say an open review will only serve to delay market...

Canada should consider Alberta’s SuperNet as model for national broadband program: Maduri

telecom | 06/10/2009 5:13 pm EDT

Barrett Xplore Inc. president John Maduri has warned a Senate committee that the federal government’s new $225-million broadband fund could harm small ISPs if it’s not set up properly. Alberta’s SuperNet model could provide a solution, he suggested. Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications last week, Maduri said the broadband program – announced in the government’s February budget – has to take into account what the private sector has already invested and that allowing networks to be built in areas where facilities already exist would harm existing providers. “We have been clear, as have other providers, that...