TAGGED AS LANDLINE PHONES
Newfoundland finally gets new area code after six years’ delay
telecom | 09/15/2023 4:49 pm EDT
Newfoundland and Labrador will finally be rolling out the 879 numbering plan area (NPA) on Feb. 17, 2024, the CRTC announced Friday. The new area code had initially been approved back in 2017 but the commission discovered number exhaustion would not take place until 2028,...
ICA Microsystems back in CCTS fold
telecom | 08/31/2023 4:18 pm EDT
ICA Microsystems Inc. is once again a participant in the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Service (CCTS) after being suspended last April. The internet service provider had not supplied a customer with a refund as demanded by the CRTC agency. It later...
Telecoms file interventions on thousand block pooling
telecom | 05/31/2023 6:04 pm EDT
Wednesday was the deadline for interested intervenors to file their comments on the CRTC’s...
CRTC further extends deadline for block pooling comments
telecom | 04/18/2023 5:08 pm EDT
The CRTC has again extended its deadline for comments and replies on a...
Public safety authorities want lower thresholds for network outage reporting requirements
telecom | 04/14/2023 5:15 pm EDT
Provincial public safety agencies are requesting...
Ottawa police caution about misusing 911 calls
telecom | 04/14/2023 1:14 pm EDT
To mark National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, the Ottawa Police Service issued a news release...
CCTS complaints up for Rogers and Telus, down for Bell
telecom | 04/04/2023 1:48 pm EDT
The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) found that complaints were up 12 per cent for the six months ending Jan. 31, according to its report released Tuesday.
Rogers Communications Inc. was tagged with the most complaints, 1,294, a 29 per cent...
CRTC to look at limiting number pools to 1000
telecom | 03/23/2023 5:52 pm EDT
The CRTC is worried about telephone number depletion and is suggesting that number pools be reduced to...
10 digit dialing coming to Yellowknife, northern Ontario, and Newfoundland next month
telecom | 03/01/2023 1:44 pm EST
Ten-digit dialing is coming to a number of...
Bell presses pause on NG911 onboarding
telecom | 02/24/2023 5:04 pm EST
BCE Inc. is implementing a temporary embargo for next-generation 911 (NG911) onboarding and go-live...
Maritime provinces experience brief 911 outage
telecom | 01/31/2023 4:28 pm EST
The provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were briefly without 911 service...
Ten-digit dialing comes to New Brunswick
telecom | 01/18/2023 1:42 pm EST
Starting Friday, callers across New Brunswick will have to begin using 10-digit dialing, and will have to...
CRTC delays Telus credit card ruling until later this fall
telecom | 10/18/2022 5:28 pm EDT
The CRTC has missed a deadline for ruling if Telus Corp. can impose a 1.5...
CRTC allows for use of hosted call handling solutions sites in the NG911 networks
telecom | 10/17/2022 5:24 pm EDT
The CRTC determined that 911 governing authorities can designate...
Telus’ credit card fee proposal violates Telecommunications Act: PIAC
telecom | 09/08/2022 4:55 pm EDT
Telus Corp.'s plan to introduce a 1.5 per cent surcharge for new and...
PIAC calls for suspension of Telus credit card charge application
telecom | 08/18/2022 5:15 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the National Pensioners Federation are calling on the CRTC to suspend Telus Corp.'s effort to put a 1.5 per cent surcharge on any...
NorthwesTel details NWT outage
telecom | 06/28/2022 5:10 pm EDT
In response to a CRTC request for information from BCE Inc.-subsidiary NorthwesTel, the company detailed...
CRTC denies Bell’s review and vary on toll-trunk tariff language
telecom | 06/09/2022 12:58 pm EDT
The CRTC has denied a request from BCE Inc. to stay a 2021 commission order...
Telus’s application to reclassify small ILECs for NG911 service 5 years too late, harms public: ITPA
telecom | 05/10/2022 2:48 pm EDT
The Independent Telecommunications Providers...
Hydro Ottawa reenters telecom market with Hiboo Networks
telecom | 04/28/2022 6:11 pm EDT
Hydro Ottawa is returning to the telecom market with the launch of Hiboo...
CanOps argues for broader standard adoption for NG911
telecom | 04/28/2022 5:07 pm EDT
As the CRTC is considering the funding structures for the planned rollout of so-called next generation 911 service (NG911) the non-profit Canadian Public Safety Operations Organization (CanOps) is asking the regulator to mandate that telecommunications service providers...
Telecom complaints down by 26 per cent according to CCTS report
telecom | 04/05/2022 4:50 pm EDT
Telecom complaints fell by 26 percent in six months while disclosure issues...
Court rejects Iristel attempt to overturn CRTC decision in traffic stimulation case
telecom | 03/08/2022 4:06 pm EST
The Federal Court of Appeal rejected an application by Iristel Inc. to...
Appeal court dismisses Iristel application to release $21.85m in tax refunds
telecom | 03/03/2022 5:09 pm EST
The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed an application by Iristel Inc. to...
Telecom companies waive fees for calls to the Ukraine
telecom | 02/25/2022 5:29 pm EST
Several Canadian telecom companies have responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by temporarily...
Bell acquires Quebec-based provider Ebox
Media | 02/24/2022 4:23 pm EST
BCE Inc. has acquired Quebec-based internet, telephone and television provider Ebox Inc., the incumbent...
CRTC seeks comments on telecom fees amendments
telecom | 02/16/2022 3:57 pm EST
The CRTC is calling for comments on proposed amendments to the Telecommunications Fees Regulations, it...
CRTC relaxes phone fraud reporting requirements
telecom | 02/11/2022 5:10 pm EST
The CRTC has relaxed its rules for the reporting of the telephone frauds known as number porting and SIM...
Quebec court authorizes class-action against Bell’s Télébec, Câblevision
telecom | 02/09/2022 6:09 pm EST
A Superior Court of Quebec judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit...
Ontario judge keeps Bell evidence on record in prison class-action lawsuit against incumbent
telecom | 01/05/2022 3:47 pm EST
An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled that evidence by BCE. Inc. should remain on the record in a would-be class-action lawsuit against the incumbent and the province of...
Iristel takes CRTC traffic stimulation decision to Federal Court of Appeal
telecom | 01/05/2022 2:59 pm EST
While it is asking the CRTC for guidelines on how to comply with a recent...
CRTC suspends application of STIR/SHAKEN for 911 calls
telecom | 12/20/2021 1:21 pm EST
The CRTC approved an application by its Interconnection Steering Committee...
Bell says CRTC should leave dispute with competitive pay-telephone service provider to the courts
telecom | 12/07/2021 5:05 pm EST
BCE Inc. is arguing to the CRTC that it has...
PIAC says CRTC’s Internet Code has “no real protections,” CCTS research shows uptick in complaints
telecom | 12/06/2021 5:12 pm EST
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said...
CRTC fines telemarketer $42,000 for repeated violations
telecom | 12/02/2021 2:15 pm EST
The CRTC fined an Ontario firm $42,000 for violating the Do Not Call List (DNCL) regulations, according to a Thursday decision released by the commission.
Smart Choice Window and Door Systems, a subsidiary of 2260948 Ontario Inc. was charged $2,000 for each of 21...
Western Quebec to get new area code overlay
telecom | 12/01/2021 12:09 pm EST
The CRTC approved the implementation of an overlay for area code 468 for the western Quebec region...
STIR/SHAKEN rolling out despite incumbent demands for delay
telecom | 11/30/2021 3:43 pm EST
Canada’s telecommunications companies have begun implementing the STIR/SHAKEN technology in the CRTC’s effort to combat spoof and fraudulent...
Bell subsidiary says resources to implement local competition in Que. area scarce, even for incumbent, justifying 5-month delay
telecom | 11/24/2021 2:04 pm EST
A BCE Inc. subsidiary told the CRTC that approving...
CRTC fines Toronto company $59,000 for violating unsolicited telecoms rules
telecom | 11/19/2021 4:19 pm EST
The CRTC is fining a Toronto-based window manufacturing and repair company...
CRTC approves final 2021 rates, interim 2022 rates, for for high-cost serving areas
telecom | 11/18/2021 3:15 pm EST
The CRTC approved the 2021 subsidy amounts for telecom providers operating...
CRTC approves new area code for Montreal area
telecom | 11/12/2021 12:18 pm EST
The CRTC has approved a new area code for the region surrounding Montreal. In a decision issued Friday...
Ottawa, northeastern – central Ontario, getting new area codes: CRTC
telecom | 11/10/2021 1:37 pm EST
Ottawa and the surrounding eastern Ontario area will be getting a third...
368 area code to be introduced in Alberta
telecom | 10/20/2021 12:47 pm EDT
Albertans will be introduced to a new area code in six months as part of a CRTC effort to meet the continuously growing demand for new telephone numbers. The new area code, 368, will gradually launch across the province...
CRTC approves Cochrane Telecom application for forbearance
telecom | 09/02/2021 5:21 pm EDT
The CRTC has approved an application from the Cochrane Telecom Services for the CRTC to refrain from regulating its residential services in Cochrane, Ont. In a Thursday decision, the regulator wrote that forbearance of regulation of CochraneTel "would be consistent with the Canadian telecommunications policy objectives " set out in the Telecommunications Act, and would be "unlikely to unduly impair the continuance of a competitive market for these services." The company filed a Part 1 application in April asking for the CRTC's forbearance on the 705-272 exchange in the town, meaning...
Cochrane Telecom requests CRTC forbearance
telecom | 05/07/2021 5:44 pm EDT
Cochrane Telecom Services has submitted an application to the CRTC requesting that the commission refrain from regulating its residential services in Cochrane, Ontario. The company filed a Part 1 with the CRTC Tuesday,...
CRTC grants Fibernetics access to Bell facilities
telecom | 05/04/2021 5:45 pm EDT
The CRTC is directing BCE Inc. to allow Ontario-based home phone and internet provider Fibernetics Corp....
Bell rate increases for Primus would hurt low-income consumers: interventions
telecom | 01/05/2021 6:18 pm EST
A BCE Inc. price increase on the unbundled local loop (ULL) service it...
Bell’s prison phone rates violated telecom act, lawsuit argues
telecom | 08/11/2020 6:10 pm EDT
An updated version of a class action lawsuit against BCE Inc. and the...
Force Bell to sign IXPL lease agreement, CRTC urged
telecom | 07/20/2020 5:36 pm EDT
Ontario-based home phone and internet provider Fibernetics Corp. is calling on the CRTC to compel BCE Inc. to allow it to lease facilities so it can expand its landline phone service to eight new areas. In a Part 1 application posted on the CRTC website Monday, Cambridge-based Fibernetics says Bell has refused to sign a lease agreement for Inter-Exchange Private Line (IXPL) facilities despite the parties having signed many lease agreements in the past, with Bell insisting on another, redacted method for local network interconnection. Access to IXPL facilities is necessary for Fibernetics...
Ontario prisons waive phone fees for inmates
telecom | 04/21/2020 6:30 pm EDT
Ontario prisons are now allowing prisoners to call cell phones as well as landlines for free in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a letter Ontario attorney general Sylvia Jones sent Monday to signatories of an...
CRTC approves Northwestel’s waiving of overage fees
telecom | 03/24/2020 2:44 pm EDT
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...
Federal prisons waiving inmate phone fees
telecom | 03/18/2020 9:42 am EDT
The Correctional Service of Canada is temporarily making calls free of charge for prisoners in Canada's...
CRTC says no to delay, compensation for ending landline subsidy
telecom | 02/04/2020 5:31 pm EST
The CRTC has upheld its decision to phase out a subsidy for landlines through 2021, and in a pair of decisions today rejected requests to maintain the subsidy for at least 10 years and to compensate...
Cogeco’s IPTV service in beta testing, but no start date
telecom | 01/15/2020 4:27 pm EST
There’s no firm timeframe for when Cogeco Inc. will roll out its new IPTV service, despite the cableco previously telling investors it would become available in 2019. Cogeco’s CEO Phillipe...
Telecom prices down, household spending up: CRTC
telecom | 08/09/2019 3:30 pm EDT
Prices for communications services are on a downward trend, according to new data from the CRTC, but spending on those goods are also on the rise. Those services are made up of mobile wireless (with unlimited voice and SMS...
StatCan data shows higher telecom spending than CRTC pricing numbers
Media | 07/12/2019 5:25 pm EDT
The average Canadian household spent $233 a month on communication services in 2017, a $10.17 or 4.6 per cent increase from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Canada released late last...
CRTC denies Iristel complaint about Bell rate increases
telecom | 07/10/2019 4:37 pm EDT
Iristel Inc. hasn’t provided enough evidence in a dispute with BCE Inc. to compel the CRTC to re-regulate some transport services, the commission said Wednesday. Iristel had asked the CRTC to...
Ontario court presses pause on Iristel-Telus case
telecom | 04/25/2019 2:36 pm EDT
The Ontario Superior Court has put a lawsuit launched by Iristel Inc. against Telus Corp. on hold while the CRTC settles a related dispute. The court granted a temporary stay in a decision Monday, stating that “the court has no jurisdiction over, or is not the appropriate forum, for the subject matter of this action,” which should be settled by the CRTC. Telus had requested the stay in the lawsuit brought forward by Iristel, asking for $135 million in withheld payments it said is owed to the company for terminating Telus’ customer calls. The CRTC is currently in the process of...
Cogeco offering no details on MVNO strategy
telecom | 04/10/2019 4:14 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. has long been a vocal proponent of mandated mobile virtual operators in Canada, so it’s no...
Forbearance means CRTC has no place in rate dispute: Bell
telecom | 01/10/2019 5:31 pm EST
The CRTC has no jurisdiction to determine the outcome of a disagreement over the rates BCE Inc. charges Iristel Inc. for wholesale access, because it chose to forebear from regulating legacy services,...
Iristel complains to CRTC about Bell rate increases
telecom | 01/04/2019 12:44 pm EST
Iristel Inc. says BCE Inc. has put in place “massive and unprecedented rate increases” for access to some of its infrastructure and is asking the CRTC to intervene. According to a Part 1 application filed with the CRTC in...
CRTC orders telecoms to block calls with ‘illegitimate’ IDs
telecom | 12/19/2018 1:05 pm EST
Telecoms will have to start blocking phone calls from numbers that don’t conform to “established numbering plans,” the CRTC said Wednesday. The new rule affects calls that look like they’re...
More than half of the world will be online by year-end: ITU
telecom | 12/10/2018 2:04 pm EST
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says for the first time ever, more than half the world’s population will be online by the end of the year.
The United Nations agency projects that 51.2 per cent of the world’s population, 3.9 billion people out of 7.7...
Cogeco’s transition to new customer system drags down Q4
Media | 11/02/2018 4:52 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc.’s implementation of a new customer management system, which...
Shaw feels the competitive heat on wireline
telecom | 10/25/2018 6:04 pm EDT
Shaw Communications Inc. reported wireline results for the fourth quarter that analysts characterized as...
ITPA asks CRTC to reconsider ending voice subsidy
telecom | 09/28/2018 3:34 pm EDT
The Independent Telecommunications Providers Association (ITPA) has filed a review-and-vary application with the CRTC, asking the regulator to bring back its landline subsidy. When the commission announced its $750 million...
Household spending on telecom services up 2%: CRTC
Media | 08/16/2018 5:30 pm EDT
Canadian households spent an average of $222.83 a month on communications services in 2016, the CRTC said...
Traffic stimulation in front of CRTC again with Iristel, Telus fight
telecom | 08/08/2018 5:22 pm EDT
Iristel Inc. and Telus Corp. are sparring in a pair of Part 1 applications...
Wholesale payphone service no longer mandated: CRTC
telecom | 04/20/2018 4:35 pm EDT
Canada’s biggest telcos will be able to stop providing wholesale service for payphones, the CRTC has...
Spike in complaints causing delays at CCTS, mid-year report outlines
Media | 04/10/2018 6:00 am EDT
Complaints by Canadians about their telecom services increased so much in...
CRTC calls out Iristel, but says no new regs in traffic stimulation case
telecom | 12/20/2017 5:40 pm EST
In separate decisions on Wednesday, the CRTC ordered Iristel Inc. to cease...
CRTC consulting on new nuisance call blocking proposals
telecom | 11/17/2017 3:00 pm EST
The CRTC launched a consultation Thursday requesting comment on new proposals for how its order to telecoms to block some nuisance calls should be implemented. A year ago, the regulator ordered telecoms “to put in place measures to block unwanted nuisance calls on both wireless and wireline networks,” then two months later began consultations to figure out the best way for that to be done. In their responses, companies told the CRTC that the technologies it identified as potential tools to solve the problem have promise but there are barriers to their deployment. In its new...
Telus revenue, profit up 4 per cent each
telecom | 11/09/2017 7:52 pm EST
Telus Corp. reported revenue of $3.36 billion, up four per cent from the same quarter last year, in its third-quarter results released Thursday, while net income also increased 4.2 per cent to $370 million over that time....
Cogeco revenue up, profits dip in Q4
telecom | 11/03/2017 4:27 pm EDT
In its quarterly results released on Friday, Cogeco Inc. reported overall revenues for the three-month...
Cell phone only households predict modern behaviour: MTM
telecom | 11/03/2017 4:21 pm EDT
Cell phone only households, meaning those that use only mobile phones and no landline, are growing across Canada and are a good indication of a series of modern habits, said a report published...
Freedom set to support older iPhones with spectrum rejig, deployment
telecom | 10/26/2017 5:37 pm EDT
Shaw Communications Inc. announced Thursday that it would move to redeploy...
Rogers unfazed by Freedom ‘Big Gig’ offer: CEO
telecom | 10/19/2017 4:34 pm EDT
Joe Natale isn’t worried about Shaw Communications Inc.’s move to offer its Freedom customers 10 gigabytes for $50, effectively turning away the idea that the move is a game changer in the industry.
The CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. said the new offer, which...
Telus gets $176M gov’t contract for landlines
telecom | 10/05/2017 3:46 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The federal government will pay Telus Corp. $176 million over seven years to replace 80,000...
U.S. cloud-based office phone provider coming to Canada
telecom | 10/04/2017 5:51 pm EDT
United States cloud-based phone company Dialpad Inc. has launched in...
Service restored after cut cable cripples Bell, Telus network
telecom | 08/04/2017 11:15 am EDT
A cut cable crippled the shared network of BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. in...
Bell subs feel impact of ‘aggressive’ cable competition in Q2
telecom | 08/03/2017 2:22 pm EDT
BCE Inc. is hoping the second half of the year results in a boost for its...
Quebec class action over Bell rate increases to proceed
telecom | 07/19/2017 11:51 am EDT
The Quebec Superior Court has approved a class-action lawsuit against BCE Inc. for unilaterally changing the terms of contracts for its internet, landline, wireless and telephone services. The...
Cogeco expands U.S. biz with MetroCast buy
telecom | 07/10/2017 1:08 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is again expanding its U.S. footprint, with the announcement Monday that it would purchase...
Give four days’ notice before service disconnection, CRTC says
telecom | 07/06/2017 3:31 pm EDT
Telecommunications service providers must give customers a heads up of at least four business days before disconnecting or suspending a service to end users or another service provider, the CRTC said...
Consumer advocates request basic services rejig for affordability fund
telecom | 04/06/2017 5:32 pm EDT
A trio of consumer advocacy groups are asking the CRTC to revise December’s basic telecom services decision, stating in a review-and-vary application filed Wednesday that the regulator...
Telecoms bond over stirring proposals to shake up call spoofing
telecom | 03/03/2017 7:18 pm EST
Technologies identified by the CRTC as potential tools to combat spoofed and nuisance calls have promise, but barriers to their deployment mean they’re not likely to be put in place any time soon, companies told the regulator. The CRTC launched a consultation in January following a November order requiring telecoms put in place measures to block “unwanted nuisance calls” on both wireless and wireline networks. In interventions, which were due Wednesday, companies addressed the potential effectiveness of two standards that are currently in...
CRTC consulting on competitor quality of service regime
telecom | 02/23/2017 7:26 pm EST
The CRTC is asking for input on its competitor quality of service regime, used to monitor the services provided by incumbent telcos to smaller providers and ensure their quality is sufficient to...
SaskTel says it’s ‘concerned’ by end of local voice subsidy
telecom | 02/13/2017 6:09 pm EST
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. said Monday that it is concerned about the CRTC’s December decision to eliminate the local voice subsidy in favour of a...
New area codes determined for Nfld, QC
telecom | 02/02/2017 5:57 pm EST
Ten-digit dialling will officially roll out in Newfoundland and Labrador next summer after the CRTC approved a new area code for the province. Already served by 709, the province will add the 879 area code as of Nov. 24,...
Nuisance call deadline extended
telecom | 02/02/2017 5:55 pm EST
The CRTC has changed the deadline for interventions in its consultation on measures to reduce caller ID spoofing and other ways of managing nuisance calls. Originally set for Feb. 8, the new deadline for...
National 911 operator could disrupt regional relationships: PSAP
telecom | 01/17/2017 11:14 pm EST
Forming a national consortium for the development of next-generation 911 (NG911) services would disrupt relationships formed under the current ILEC model, a British Columbia public-safety answer point (PSAP) argued on the second day of the CRTC’s week-long hearing on NG911. The largest 911 PSAP — a service that provides emergency and non-emergency call-taking and dispatch services — in the province took a different position than others who argued for a national consortium to handle the transition to next-generation 911, which will allow 911...
CRTC should take charge in next-generation 911 rollout, regulator hears
telecom | 01/16/2017 11:17 pm EST
GATINEAU, Que. — The CRTC should take a leading role — at least temporarily — in co-ordinating the development of next-generation 911 services, the regulator...
CRTC consulting on nuisance calls decision
telecom | 01/09/2017 9:35 pm EST
The CRTC issued a call for comments Monday on its two-month-old decision to force telecoms to implement measures to reduce caller ID spoofing and offer services to manage nuisance calls. In November, the...
Iristel buys two small telecoms
telecom | 11/22/2016 10:28 pm EST
Iristel Inc. said Tuesday it has acquired two small telecoms, Toronto’s Trutel Inc. and Montreal’s Exelia Inc. "Our culture is not one filled with 'old phone guys' and neither is Trutel's or...
Iristel files complaint over Eastlink’s competition refusal
telecom | 11/22/2016 10:24 pm EST
Iristel Inc. has filed a complaint with the CRTC over what it says is a “refusal” of Bragg Communication Inc.’s Eastlink to “implement local competition”...
CRTC, FCC sign new anti-nuisance call agreement
telecom | 11/18/2016 5:24 pm EST
The CRTC announced Thursday a new memorandum of understanding with its counterpart in the United States to help combat unwanted calls. In a press release, the CRTC said the new formal agreement with the Federal...
CRTC orders telecoms to develop tools for blocking nuisance calls
telecom | 11/07/2016 10:07 pm EST
Telecom companies will soon be required to put in place measures to block “unwanted nuisance calls” on both wireless and wireline networks, the CRTC announced Monday. The regulator...
Rogers Unison expands to bigger businesses
telecom | 10/12/2016 6:38 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. is expanding a service aimed at businesses that brings landline features to mobile. The company, which launched Rogers Unison for small businesses earlier this year, said in a press release Wednesday it...
Some TNW customers may be disconnected in Nov., CRTC warns
telecom | 09/23/2016 7:15 pm EDT
The CRTC has issued a consumer alert letting customers of Téliphone Navigata Westel Communications Inc. (TNW) know they may be disconnected in November. It said in...
Competition watchdog dings Comwave for misleading ads
telecom | 09/13/2016 7:47 pm EDT
Toronto-based Comwave Networks Inc. will fork out $360,000 for misleading ads that represented its Internet and home phone services as “unlimited,” the Competition Bureau said Tuesday. In a press release, the bureau said Comwave agreed to pay $300,000 in administrative penalties as well as $60,000 to cover the costs of the investigation as well as “establish a corporate compliance program designed to help it avoid similar issues in the future.” According to the Competition Bureau, Comwave’s ads “misrepresented the charges...