Pensioner groups are urging the government to change its wireless policy for the sake of pension plan members they believe would be at risk if Verizon is given “favoured access” to the Canadian market. Canadian Federation of Pensioners (CFP) president Robert Farmer asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper in an Aug. 9 letter to reconsider the government's wireless policy, which it said “can be exploited by well-established and very large American service providers.” Incumbent wireless providers BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. are campaigning...
An NDP motion calling on the House of Commons industry committee to study the government’s wireless policy in advance of a September deadline to register for the 700 MHz spectrum auction will not go forward. In a release last week, the NDP said it had tabled a motion calling for an emergency committee meeting to discuss the upcoming spectrum auction, and to launch a study on the government’s wireless policy. The study, the release said, would look at “the policy and licensing framework being used by the government, its impact on access to wireless services for all...
Canadian wireless policies that aim to promote competition by “handicapping” incumbent providers could encourage the entrance of “inefficient” wireless competitors and could...
The NDP has requested the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology hold an emergency meeting to discuss the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction. In a letter to the committee clerk on Thursday, four...
Canada’s privacy laws would help ensure U.S. security agencies do not gain unfettered access to Canadians’ wireless communications if a large U.S. mobile provider like Verizon Communications Inc. entered the Canadian...
Industry Minister James Moore launched on Friday a multi-pronged campaign to promote the government’s wireless policy and to counter a campaign by incumbent carriers, who argue the government is...
Verizon Communications Inc.’s decision to delay a potential acquisition of new entrant carriers Wind Mobile and Mobilicity suggests the U.S. provider is changing course on how best to enter the Canadian market, or cooling to the idea altogether, industry analysts said. The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources, that Verizon has put off a potential acquisition of the two new entrant carriers until after an Industry Canada auction of coveted wireless airwaves scheduled...
Rogers Communications Inc. said Monday it will continue to call on the federal government to change its rules for an upcoming auction of wireless airwaves, three days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the rules will not be...
Quebecor Media Inc. does not feel overly threatened by competition from Verizon Communications Inc. though the U.S company’s potential entry into Canada’s 700 MHz spectrum auction could...
Industry Canada would most likely block a deal to acquire Wind Mobile it it involved significant funding from Rogers Communications Inc. or another wireless incumbent, industry analysts said. In a...
BCE Inc. chief executive George Cope is calling on all 60,000 company employees to write letters to the prime minister as the incumbents' lobbying campaign to change the government's wireless...
Incumbents BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. released new ads this week as part of their campaign against the Conservative government's wireless policy. A new message, bearing...
The Conservative government courted Verizon Communications Inc. as a possible new entrant into Canada's mobile wireless market, Rogers Communications Inc. executives told The Toronto Star. “Everything that they could...
Verizon Communications Inc. will be looking for a good return on investment and "reasonable prices" in Industry Canada's upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction as the company considers an...
BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. are lobbying for changes to the 700 MHz auction cap rule that permit foreign player Verizon Communications Inc. to purchase more spectrum than each...
Canada’s telecom and media companies will be dealing with a familiar face as they plan for next year’s mobile spectrum auction, following former heritage minister James Moore’s move to the federal industry portfolio in a major cabinet shuffle. Previously responsible for the CRTC and Canada’s broadcasting industry as the heritage Minister, Moore will now take responsibility for Industry Canada and replace outgoing industry minister Christian Paradis, who on Monday was named minister of international development and minister for La Francophonie. “There are a...
Dave Wireless Inc. board member William Aziz met with an Industry Canada official the same day former industry minister Christian Paradis said he would block Telus Corp.'s proposed acquisition of...
A merger of Mobilicity and Wind Mobile looks more likely as news reports said Mobilicity delayed a debtholder vote on its recapitalization plan due to acquisition talks with Verizon Communications...
BCE Inc. will “manage through” conditions the CRTC put on the regulatory approval of the company’s $3.38 billion deal to acquire Astral Media Inc., said Mirko Bibic, BCE’s...
Verizon Communications Inc. is waiting to see Industry Canada’s new rules for spectrum licence transfers and is seeking clarification on the department’s rules for the upcoming 700 MHz...
Industry Canada has released additional information about the rules for the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction, answering three new “clarification questions” on its website Tuesday. In the post, Industry Canada responded to a question about its anti-collusion rules and what potential auction bidders are allowed to say about their bidding strategies. The department wrote that companies are allowed to discuss their intentions to participate in the auction, but are forbidden from sharing more detailed information “including, but not limited to, bidding strategy such as the...
One day before Industry Canada denied the deal, Dave Wireless Inc. board member William Aziz registered with the federal lobbying commissioner to lobby for approval of the company's acquisition by Telus Corp. as well as the...
OTTAWA, TORONTO—Industry Canada will block Telus Corp.'s proposed deal for Dave Wireless Inc.’s mobile spectrum, as well as any other proposal from an incumbent to acquire wireless...
Rules for the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction should include “commitments to Canadian workers,” said Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. "The sale of this highly...
Delays in Industry Canada's spectrum auction process are looking more likely by the day, analysts said. They said new wireless entrants will need more time to look at consolidation options after...
Industry Canada released answers to “clarification questions” the department received about its rules for the upcoming 700 MHz auction. In a notice Tuesday, the Industry Department posted answers to industry...
Some new entrant wireless carriers are not expected to file applications to participate in Industry Canada's upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction due to regulatory restrictions on consolidation...
The federal Industry Department did not intend for incumbent telecom carriers to have access to wireless spectrum that was reserved for new entrants in the 2008 spectrum auction, Industry Minister...
The United Kingdom's auction of spectrum for fourth-generation mobile wireless services last month raised a total of 2.34 billion pounds, about a third lower than what the government had...
Industry Canada is expected to issue a decision before September on Rogers Communications Inc.'s bid to buy Shaw Communications Inc.'s AWS “set aside” spectrum, Scotia Capital said in a research note. The Industry Department said Thursday it will hold the 700 MHz auction starting Nov. 19. The department also announced a consultation on new rules governing the transfer of spectrum licences to national incumbent carriers as Rogers seeks to buy Shaw's AWS spectrum that was...
Efforts to maximize revenues should take a back seat to concerns about competition and other policy objectives during wireless spectrum auctions, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC)...
OTTAWA—Industry Canada will consult on proposed new rules to regulate the transfer of spectrum licences in advance of a Nov. 19 auction of 700 MHz spectrum, Industry Minister Christian Paradis...
Industry Minister Christian Paradis held a series of meetings with telecom companies over the past two months to discuss the 700 MHz auction rules and other industry issues. According to interviews...
The federal government is committed to holding an auction for 700 MHz spectrum licences by the end of the year, Industry Minister Christian Paradis said in a television interview on CBC Wednesday. “We are committed to go...
Everything Everywhere Ltd. (EE), Telefónica S.A., Vodafone Ltd., Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., and a BT Group plc subsidiary will pay a combined 2.34 billion pounds for 250 MHz of airwaves following a U.K. mobile spectrum auction, Ofcom said. In a release Wednesday, the U.K. regulator said Vodafone will pay 790 million pounds, or about $1.23 billion, for two 10 MHz blocks of 800 MHz spectrum and 65 MHz of 2.6 GHz spectrum following 50 rounds of auction bidding that began on Jan. 23. It said EE will pay nearly 589 million pounds for two 5 MHz blocks of 800 MHz spectrum and two 35 MHz blocks...
BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. will be the “winners” of next year’s 700 MHz auction, beating new entrant carriers Wind Mobile, Mobilicity and Public Mobile for the most prized mobile...
Canada’s new entrant carriers are not likely to carry Apple Inc.’s popular iPhone smartphone before 2014 after their network configurations were shut out of Apple’s newly released...
Industry Canada is consulting on a plan to use an undesignated block of 700 MHz spectrum for public safety purposes, the department said in a notice posted on its website Saturday. In the...
Industry Canada should allow regional wireless carriers operating in different parts of the country to share network infrastructure and bid in next year's 700 MHz auction...
Low-powered radio devices licensed to operate in the 700 MHz band must clear the frequency by March 31, 2013, Industry Canada said in a bulletin posted on its website Friday. Industry Canada said it...
Canada’s wireless carriers and the national organization that represents them are raising objections to Industry Canada’s efforts to impose “lawful...
Telus Corp. and BCE Inc.'s spectrum sharing agreement will allow the companies to combine their 700 MHz spectrum licensed in next year's auction and build superior 20 MHz blocks supporting...
Canadian mobile operators will need between 300 MHz and 500 MHz of mobile spectrum by 2015 to accommodate Canadians’ increasing use of mobile broadband devices and services, RedMobile Consulting...
Wireless carriers should be required to provide seamless roaming handoffs for first responders who use wireless devices on public safety networks, Public Safety Canada said in comments filed with Industry Canada. Public Safety, in a submission in May for Industry Canada’s consultation on proposed roaming rule revisions, said seamless handoffs have been identified as a requirement for a public safety wireless network to be built on portions of the 700 MHz band reserved for public safety use. “Seamless hand-off ensures that active data sessions are not interrupted while in...
Industry Canada rules that cap each incumbent wireless carrier to a single block of “prime” 700 MHz spectrum will lower the federal government's proceeds from the auction to $2.6...
Licence conditions requiring wireless carriers to build out some of the spectrum they acquire in next year's 700 MHz auction are “pretty aggressive” and companies that don’t...
RUSSELL, Ont.—The Conservative government will remove the foreign investment restrictions for small wireless carriers and cap the amount of “prime”...