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 Columbia, having three "major" roaming partners indicates it is now working with all three national incumbents, BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Roger Communications Inc. It was previously revealed through regulatory proceedings that Wind had been piggybacking on Rogers' network. Wind then announced in December 2014 that it had struck a roaming agreement with...
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 popular, according to reports released by Ericsson AB on Tuesday. Ericsson said global mobile data this year is expected to average 5.3 exabytes a month and rise to 51 EB by 2021, as it increases by an average of 45 per cent a year over that time. (One exabyte is equal to about one billion gigabytes.) The networking technology company said total traffic in Canada...
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...
OTTAWA — When people think about the Internet, they often associate it with applications, social networks, streamed video, megabits per second or data caps, without realizing that the structure that lies underneath is overseen by the United States government. The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an organization that manages website addresses and dispenses the IP addresses that get assigned to devices that connect to the Internet. It has representation from governments, businesses, technology experts and users from around the world. Yet, since 1998, it...
Apple Inc.’s iPhone owners stream audio and video content more than any other device owners, according to a new report released by Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. The report said that among...
BCE Inc. and Roger Communications Inc. have begun supporting calls and texts over WiFi networks with the latest iPhone. "You can call and text wherever you have a Wi-Fi connection in places like basements, condos and tall...
The CRTC has merged two complaints against a service by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron that exempts some music streaming services from counting against mobile customers’ data caps. Videotron...
Axia NetMedia Corp. announced last week it is building fibre-optic Internet connections in additional rural communities in Alberta, which will be operational next year. It said in a press release Thursday that construction is...
Canada will trail the United States in the rollout of mobile-oriented video services for a variety of reasons, Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang said in a research note Monday. The comments follow news from earlier this...
AT&T recently announced on its website smartphone customers on unlimited data plans can now use up to 22 GB a month before throttling kicks in. Several reports indicated that the threshold was previously 5 MB before...
A new report from Ericsson AB shows that while people are increasingly consuming video on mobile devices, the cost of data limits many from taking advantage of what the technology makes possible. The report released Thursday from...
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is asking the CRTC to direct Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to change the price structure of its new music service, which exempts data consumed through some...
U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp. is offering free service to customers of DirecTV, the satellite-TV provider that was recently purchased by AT&T, a competitor to Sprint in the mobile market. Sprint said in a press release that between Aug. 28 and Sept. 30, DirecTV customers who opt for Sprint mobile service, or add additional services with Sprint, can receive unlimited talk and text for a year and 2 GB per month of data on up to five lines, if using a non-subsidized smartphone. “DirecTV customers love their TV service, but they shouldn’t have to settle for AT&T...
Cogeco Cable Inc. announced Thursday that new residential and business Internet packages are now available in Lindsay, Ont. Both of the residential plans for Lindsay — a 130-kilometre drive northeast of downtown Toronto...
The Superior Court of Quebec has ruled against Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron in a class action lawsuit over usage caps Videotron imposed on what it had billed as unlimited Internet plans. Quebec's Union des consommateurs...
The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC), representing independent Internet service providers, has asked the CRTC to prevent Eastlink from changing the way it calculates wholesales costs for use of its network. CNOC said...
U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp. announced Monday free roaming in Canada, Mexico and other countries. Sprint said in a press release that under its Free Open World program, which customers can access at no additional cost,...
Telus Corp. on Friday reported a 5.1 per cent year-to-year revenue gain in its second quarter, boosted by more data-generated cash from both its wireless and wireline operations. The company said in a press release that operating revenue came in at $3.1 billion for the three months ended June 30. Net income declined to $341 million from $381 million, Telus said, attributing the decline to non-recurring issues such as restructuring costs, an unfavourable tax adjustment in relation to higher rates in Alberta and real estate-related charges associated with closing down its Blacks stores. It...
Individuals fighting BCE Inc.’s appeal of a CRTC decision on its mobile-TV service in the Federal Court of Appeal have called it an “over-the-top” or OTT service, along the same lines of what...
BCE Inc. said Thursday that its gigabit Internet service will launch Monday for 1.3 million households in Ontario and Quebec. It added that it will be available to households in Atlantic Canada by the end of September, resulting...
Telus Corp. on Thursday announced a $7-a-day option for U.S. roaming. It said in a press release that the service is called US Easy Roam, and that customers opting for this option will be able to enjoy their regular allotments...
A movement is underway to make wireless Internet access ubiquitous and free in most urban environments, with people's home routers as the source of these public connections. The people behind...
“Sharp” price hikes in wireless service over the past year are prompting people to reduce how much they spend on other telecommunications services, according to a Conference Board of...
T-Mobile U.S. Inc. announced Thursday a "Mobile without Borders" upgrade that will remove roaming charges for U.S. customers when using wireless service from Canada or Mexico, and also for customers making calls to these...
Wind Mobile, Quebecor Inc. and Eastlink are asking the CRTC to require incumbent wireless carriers to re-file documents relating to interim tariffs and conditions for domestic roaming access. As part...
Prices of low-end wireless plans have continued to climb for the second year in a row, while Canada’s rates for broadband, wireless and bundled telecom services remain high compared to other...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said Wednesday it would fine AT&T $100 million US for slowing down traffic for customers on wireless plans touted as being "unlimited." The FCC said in a press release that an investigation found AT&T "severely slowed data speeds" for these customers without adequate notification. It said AT&T started offering unlimited data plans for mobile service in 2007. It said that while it doesn't offer such plans anymore to new customers, existing customers are permitted to renew their unlimited plans....
Rogers Communications Inc. will launch its IPTV service at about the same time it starts adjusting to new rules that require service providers to provide skinny-basic TV packages for no more than $25...
Telus Corp. announced on Monday that it will provide free WiFi at more than 8,000 hotspots throughout British Columbia and Alberta. These are provinces where Telus competes with Shaw Communications Inc. in the provision of...
Canada’s biggest telecom companies are asking the CRTC to dismiss an application by smaller providers that, if granted, would make usage-sensitive rates interim, allowing small Internet service...
Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), announced Thursday that its outdoor WiFi hotspot network will expand to three more cities in the U.S. It said in a press release that the addition of Dallas and San Antonio, Texas, and Raleigh, N.C.,...
The new Mobility Report published Wednesday by Ericsson predicted that Canadian smartphone data usage will grow five times between 2014 and 2020, the company said in a press release. Ericsson said that average usage per smartphone user in North America will increase from 2.4 GB a month currently to 14 GB by 2020. Globally, it said smartphone subscriptions will more than double to 6.1 billion by 2020, accounting for 70 per cent of the world's population. “This immense growth in advanced mobile technology and data usage, driven by a surge in mobile connectivity and smartphone...
As demand to be connected to the Internet on non-smartphone mobile devices increases, so do the sales of such products, according to Gartner Inc. The company said in a press release Friday that more than 112 million...
International Data Corp. said Thursday that worldwide shipments of tablets and 2-in-1 devices will decline in 2015. It said in a press release that there will be an annual decline of 3.8 per cent from last year for 221.8 million...
Canada’s data usage over Internet protocol networks will triple by 2019 in comparison to what it was last year, according to Cisco Systems Inc.’s latest Visual Networking Index report that was released Wednesday....
Music streaming provider Spotify AB said Wednesday that it has added video to its offerings, along with several other features. "We know there are times in the day you want to switch between music to catch up on the latest news, listen to your favourite podcast or simply watch something...
Music streaming service Rdio Inc. said Thursday it is introducing a new mid-level service option in several markets, including Canada, for $3.99 a month. The company said in a press release that the new option, called Rdio...
Telus Corp. on Thursday reported higher profits and earnings from the year's first quarter, largely on the strength of its wireless business. The company said in a press release its quarterly profit was $415 million, up from...
GATINEAU, Que. — Wireless incumbents are going to have to play by a different set of rules than smaller carriers when it comes to providing network access to competitors, though one industry...
Google Inc. on Wednesday announced it has launched a wireless service in the United States, partnering with T-Mobile U.S. Inc. and Sprint Corp. for coverage on their networks. A website for Google's new service, called...
Having five Canadian teams reach the NHL playoffs for the first time in more than a decade is set to translate into a winning season for Rogers Communications Inc. as it completes the first of 12 years of a $5.2-billion rights agreement with the National Hockey League. The inclusion of the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames in the playoffs will “spark a number of good outcomes for us,” Rogers Sportsnet president Scott Moore said in a phone interview, citing higher ratings, more advertising revenue and subscriptions,...
Network management provider Sandvine Inc. said Wednesday it has launched a smartphone application for mobile service providers to allow customers to manage their plans on their device. The...
Quebecor Inc.’s Tuesday announcement of nationwide roaming at no charge for its Videotron wireless customers could allow the company to test the waters for a national mobile service, according...
CTIA-The Wireless Association is among a number of U.S. industry groups making court challenges to net-neutrality rules the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) put in place earlier this year....
Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) had a small-scale launch in Canada recently, with Rogers Communications Inc. making the service that allows carriers to transmit voice calls on the same networks as data available to a portion of its...
Rogers Communications Inc. on Friday said it will launch a Roam Like Home service for customers travelling to Europe that is similar to what's been available for travellers to the United States since November. Rogers said in a press release that, starting April 15, travellers to more than 35 European countries with Share Everything plans will be able access the unlimited talk and text they have in Canada as well as their data plans for an extra $10 a day. The company said visitors' calls within an eligible country or to Canada will not result in long-distance charges. Rogers...
Rogers Communications Inc. has launched new wireless plans for customers of its Fido brand that include exclusive content from Vice Media Inc. Rogers said in a press release that its new “Fido Pulse” plans will...
The Federal Court on Thursday granted BCE Inc. leave to appeal in its challenge of a CRTC ruling regarding its mobile-TV service. Bell applied for leave to appeal in February, seeking to overturn a January CRTC ruling that...
Customers of Rogers Communications Inc.’s Fido subsidiary will receive free access to Spotify AB’s premium music-streaming service for two years, the company said Monday. “Plug in and escape, anytime, anywhere,...
Shaw Communications Inc. has filed a review-and-vary application with the CRTC in an attempt to get higher prices for providing wholesale Internet access to third-party providers. Earlier this month, the CRTC ordered Shaw to...
BCE Inc. is not seeking costs from the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) in the early part of the appeals process in relation to a CRTC decision to force it treat data used in its mobile-TV...
Small Internet service providers are taking the lead on providing gigabit Internet service in Canada, in contrast to the United States where Internet giant Google Inc. is pioneering efforts to bring...
Competitors will be harmed if BCE Inc. is not forced to comply with an April deadline in a CRTC directive to stop exempting its mobile-TV app from data caps, according to the Canadian Network...
On Wednesday Rogers Communications Inc. announced a new brand of broadband Internet, Ignite, that comes bundled with subscriptions to two of Rogers' online video-streaming services. The company...
The CRTC on Wednesday ordered BCE Inc.’s Northwestel Inc. to lower its Internet prices for new and existing customers to address the “disparity” between the cost of Internet in the North and the rest of Canada. The decision is the latest in a series of moves by the regulator to improve telecom infrastructure in Canada’s northern territories, including its efforts to bring broadband to rural communities as well as a 2013 decision ordering Northwestel to tweak a five-year...
Users of Apple Inc.'s iPhone 6 Plus are using twice as much data as those with the iPhone 6, according to a report from Citrix Systems Inc. The U.S. provider of workplace mobility technology said...
Newly released results from a Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) survey show the availability of online video content is a factor for four in 10 Canadian Internet users who do not subscribe to cable TV. The data,...
Telus Corp. announced Thursday it is implementing usage-based billing for customers who exceed their monthly data caps on its wireline Internet packages, starting next month in some areas. The company will charge customers an...
Telus Corp.’s fourth-quarter profits rose 7.6 per cent from a year earlier as the company reported a double-digit jump in data revenue from its wireless and wireline customers. According to the company’s latest...
BCE Inc.’s net earnings the fourth quarter grew slightly compared to a year earlier, though its wireless revenue gained by a wider margin largely on increased data usage. Bell's reported in a press release that revenue rose 2.7 per cent from a year earlier to $5.53 billion. Net earnings were $594 million, up from $593 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. Wireless revenue grew 9.6 per cent in the quarter to $1.65 billion and was up 6.7 per cent in 2014 from the previous year. ARPU was up on “accelerating usage” of data on its LTE network, Bell said in a news release....
Data running on mobile networks in Canada is set to grow an average of 46 per cent a year between now and 2019, resulting in a quantity of data that's seven times what it was last year, Cisco Systems Inc. said in a report...
In the past six months, Canadians’ usage of streaming music services seems to have jumped, in a trend that’s not only good news for streaming services, but wireless companies as well. Nielsen Co. only began...
BCE Inc. said Friday it is now providing up to double the data for international roaming plans. In a press release, it said an example of its new offerings include boosting the quantity of data for data passes for Group 1 areas...
After a decade of consumers being the trendsetters in the adoption of emerging technology, the enterprise sector will take on a bigger role in 2015 as leaders in the use of cutting-edge IT products,...
As data consumption by smartphone users increases exponentially every year, wireless technology companies are looking to harness the unlicensed spectrum normally used for WiFi connections to improve...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will vote on a net-neutrality proposal in February, the Washington Post and other news outlets reported late last week. The Post said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told other commissioners...
U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc. announced on Tuesday that it would allow customers to store unused data as part of their monthly plans in a "Data Stash" to be available to them any time for up to a year. The...
Shaw Communications Inc. will be revamping its Internet packages early next month with faster speeds, a spokesman said Tuesday. "We are announcing new Internet packages for new customers in the new year," Shaw spokesman...
On Wednesday, the Australian government said it would allow the blocking of foreign websites that offer illegal downloading and streaming, the same day that the file-sharing website Pirate Bay was taken offline after a raid by Swedish police. They’re only two of the latest headlines about an international issue that also affects the Canadian TV industry. But despite its high profile, the extent of the problem is, perhaps surprisingly, hard to detail. For various reasons, it’s hard to determine how much piracy is actually going on, Duncan Stewart, Deloitte Canada’s director...
Roam Mobility Inc., a provider of SIM cards for out-of-Canada mobile usage, said Tuesday it has extended its service to Mexico. The Vancouver-based company said in a press release that, starting Dec. 10, it will offer seven-day...
Wireless data will be the biggest and fastest-growing segment of global telecommunications spending next year, technology research firm International Data Corp. said Tuesday. IDC said in a press release that wireless data...
More than one-third of U.S. smartphone users conduct video calls over their devices, and this activity is expected to grow in popularity around the world, technology research company Gartner Inc. said...
The latest report on Internet usage from Sandvine Inc. shows average monthly data downloaded on fixed-line Internet accounts in North America was up about 30 per cent in the second half of 2014 compared to a year earlier. The...
Canadian telecom service providers got more money from their customers last year largely as a result of increased wireless data usage and demand for faster Internet, the CRTC said Thursday. Overall spending on communications services in Canada rose 3.2 per cent in 2013, increasing to $191 per household each month from $185 in 2012, the CRTC said in its annual Communications Monitoring Report, the full version of which it released Thursday. The commission said the increase in overall spending “was largely due to higher spending on wireless and Internet services," which increased...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said Friday that it has fined hotel operator Marriott International Inc. $600,000 US for deliberately blocking people's access to personal WiFi hotspots at a convention area in...
GATINEAU, Que. — It's not always a case of the wireless incumbents battling newer entrants; Wednesday's session of the CRTC hearing into the wholesale wireless market featured one of the big three throwing its two...
In a little more than a week, the people who make and produce, broadcast and distribute, analyze and report on the Canadian television industry will gather in Gatineau, Que., to spend two weeks talking about its future. The...
Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk said his staff was unable to negotiate a discount from Telus Corp. when, as a deputy premier in 2012, he rang up more than $20,000 in data and roaming charges...
Shaw Communications Inc. said Monday it would provide free access to its WiFi network in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., until Sept. 14. The company said in a press release that people in the northern Ontario city can enjoy access to...
In documents submitted to the CRTC this week, BCE Inc. said it does not throttle mobile data traffic, though it’s prepared to if necessary, while Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron said it does and...
Rogers Communications Inc. has changed the pricing of data used by its Anyplace TV app, writing on its website that as of Aug. 18, standard data charges would apply to customers who use the app while on its wireless network....
Wind Mobile on Thursday announced lower prices for domestic roaming as it begins using higher-quality networks for its customers travelling outside their base. The company said in a press release that data speeds will be up to...
Devicescape Software Inc. is a California-based company that is trying to sell wireless carriers on the potential of using the multitude of free WiFi hotspots in existence to their benefit. The company's product causes smartphones to automatically link to freely offered WiFi networks, without the user having to perform the manual tasks that are typically required to connect to hotspots. "We're taking advantage of the public WiFi that has already been deployed, and there's actually tens of millions of locations in our network already, and it's composed of everything...
More than eight months after its implementation and more than a year after it was announced, effects of CRTC's wireless code include higher prices and slower growth in mobile-service subscribers,...
Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron said Wednesday it has revamped its high-speed Internet plans to offer, in some cases, double the speed at a similar price. The company said in a press release it was...
Now that the federal government’s domestic roaming caps are in place, Wind Mobile is looking to upgrade to 3G for its roaming network by the end of the summer, chief regulatory officer Simon Lockie said on Tuesday. His...
Telecom companies are turning to outside help in order to manage the floods of data coming from smartphones, set-top-boxes and other consumer technology. Canada’s biggest telecoms — BCE Inc., Rogers Communications...
The European Commission said Tuesday that limits on mobile roaming charges throughout the European Union for users based in member countries will be reduced as of July 1, including a more than 50 per cent cut to data charges. The commission said in a press release that the cap on roaming charges for mobile data usage will drop to 20 euro cents (29 cents Cdn) per megabyte from 45, a decline of 55.5 per cent. It added that roaming caps on making calls will decline 21 per cent to 19 euro cents a minute, receiving calls will decline 28.5 per cent to five euro cents a minute and sending texts will...
T-Mobile US Inc. and Rhapsody International Inc. are introducing a music streaming service that will not count against T-Mobile customers’ monthly data cap, the U.S. wireless carrier announced Thursday. The new service,...
Data transmitted over Internet protocol networks with devices in Canada will be about 2.4 times more in 2018 than what it was last year, according to a new report from Cisco Systems Inc. Highlights...
BCE Inc. on Tuesday said it has reduced the cost of wireless roaming in South Korea for voice, text and data plans. Bell said in a press release it is now charging $30 for 60 minutes of voice time in the Asian country, compared...
A Finnish company that works with mobile operators to provide users with app-based data plans said Tuesday it has been bought by Facebook Inc. The company, Pryte Ltd., said in a message on its website: "Today, we are...
You’d be forgiven for thinking that voice calling is becoming less important to the telecommunications industry. Figures from corporations and government have shown, in recent years, a decline in those subscribing to...
While the federal government’s current plan for limiting wholesale roaming rates charged within the wireless industry is a “step in the right direction,” a new study from the...
BCE Inc. improved its bottom line in this year’s first quarter as wireless data revenue surged and last year’s purchase of Astral Media contributed to its overall revenue. Revenue was up...
Rogers Communications Inc. took a hit in this year’s first quarter in both revenue and profit numbers, according to results released Monday. The company said it had $3.02 billion in operating revenue for the three months...
Rogers Communications Inc. on Tuesday announced some new overseas roaming deals, including a data-only plan for $9.99 a day. Raj Doshi, Rogers’ senior vice-president of products, said in a press release: “Our customers have told us they want simpler solutions when travelling, no matter where their travels may take them.” Rogers’ website shows that the $9.99 daily deal will give Rogers customers 20 MB of data for the day in Europe, 10 MB in places such as Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Latin America, and 3 MB in Africa. The company also cited a new...