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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,...

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 investigation of evolving to a 1000-block pooling (TBP) system to conserve telephone numbers. The commission began the process last March. It posed a series of questions to...

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...

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...

Nearly one million dormant phone lines under government review

telecom | 04/11/2023 3:40 pm EDT

The government is in the process of checking into how many phone numbers in...

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...

CRTC wants telecoms to address Canadians with disabilities wireless services

telecom | 02/23/2023 3:29 pm EST

Thursday the CRTC issued a decision directing wireless service providers (WSPs) to provide better service to people with disabilities. The companies must consult with those...

SaskTel CEO retiring

telecom | 02/13/2023 5:47 pm EST

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Co. announced the retirement of its president and CEO Doug Burnett. Burnett will be leaving at the end of May to early June,...

SaskTel rolls out 5G into rural communities

telecom | 01/30/2023 4:00 pm EST

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Monday that it is expanding its 5G footprint into...

Rogers gets details on how Quebecor-Freedom deal harms competition

telecom | 09/13/2022 4:44 pm EDT

The Competition Bureau responded Monday to Rogers Communications Inc.’s...

CRTC approves 988 crisis number, won’t start until next year

telecom | 08/31/2022 4:57 pm EDT

Following months of discussion, the CRTC has finally implemented the use of...

Canadian politicians subject to police surveillance, Ethics committee told

telecom | 08/09/2022 6:32 pm EDT

The Parliamentary committee looking at so-called on device investigation...

RCMP not using Pegasus, Ethics committee upset with lack of information

telecom | 08/08/2022 6:50 pm EDT

The RCMP are not deploying the Pegasus system to conduct surveillance on...

Canadian, U.S., STIR/SHAKEN authorities sign MoU on robocalling

telecom | 07/26/2022 3:57 pm EDT

Two Canadian and American governing authorities responsible for implementing STIR/SHAKEN are collaborating to combat robocalling. Tuesday, the Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority (STI-GA) and the Canadian Secure Token Governance Authority (CST-GA) announced it...

Gov. announced 11 projects, with $2.4M funding, to combat disinformation

Internet and Governance | 07/21/2022 4:11 pm EDT

The ministers of Canadian Heritage and Intergovernmental Affairs,...

Doherty demands 988 service in Canada as US rollout begins

telecom | 07/18/2022 5:07 pm EDT

Conservative MP Todd Doherty continued his fight for a national three-digit...

Cell phone border search bill, with higher search threshold, passes Senate

telecom | 06/21/2022 5:24 pm EDT

Late Monday night the Senate passed a reformed version of a bill that seeks...

Gov. tables three-headed private sector privacy reform bill

Media | 06/16/2022 5:45 pm EDT

Touting it as a "historic day" at an afternoon press conference, Innovation...

The border is a “perfect storm” for discrimination in cell phone search bill: Citizen Lab fellow

Media | 06/08/2022 4:55 pm EDT

The government's effort to convince parliamentarians to lower the threshold for the searching of cell phones and laptops at border crossings is based in "the fiction that data...

OPC calls for higher threshold on border cell phone search bill

telecom | 06/06/2022 5:01 pm EDT

When it comes to the government's plan to lower the threshold governing the...

Tim Hortons app violated privacy laws: privacy watchdogs

Media | 06/01/2022 5:48 pm EDT

Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons violated national privacy law because...

Liberal, Conservative MPs call for 988 service

telecom | 05/04/2022 4:10 pm EDT

The fight for a dedicated three-digit emergency number for suicide prevention continued to gather steam...

Bill S-7 would “weaponize the Customs Act”: Senator

telecom | 05/04/2022 4:06 pm EDT

A Government bill in the Senate that seeks to codify the legal threshold...

Therrien endorses Ethics report on data dive, makes further recommendations

telecom | 05/04/2022 3:58 pm EDT

Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien has welcomed the report on collection...

Ethics committee seeks changes to privacy laws, opting out of data collection

telecom | 05/03/2022 5:34 pm EDT

The House of Commons’ Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and...

Quebec union 911 committee request CRTC suspend NG911 funding consultation

telecom | 05/03/2022 5:05 pm EDT

The 911 committee for the Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique au Québec (SCFP) is asking the CRTC to suspend its consultation on funding the next-generation 911 (NG911)...

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...

Doherty renews calls for 988 suicide helpline, Bennett say urban may be served first

telecom | 04/25/2022 3:46 pm EDT

Conservative MP Todd Doherty issued a news release on Monday marking the...

OPC not consulted, privacy experts concerned on cell phone border search bill

telecom | 04/13/2022 5:44 pm EDT

A new Government-backed Senate bill now seeks to establish a new framework...

NWT Gov. made party to three-digital mental health, suicide, crisis line proceeding

telecom | 04/01/2022 5:08 pm EDT

The CRTC is allowing the Government of the Northwest Territories to file...

Device search bill will safeguard traveller rights: Gov.

telecom | 03/31/2022 6:15 pm EDT

In what it says is an effort to safeguard travellers' rights when entering Canada, the federal government today introduced legislation in the Senate to "to strengthen the framework governing the examination of personal digital devices by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)...

CRTC amends deadlines for NG911 comments

telecom | 03/25/2022 4:41 pm EDT

The CRTC has pushed back deadlines for comments on next generation 911 (NG911) service following a...

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...

CRTC approves 911 location technology implementation, denies Bell rate range

telecom | 02/25/2022 4:39 pm EST

On Friday, the CRTC approved recommendations from the Emergency Services...

Telus, Blue Dot stress Health Canada never received personal data

telecom | 02/18/2022 5:26 pm EST

It would be impossible for the government to re-identify mobility data of...

Government is using surveillance in data dive, Ethics committee told

telecom | 02/14/2022 4:05 pm EST

A panel of academics reiterated that the Privacy Act and the Personal...

CRTC poses questions on three-digit suicide number

telecom | 02/11/2022 2:57 pm EST

The CRTC has released a dozen questions it wants stakeholders to answer regarding the establishment of a...

PHAC lack of transparency “appalling”, Cavoukian tells Ethics committee

Internet and Governance | 02/11/2022 10:06 am EST

Ontario’s former privacy commissioner called the Public Health Agency’s (PHAC) lack of transparency on mobility data collection “appalling” and urged a strengthening...

Paper billing for vulnerable customers, not universally: CRTC

telecom | 02/10/2022 5:42 pm EST

The CRTC has determined that all communications service providers (CSPs),...

Feds win fight to keep evidence secret in decision to ban China Mobile

telecom | 02/04/2022 5:30 pm EST

A federal court judge has rejected a China Mobile Communications Group Co.,...

Tories attack government over PHAC data tracking, Huawei delay

telecom | 02/02/2022 3:38 pm EST

Two Conservative MPs lambasted the Liberal government on Tuesday over data...

Tam refuses to appear before Ethics committee, Duclos to testify on Thursday

telecom | 01/31/2022 4:56 pm EST

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, has declined an invitation to speak with the House of Commons Ethics committee about a Request for Proposal (RFP) the...

Quebec Ag. Commission to reconsider decision to reject Quebecor build

telecom | 01/21/2022 6:15 pm EST

The Commission for the Protection of Quebec’s Agricultural Territory will...

China Mobile pleads for Gov. evidence in fight against order to vacate Canada

telecom | 01/20/2022 4:48 pm EST

China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. is arguing before the Federal...

5G and aviation: the Canadian context

telecom | 01/18/2022 5:28 pm EST

On Monday, executives of several U.S. airlines wrote to leadership of the Federal Aviation...

CRTC asks Eastlink to propose NG 911 rates and submit cost study

telecom | 01/17/2022 6:10 pm EST

The CRTC has requested that several telecoms companies send it more...

Ethics committee votes for data hearing, Health Canada amends RFP

Internet and Governance | 01/13/2022 5:09 pm EST

OTTAWA–The House of Commons Ethics committee voted unanimously  Thursday...

Opposition seeks emergency probe into Health Canada cellphone tracking

telecom | 01/10/2022 5:21 pm EST

A group of four Opposition MPs is asking for an emergency meeting of the...

Revenues dropped in 2020, EBITDA margins increased in 2020: CRTC CMR report

telecom | 12/15/2021 6:00 pm EST

Overall, telecommunications companies pulled in some $53.4 billion in 2020,...

CRTC calls for comments on next-gen 911

telecom | 12/09/2021 5:27 pm EST

On Thursday the CRTC called for comments on hosted call handling solutions (CHS) for public safety...

Opposition hammers Government on 988, broadband rollout

telecom | 12/08/2021 10:24 am EST

The government was taken to task Tuesday over rollout of a dedicated number for mental health and last-mile fibre lays. Two Conservative MPs lashed out at the Trudeau administration over the failings. Pointing out it had been nearly a year since his colleague Todd Doherty...

SaskTel launches new digital mobile service

telecom | 12/07/2021 4:02 pm EST

A crown-owned Saskatchewan telecommunications firm is launching its new digital mobile service In a...

Samsung opens Regina office to work with SaskTel

telecom | 12/01/2021 3:11 pm EST

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has opened a regional office in Regina to facilitate its work with...

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...

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...

Telecoms renew call for delay of STIR/SHAKEN

telecom | 11/11/2021 3:43 pm EST

Canada’s incumbent telecoms made another plea for deferral of the application of the STIR/SHAKEN condition. In a Nov. 9 letter to the CRTC, the Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) and the Network Working Group (NTWG), augmented by BCE Inc., Telus Corp., and...

RCMP seeks to develop encrypted data solutions for investigation purposes

telecom | 11/04/2021 5:03 pm EDT

The RCMP is looking for an artificial intelligence decryption system that...

Quebec company fined $200k for violating telemarketing rules

telecom | 11/04/2021 2:12 pm EDT

A Quebec-based company that specializes in the sale of wellness products to...

263 area code coming to Montreal next year

telecom | 11/01/2021 2:32 pm EDT

Montreal will be getting a third area code within the next year, the CRTC said in a Monday decision. The...

UPDATED – Rodriguez back as Heritage minister, Champagne remains in Innovation

Media | 10/26/2021 12:47 pm EDT

OTTAWA -- MP Pablo Rodriguez is back in familiar territory as he is once...

Ontario Court of Appeal says provincial bill stands in Telus class-action suit

telecom | 10/25/2021 3:35 pm EDT

Ontario’s Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Telus Corp. in a...

Telecoms companies debating immediate vs. phased-in deployment of crisis line

telecom | 10/05/2021 7:09 pm EDT

Canada’s telecom companies are debating before the CRTC whether it is best to deploy a national mental health and suicide prevention crisis hotline simultaneously throughout...

Rewheel report again shows high prices for wireless data 

telecom | 10/04/2021 5:44 pm EDT

Canada remains amongst the world's highest wireless phone prices, according...

Indigenous economic reconciliation needs path toward spectrum sovereignty: experts

Media | 09/30/2021 5:03 pm EDT

While the Canadian government is busy collecting $8.9 billion dollars from...

Xplornet announces rural 5G standalone network

telecom | 09/22/2021 3:12 pm EDT

New Brunswick-based rural broadband provider Xplornet Communications Inc. announced Wednesday it’s...

Telecoms say no need for additional accessibility requirements; advocates disagree

telecom | 09/03/2021 5:28 pm EDT

Canada’s telecommunications companies are recommending that the CRTC...

Redline Communications hires new CEO as it eyes LTE and 5G growth

telecom | 08/19/2021 12:54 pm EDT

Redline Communications Group Inc., a Markham-Ont.-based manufacturer of wireless network technology for mining, oil-and-gas, and utilities groups, is taking on a new CEO as it...

No reason to deny TSPs access to secure telephony identity certificates: CRTC

telecom | 08/05/2021 2:10 pm EDT

The CRTC has determined that, unless a telecommunications service provider...

Iristel to launch low-cost portability service 

telecom | 06/14/2021 5:09 pm EDT

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...

CRTC sets new next-gen 911 implementation deadlines

telecom | 06/14/2021 4:34 pm EDT

The CRTC is setting new deadlines for the implementation of next-generation 911 networks and services after delaying due to the pandemic.   The regulator said in a decision Monday next-gen or NG911 providers will have until...

Feds investing $14 million in 5G development for oil, gas, and mining sectors

telecom | 04/09/2021 4:58 pm EDT

The federal government is investing $14 million in Redline Communications Group Inc. through its Strategic Innovation Fund for the company to produce “Industrial 5G” products for clients in the...

CRTC extends STIR/SHAKEN deadline again

telecom | 04/07/2021 1:37 pm EDT

The CRTC has once again extended its deadline for telecom providers to enact an anti-call-spoofing protocol known as STIR/SHAKEN, this time into fall 2021.  Instead of entirely blocking calls from coming through, the...

Federal court dismisses telecom carriers attempt to get SOCAN royalties back

Media | 03/22/2021 7:03 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc., and Quebecor Inc.’s collective bid to get back millions in royalties they say they paid to the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada...

Claims administrator to launch Facebook campaign in Rogers class action

telecom | 03/18/2021 5:05 pm EDT

The Quebec Superior Court has granted the group handling claims related to a $26 million class-action lawsuit against Rogers Communications Inc. permission to target thousands more people who may be...

ITPA asks CRTC to compel release of limited customer data for NG911

telecom | 03/05/2021 5:15 pm EST

The Independent Telecommunications Providers Association (ITPA) is asking the CRTC to force  large telecom service providers to give the association a list of the wireless service numbers with...

Mitel pushes back on incumbents in STIR/SHAKEN access debate 

telecom | 02/18/2021 5:06 pm EST

Mitel Networks Corp. has delivered a blunt reply to incumbents over their approaches to implementing the STIR/SHAKEN anti-fraud-call technology, suggesting that larger companies are seeking “anti-competitive, uneven, and discriminatory” regulations. In December, Mitel filed a Part 1 requesting the CRTC to mandate the inclusion of resellers in the STIR/SHAKEN rollout, arguing that if companies like it are excluded, they would face a competitive disadvantage, as they would not be able to directly attest to the authenticity of calls originating from their customers. This would be in...

CRTC should release data on fraud calls: PIAC

telecom | 02/09/2021 5:58 pm EST

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has asked the CRTC to publicly disclose the information it...

CRTC establishes relief planning committees into two Manitoba area codes

telecom | 01/11/2021 5:30 pm EST

The CRTC announced Monday that it would establish a CRTC interconnection steering committee (CISC) ad hoc relief planning committee to examine options and make numbering relief recommendations for...

Public Safety looking at changing emergency alert funding: gov’t docs

telecom | 12/16/2020 3:26 pm EST

Public Safety Canada is considering implementing a “more sustainable...

Xplornet picks Ericsson for 5G

telecom | 12/08/2020 5:22 pm EST

Xplornet Communications Inc. will use technology from Ericsson AB in its next-generation network, the company said Tuesday.  Xplornet will begin rolling out its 5G fixed-wireless network in rural areas this summer, it said in...

Telecom complaints down 19%, CCTS says

telecom | 11/30/2020 12:50 pm EST

The number of complaints from Canadians about their telecom services fell 19 per cent last year, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) said in its annual report Monday.  It’s the first time since 2015-2016 that the number of complaints went down year-over-year, the report said. It followed the CCTS mid-year report, which also saw declines. The annual report noted there were 35 per cent fewer complaints regarding BCE Inc.’s services from the previous year and 69 per cent fewer complaints regarding Cogeco Inc. “We are hopeful that service providers...

PIAC requests privacy review of contact tracing apps

telecom | 10/29/2020 6:24 pm EDT

Six months after the CRTC declined its request to hold an inquiry into contact tracing technologies and...

Secret shoppers with disabilities less satisfied with telecom options

telecom | 09/29/2020 6:23 pm EDT

One in five potential customers for telecommunications services "perceived...

Gov’t should launch public awareness campaign about COVID-19 fraud: INDU

telecom | 08/20/2020 5:42 pm EDT

As its work was being put on hiatus due to prorogation of the House of Commons, the industry committee sent a letter to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains saying the federal government must act to...

No need for changes to cellphone, antenna safety standards, gov’t says

telecom | 07/23/2020 4:01 pm EDT

The federal government has responded to a petition calling for Canada to restrict the installation of cellphone towers and antennas around schools and playgrounds, saying such measures are...

PIAC calls for providers to detail COVID-19 tracing involvement

telecom | 05/04/2020 6:14 pm EDT

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre is asking for all Canadian...

Canadian authorities in talks about COVID-19 tracking apps

telecom | 03/31/2020 5:54 pm EDT

Several of Canada’s cities and provinces, as well as the federal...

Cell data tracking company continues lobby push, despite tough reception

telecom | 11/05/2019 11:44 am EST

A company that says its privacy-focused software app can tell employers...

Rogers further defends 36-month financing

telecom | 11/01/2019 5:19 pm EDT

The objection to the new phone financing plans from the likes of the Competition Bureau is based on an incorrect understanding of device financing arrangements, according to Rogers Communications Inc.’s reply in the CRTC’s...

Wireless prices down in Canada, but also everywhere else: report

telecom | 10/30/2019 6:29 pm EDT

Canadian mobile wireless data prices are falling precipitously, according to a new report from Finnish consulting company Rewheel — which also found Canada remains amongst the most expensive countries in the world.  “While the Canadian median gigabyte price in...