Canada should look to Britain and Australia for lessons on how to regulate internet advertising, a new study by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre maintains. The consumer...
Amongst those independent internet service providers (ISPs) who had been pleading with the federal government to overturn the CRTC's 2021 reversal of a 2019 decision that drastically lowered the rates those ISPs paid for access to incumbent networks, reaction to Thursday's...
Iristel Inc. filed a petition to the governor in council to vary a decision...
A Toronto-based telecom and broadcasting consultant is arguing to the CRTC that Rogers Communications Inc.’s pending...
In an at-times testy exchange between CRTC chair Ian Scott and MPs on the...
Vancouver-based Novus Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday it will refrain from raising internet prices for three years as it allows customers to sign up for its residential internet service without locking themselves into...
On the heels of Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron announcement Wednesday, Distributel Communications Ltd. said Friday that -- along with its recently acquired Primus subsidiary -- it would be suspending long-distance phone charges for calls to both Haiti and Afghanistan. In Haiti, an Aug. 14 earthquake has left as many as 2,100 dead and more homeless in the country, while in Afghanistan the Taliban has swept back into power 20 years after an American invasion. "The news of what is happening in...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is suspending its long-distance charges for all calls from Canada to Haiti, where a recent earthquake has left many residents homeless, and to...
Fewer Canadians are paying for data overage fees and fewer are complaining...
Iristel Inc. is launching a service that will allow Canadian phone numbers to be paired with less expensive plans offered by U.S. telecom companies. On Monday the company announced its $6 per month "Mobifi" service, which it...
Quebecor Inc. has continued to grow its revenues in spite of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, according to...
The Competition Bureau has reached a consent agreement with electronics distribution and services company WESCO International Inc., which will see the company divest its utility and datacom businesses...
Canadians are complaining less about their wireless service and fewer consumers are receiving unexpected charges in their monthly wireless bill, according to wireless code...
Major Canadian telecoms have ended one of their major relief measures for Canadians who suddenly shifted...
The CRTC has given interim approval to BCE Inc.’s Northwestel application for urgent relief that will allow to it waive data overage charges for its cable and fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) internet...
Multiple Canadian internet providers have suspended caps on data usage as they prepare for a huge increase in the amount of customers working from home in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Quebecor Inc. announced on Friday in a press release that Videotron...
Mobile wireless prices are lower or have stayed the same across all service "baskets" compared to last year, but the higher data plan prices remain stubbornly higher than most other countries, a new...
BCE Inc. has quietly dropped prices for its new “unlimited” data plans across the country, with residents of Quebec and, to a lesser extent, Saskatchewan and Manitoba seeing even lower prices. ...
Quebecor Inc.’s CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said he’s “happy” that...
The big three telecoms are telling the CRTC that their practice of slowing...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s CEO Joe Natale said there has been a 50 per cent increase in data use among the 365,000 customers who’ve adopted its “unlimited” data plans in the six weeks they have been in the market.
“Very healthy data usage growth, which was...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s reasons for launching a no-overage-fee...
Rogers Communications Inc. is pointing to higher data availability...
There doesn't appear to be a clear winner among Canadian telecoms after the intense sales period around Black Friday, according to Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang. “Deals for this year's...
Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile will highlight its lack of...
The CRTC wants the Big Three to submit options for lower-priced data plans...
BCE Inc.’s Bell MTS in Manitoba is dropping its province-wide wireless unlimited data plan option and increasing prices for upgrading or new customers, it announced Tuesday. New customers will...
The big three wireless providers doubled down on their proposed low-cost,...
Just over a quarter of Canadians surveyed by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) said they don’t know how much broadband data they have, a concern a CIRA spokeswoman said could be...
The Competition Bureau is among those who are telling the CRTC that mandated low-cost, data-only plans should have more data on offer, in a move that raises the stakes of the regulator’s proceeding on the plans, according to a Desjardins Capital analyst. The bureau said in an intervention that it is “not obvious... why [low-cost data only] Plans should not feature a variety of capacity limits, stretching into multiple gigabytes per month.” In March, the CRTC ordered Canada’s large telecoms to file proposals for lower-cost, data-only plans. When they did so in April, Rogers...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s systems had a technical glitch that...
Following the launch of a 10 GB wireless plan for $50 by Shaw...
While Canadians saw prices for basic mobile phone subscriptions fall, data released by Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada on Tuesday indicated that high-end mobile phone plan...
Several telecoms are backing Rogers Communications Inc.’s request for an extension to implement certain...
Rogers Communications Inc. is asking for more time to implement updates to its bill management systems in order to fulfill requirements in the Wireless Code.
“Since the Decision was released, Rogers has had a team working full-time to implement the many changes. Through...
Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile has announced a new set of...
Rogers Communications Inc. said it will begin allowing the manager of shared wireless plans to control the quality of video streamed by members of the share plan. “With the new feature, the data manager (mom or dad, for...
Wearable use in Canada and around the world is trending up, but the numbers for smartwatches are still...
The CRTC is seeking comment on whether it should grant regional...
The European Union’s elimination of roaming charges has pushed global mobile roaming revenue numbers down, according to a new report by Juniper Research. The EU recently said it was eliminating roaming charges after it came...
Customers of Rogers Communications Inc.’s flanker brand, Fido, are being offered free wireless data...
Rogers Communications Inc. has increased its mobile data overage rates to a cost per gigabyte of $70 for new plans. The changes, instituted Wednesday, include a two-cent increase per megabyte — to seven cents from five —...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is increasing the data limits of wireless...
The CRTC said Thursday it won’t give Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron extra time to shut down its Unlimited Music program.
It said in a letter that “any claim that Videotron cannot comply with the Commission’s decision by the 19 July 2017 deadline because of...
As part of a decision on its review of the Wireless Code, the CRTC has eliminated unlocking fees for smartphones and mandated that all newly purchased devices must be provided unlocked as of Dec. 1, 2017. “Based on the...
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron made its bed and now it has to lie in it, according to consumer and digital rights advocates who opposed the company’s request for a delay in complying with the CRTC’s...
Netflix Inc. is setting up “download zones” in certain areas in Ontario to help the data starved pre-load movies and TV shows onto their devices, according to a Canadian Press report. WiFi...
The CRTC’s decision Thursday to ban most forms of zero-rating means telecoms will have to rely on service in order to stand out from the competition, analysts said. The...
Toronto city council voted last week to ask the CRTC to force wireless providers to offer unlimited data plans. The motion, brought forward by councillor Michelle Holland, directs the city manager to convey a request to the CRTC “that major telecommunications providers across Canada be required, as part of their licensing arrangements, to provide consumers with options for reasonably priced unlimited data packages that would be part of the cellular packages they offer.” The motion said that in the United States, major providers now offer “affordable” unlimited...
Iristel Inc.’s Ice Wireless is now selling plans with unlimited data and roaming in the United States and Mexico, the company said in a press release Wednesday. The plans “include unlimited calls, texts and...
Nearly 85 per cent of Canadians believe approval for additional costs in family phone plans should be made by those who pay the bills, not those who use the phone, according to a survey commissioned...
The Wireless Code should be amended so that it codifies data as a “key contract term” in wireless contracts, the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) argued...
The European Union is set to eliminate mobile roaming charges within its 28-member bloc by this summer, as EU negotiators came to an agreement Wednesday on wholesale prices that would eliminate the charges by June...
Rogers Communications Inc. has made its Roam Like Home plan available to “most customers on a consumer plan,” the company said Monday. The service allows customers to use the data bucket and voice...
Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan won’t pursue a second challenge regarding the ability of the CRTC chairman to name panels, after a judge dismissed a similar application last month....
GATINEAU, Que. — The question of whether differential pricing practices (DPPs) can be used for socially beneficial purposes came up on the fourth day of the CRTC’s hearing on DPPs...
GATINEAU — The CRTC shouldn’t take the non-participation in this week’s hearing by content providers who might eventually benefit from zero-rating and other differential pricing practices as non-interest, a...
T-Mobile US Inc. has been ordered to pay a $48-million settlement following an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into its advertised “unlimited” data plans. In press release Wednesday, the FCC’s enforcement bureau said T-Mobile’s policy allowed “it to slow down data speeds when T-Mobile or [flanker brand] MetroPCS customers on so-called ‘unlimited’ pans exceed a monthly data threshold.” According to the FCC, the company’s policy “rendered data services ‘unusable’ for many hours each...
In an unexpected move, Rogers Communications Inc. has announced Guy Laurence is no longer CEO of the company and will be replaced by former Telus Corp. CEO Joe Natale, a choice...
A new report from OpenMedia says that when it comes to residential wireline Internet service, small Internet Service Providers (ISPs) “have less restrictive data caps and more regions with...
TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence said Thursday the company will eliminate an “irritant” among its customers by giving them the ability to manage...
Users of Reddit Inc.’s website have largely railed against differential pricing in a discussion initated by the CRTC, with an overwhelming number of comments on the social platform expressing...
Quebecor Inc.’s chief financial officer Jean-François Pruneau said Thursday the company is content to wait to sell the 700 MHz spectrum it picked up in 2014 and never deployed, given its value continues to grow with time. He said he’s been in “discussions with all the parties,” both incumbents and new entrants, about the seven licences in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia on which the company spent $233.3 million in 2014. It has since declined to expand into those areas. “My job is to create as deep a...
Netflix Inc. argued that data caps are an “unnecessary constraint on advanced telecommunications capability” in a filing with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)....
Promotions offering customers extra data as part of back-to-school promotions by Canada’s largest three wireless carriers will help drive upgrades by customers, according to a research note by Barclays Capital analyst...
While digital and mobile options for watching the Summer Olympics are gaining in popularity and engagement, television continues to own the podium for the Canadian outlet broadcasting the two-week...
Canadians continue to pay among the highest prices internationally for wireless and broadband Internet services, according to a new report comparing telecom service prices released Thursday by the CRTC. The ninth annual...
Though the success of Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s Pokémon Go mobile game could be the tip of the iceberg for augmented-reality applications, experts said they don’t expect wireless companies to make any major shifts in...
The Wireless Code has proved effective in the two years since its implementation, suggest the results of a CRTC-commissioned study, which reported a decline in wireless complaints as well as...
Facebook Inc. and AT&T Inc. have waded into the CRTC’s review of differential pricing practices, arguing that the commission should allow carriers to offer zero-rated services...
The body that regulates the telecommunications market in the European Union released draft guidelines Monday to ensure providers steer clear of zero-rating policies unless justified, a move that comes ahead of a CRTC...
TORONTO — With customers’ usage of data increasing exponentially, and carriers limited in how much they can charge for that data, telecoms will have to turn to 5G networks, Ericsson Canada’s Dragan Nerandzic said at the Canadian Telecom Summit Monday. “We believe our industry is at an inflection point. The reason why … is that revenue in the industry globally is not growing on an exponential curve, as the data consumption is. And of course, industry wants to stay profitable,” Nerandzic, the chief technology officer at Ericsson...
Three Canadian media outlets will be able to display their pages faster on smartphones while using less data after adopting a new platform developed by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, according news articles by Corus...
CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed another court challenge regarding the ability of CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais to assign commissioners to panels that make decisions on issues before the...
Net neutrality advocates welcomed the CRTC’s launch of a new consultation on “differential pricing practices” for both wireline and wireless data plans Wednesday, a process that will see a public hearing kick off...
OTTAWA — A panel discussion on net neutrality Friday dug into whether zero-rating can help or harm market competition, with Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Telus Corp. taking issue with the...
Netflix Inc. subscribers can now regulate how much wireless data they use in the newest version of the company’s Android and iOS application. As of May 5, the mobile app users could take advantage of “added controls to help you manage streaming data usage on cellular networks,” said the Netflix app update’s release notes. The application’s settings menu now lets users turn off cellular data, limiting playback to WiFi connections, or allows for the shifting of video quality to adjust how many hours of video can be streamed per gigabyte of data —...
As it takes ownership of Wind Mobile, Shaw Communications Inc. will continue positioning Wind as a cheaper option compared to the big three national wireless carriers, according to the company’s chief operating officer....
Verizon Communication Inc. announced Tuesday it is introducing a new sponsored data service, called FreeBee Data, to help businesses drive better consumer engagement without cutting into...
All major mobile carriers in Canada are raising their prices, according to analysts. Drew McReynolds, an analyst with RBC Dominion Security, detailed in a research note last week how BCE Inc. had recently raised its prices on share plans for premium smartphones by $5 to $65 a month, its plans for...
The CRTC on Wednesday started a consultation that asks whether it should refrain from regulating some arrangements between incumbent wireless carriers and smaller operators regarding domestic roaming where the terms or conditions...
Netflix Inc. is re-encoding its entire library of content in order to provide customers with a better experience for watching content while using less bandwidth to process it. The company said in a blog Monday that the...
BCE Inc. announced Monday that subscribers of Bell’s Fibe TV and Bell Alliant’s FibreOP TV will have access to their Netflix Inc. account directly from their TV receivers. It said in the release that all Fibe TV...
Newly released survey results show that almost 10 per cent of Canadians still do not have Internet access at home, and more people cite its relevance to their personal lives than affordability as a...
Wind Mobile is looking to make LTE service available to at least some of its customers by the end of next year, after announcing it has borrowed $425 million to help it do so. On Thursday, Wind issued a press release that...
BCE Inc. was tops in RootMetric’s 2015 Canadian mobile network performance review that was released Wednesday, with Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. not far behind. The U.S.-based mobile analytics company said in the report that Bell scored an overall national performance rating of 94.5 per cent, while Rogers scored 93.7 per cent and Telus scored 93.6 per cent. Results were based on performance metrics across several categories such as network reliability, network speed, data speed, call performance and text performance. RootMetrics said that Bell “delivered top speeds...
The CRTC has asked Canadian wireless carriers that provided roaming access to other domestic carriers — when legislation was in effect that capped domestic roaming prices to retail rates — to file new information,...
Otono Networks Inc. announced Wednesday it is launching next year in the U.S. a new prepaid wireless mobile service specifically for parents that will include two free lines for their kids. It said...
Otono Networks Inc.’s Roam Mobility, a provider of SIM cards for out-of-Canada mobile usage, announced Friday it is launching a new SIM card for visitors to Canada. The Vancouver-based company said in a press release that...
The CRTC has accepted, for the time being, tariffs proposed by the wireless incumbents for what smaller carriers in Canada have to pay to have their customers roam on the bigger companies' networks. The commission said in a...
The three incumbent mobile-service providers and their flanker brands were all offering Black Friday specials, lasting until the Sunday, Nov. 30, that included an extra gigabyte per month on select plans. BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp and their discount arms — Virgin Mobile, Fido and Koodo, respectively — all said on their websites Friday certain wireless plans would feature this bonus for new customers and those upgrading before the end of the weekend....
The domestic roaming rates for voice and text services BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. have asked the CRTC to implement are significantly lower than what they currently...
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Tuesday it is introducing new roaming rates and five new roaming add-on plans for customers traveling outside of Canada. It said in a press release that the new rates, part...
Rogers Communications Inc. announced on Thursday a new Internet service for Ontario under its Fido brand. Information provided by the company by email said customers of its discount mobile service Fido have been asking for...
Wind Mobile said Tuesday it has added "a third major roaming partner" in Canada. It did not disclose which company is the new partner, though given that Wind's operating territory is Ontario, Alberta and British...
The amount of data flowing through cellular networks, both in North America and around the world, will increase almost 10 times over the next six years as growth in smartphone adoption continues and video consumption becomes more...
T-Mobile US Inc. announced Tuesday it will be launching a new service for its Simple Choice mobile plan customers that allows free video streaming from several services without it cutting into their...
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. on Wednesday reported lower revenue and profits compared to a year earlier. It said in a press release that revenue was down one per cent to $398.4 million for the three months ended Sept. 30. Net...
Revenue from telecommunications services in Canada grew 2.4 per cent in 2014, the CRTC said Tuesday, falling short of the six per cent hike in average spending on communications services that year....
An undue-preference complaint against a music streaming service offered by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has Rogers Communications Inc. arguing that zero-rating the service is a net-neutrality violation, while Telus Corp. is supporting Videotron and saying the service does not harm consumers. Rogers argued the pricing structure of the service amounts to an undue preference under the Telecommunications Act, and is contrary to the CRTC’s net-neutrality rules and regulations on overage charges in the commission’s wireless code. “The decision to favour certain types of audio...