TAGGED AS SMARTPHONES
Limit info on smartphones at U.S. border: privacy commish
telecom | 09/19/2017 3:22 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canadians should be exercising a fair amount of caution when crossing the U.S. border with personal mobile devices in the face of American laws that allow their customs agents nearly unfettered access to those devices and the information contained within, the...
Regulatory rejigs, cultural changes in store as Parliament resumes
Media | 09/18/2017 1:56 pm EDT
Everything old is new again when it comes to telecom and media issues percolating in Ottawa this fall, from reviews and renegotiations of old legislation and trade agreements,...
Bell Apple Watch advantage unknown: experts
telecom | 09/15/2017 4:06 pm EDT
Wearable use in Canada and around the world is trending up, but the numbers for smartwatches are still...
U.S. gov’t sued over warrantless device searches at border
telecom | 09/13/2017 4:02 pm EDT
American civil liberties groups are suing the U.S. federal government over warrantless searches of travellers’ personal devices at the border. In a press release, the American Civil Liberties...
Shaw poised for boost from new iPhones
telecom | 09/12/2017 5:17 pm EDT
Apple Inc.’s new iPhone X, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, announced Tuesday, are compatible with spectrum bands...
Telus outpaces Bell in PCMag speed ranking
telecom | 09/11/2017 3:16 pm EDT
Telus Corp. has the fastest national wireless network in Canada, according to PCMag.com’s annual...
Smartphone streaming flat from last year: MTM
Media | 09/01/2017 10:00 am EDT
More than half of anglophones who own smartphones use the devices to stream audio content, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada.
That 52-per-cent figure in the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017 was one-per-cent lower...
RBC launching AI-based banking through app
Media | 08/28/2017 4:54 pm EDT
RBC said Monday it plans to add artificial intelligence (AI) technology to its mobile banking app....
VR data consumption to skyrocket: Juniper
Media | 08/25/2017 3:23 pm EDT
Global wireless data consumption through virtual reality (VR) content will grow ten-fold over the next...
Wearable sales to grow in 2017: Gartner
telecom | 08/24/2017 12:30 pm EDT
Worldwide sales of wearable devices are forecast to grow 16.7 per cent this year compared to 2016,...
Conservatives more likely to support border device searches: survey
telecom | 08/22/2017 4:16 pm EDT
Supporters of the federal Conservative party are more likely than those with other party affiliations to approve of warrantless searches of electronic devices by Canadian border officers, according to...
Past quarter ‘as good as it gets’ for wireless: RBC analyst
telecom | 08/16/2017 11:49 am EDT
Following a quarter in which Canada’s telecoms all reported strong...
BlackBerry call encryption approved for U.S. government
telecom | 07/21/2017 4:12 pm EDT
Blackberry Ltd. will now be able to provide its mobile device...
Bains talks collaboration on autonomous cars in U.S.
telecom | 07/17/2017 5:19 pm EDT
Autonomous cars are one promising area for collaboration between Canada and the United States, Innovation...
Mobile banking use up to 43%: J.D. Power
telecom | 07/13/2017 3:47 pm EDT
Canadians’ use of smartphones for banking activities has nearly doubled over the past three years, according to a new report by J.D. Power. The Canadian Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, released Thursday, found that mobile...
Civil society groups take aim at Five Eyes on encryption
Media | 06/30/2017 3:51 pm EDT
More than six dozen civil society organizations and individuals have come out to reiterate support for stronger data encryption in a letter addressed to a quintet of the world’s intelligence agencies, following a statement from the group that encryption could be standing in the way of public safety. The Friday letter, which was organized by Access Now, the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) and researchers from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, is intended to address a two-day meeting held between five global security agencies, known as The Five Eyes,...
Wireless promos up compared to last year: Barclays
telecom | 06/26/2017 4:58 pm EDT
Leading up to Canada’s 150th anniversary, wireless promotions from incumbents and their flanker brands have increased noticeably compared to last year, according to Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang. Promotions in the...
CRTC unlocking decision could slightly increase churn: Desjardins
telecom | 06/16/2017 5:01 pm EDT
A move to ban device unlocking fees and mandate all new phones be sold unlocked by December could “slightly” increase churn rates, but the impact shouldn’t be material, Desjardins Capital...
Civil liberties groups back privacy commish on device searches
telecom | 06/16/2017 4:10 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Grouping electronic devices with other goods when it comes to...
CRTC eliminates locked phones in Canada by December
telecom | 06/15/2017 11:00 am EDT
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...
Privacy commish suggests ‘partial solution’ for border device searches
telecom | 06/13/2017 5:36 pm EDT
Canada’s privacy commissioner is asking the House of Commons committee on public safety and national security to amend a proposed law that governs border searches and is recommending a way that it can be enforced. “I recommend that Bill C-23 be amended to place border searches of electronic devices on the same footing as searches of persons and therefore their performance should require reasonable grounds to suspect,” Daniel Therrien wrote in a letter addressed to committee chair Robert...
Canadian 4G networks among world’s fastest
telecom | 06/07/2017 1:39 pm EDT
Canadian 4G speeds have increased by about 15 per cent since 2016, according to a new OpenSignal Inc. report. In its latest State of LTE report released Wednesday, the United Kingdom-based company said a global sample earlier...
Incumbents defend wireless prices after Bains criticism
telecom | 06/06/2017 7:59 pm EDT
TORONTO — Representatives from the big three were on the defense a day...
CRTC demands NG911 network upgrade by 2020
telecom | 06/01/2017 6:06 pm EDT
The CRTC has started the clock on next-generation 911 (NG911) services, directing the country’s telcos to ready their networks to fully support sending emergency information via text, photo or video messages by the end of 2020....
Privacy commish issues guidance on device searches at border
telecom | 05/29/2017 5:40 pm EDT
The search of personal electronic devices when crossing the Canada-U.S. border is an “extremely privacy intrusive procedure,” Daniel Therrien, the federal privacy commissioner, has told the House...
Freedom debuts LTE in Calgary and Edmonton
telecom | 05/18/2017 3:18 pm EDT
Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile has expanded its LTE network into Calgary and Edmonton, the company announced Wednesday. “The launch of our powerful new LTE network furthers our commitment to providing Freedom...
Smartphone penetration at 80% among anglophones: MTM
Media | 05/09/2017 5:42 pm EDT
The number of anglophone Canadians who have smartphones climbed up to 80 per cent in the fall of 2016 from 77 per cent a year earlier, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor (MTM). At the same time, the...
Mobile ad spending on the rise: report
Media | 04/12/2017 4:53 pm EDT
Canadian advertisers are catching up to their American counterparts, with the market share of digital ad spending on mobile platforms forecast to hit 77.6 per cent by 2021, according to research firm eMarketer Inc. This...
Telus, B.C. pledge $2M to connect youth in government care
telecom | 04/05/2017 9:33 pm EDT
Telus Corp. and the government of British Columbia are committing $2 million to offer subsidized smartphones to up to 1,000 youth who are currently, or were previously, in government care. The...
IMSI catchers in use around Parliament Hill: CBC
telecom | 04/03/2017 9:39 pm EDT
IMSI catchers are in operation around Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, according to an investigation by CBC/Radio-Canada’s news division. Also known as stingrays, the devices mimic cell phone towers and collect information from mobile phones in a given area. During a “months-long” investigation, the news outlet used a device that detects IMSI catchers which “set off alerts at locations around Parliament Hill, including the nearby Byward Market, the Rideau Centre shopping mall and CBC offices in downtown Ottawa” in December and January, CBC News...
Flanker brands ramped up promos in March: Barclays
Media | 03/27/2017 8:04 pm EDT
Following a quiet first quarter, wireless companies’ flanker brands stepped up the competition in March, ramping up promotional activity through data increases and handset discounts, according to Barclays Capital. Just...
Privacy commish looking into cellphone searches at border
Media | 03/17/2017 8:02 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commission (OPC) is looking into searches of electronics by the Canadian Border Services Agency. OPC spokeswoman Tobi Cohen confirmed in an...
Carriers made $37.7M from phone unlocking last year: CRTC
telecom | 03/02/2017 6:06 pm EST
The CRTC has released aggregate data that shows wireless service providers earned $37.7 million in revenue by unlocking phones last year. That’s up from $28.5 million in 2015 and $21.6 million...
Canadian mobile speeds improve in int’l ranking: OpenSignal
telecom | 02/21/2017 10:51 pm EST
Canada now ranks 12th in the world when it comes to mobile data speeds, with average speeds of 20.26 Mbps, according to a new report from OpenSignal. It jumped two spots from 14th, with speeds at the...
Wireless Code review poses regulatory risk: Desjardins
telecom | 02/13/2017 8:41 pm EST
The CRTC’s review of the Wireless Code “generates regulatory risk across the industry,” with the biggest potential threat being mandating the separation of device costs from monthly service fees on customers’ bills, Desjardins Capital Markets analyst Maher Yaghi said in a research note Monday. The regulator wrapped up the four-day public hearing portion of the review last week, which covered topics like fees carriers charge to unlock phones and divorcing handset and service pricing. “In our view, bill segmentation...
Eliminate locked phones in Canada, Freedom Mobile tells CRTC
telecom | 02/08/2017 10:05 pm EST
In a departure from the positions of its fellow wireless providers, Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile suggested Wednesday the CRTC should forbid carriers from charging...
5G to make up 0.2% of connections by 2021: Cisco
telecom | 02/08/2017 8:01 pm EST
Despite a projected 1,000-per-cent increase in 5G connections between 2020 and 2021, less than half a per cent of all devices and connections will have 5G capability in that same time period, according to a new Cisco Systems Inc....
Don’t divorce handset, service pricing: wireless providers
telecom | 02/07/2017 10:15 pm EST
GATINEAU, Que. — Changing the rules so that the cost of a wireless device is divorced from a monthly service payment on a customer’s bill would take a considerable amount of work to...
75% of anglophones subscribe to TV service: MTM
Media | 01/31/2017 6:58 pm EST
New data shows that the number of anglophone Canadians with TV subscriptions has continued to fall, reaching 75 per cent in the fall of 2016 — a 14-per-cent decline over the past five years. That number is down two per cent...
Build voice and data support at same time in NG911 system: Freedom
Media | 01/19/2017 11:22 pm EST
GATINEAU, Que. — There are unique considerations for wireless carriers when contemplating the switch to next-generation 911 (NG911) services, a CRTC panel was told on the penultimate day of a...
Canadians don’t want CanCon funding passed down to subscribers: report
Media | 01/13/2017 7:06 pm EST
A report prepared for the Privy Council Office found Canadians were generally in favour of increasing contributions to Canadian content, but don’t believe those increases should be passed down...
Freedom to at least quadruple handset offering by mid-2017: Shaw
telecom | 01/12/2017 10:49 pm EST
As Shaw Communications Inc. released its first quarterly earnings report since rebranding its wireless segment to Freedom Mobile, CEO Brad Shaw said the company is looking to have a...
Competition Bureau drops Apple competition case
telecom | 01/06/2017 7:04 pm EST
The Competition Bureau said Friday it has discontinued an investigation into whether Apple Inc. engaged in anticompetitive practices related to sales of its iPhone. The bureau was looking at “contractual...
Hold consultation on IMSI catcher use, Rogers tells gov’t
telecom | 12/20/2016 10:21 pm EST
The government should consult industry, privacy experts and Canadians on the use of IMSI catchers in Canada, Rogers Communications Inc. said in its submission to the federal government’s national security review. Rogers said the use of IMSI catchers, also known as stingrays, is not currently detectable on a wireless network and can interfere with customers’ communications. “This is particularly concerning when considering possible interference with access to emergency and 9-1-1 services,” the company wrote in a document submitted as part of the review...
Bell to test AT&T software platform for wireless traffic management
telecom | 12/16/2016 9:41 pm EST
BCE Inc. has signed on to test a platform developed by AT&T Inc. that would allow it to carry more, and better manage, traffic on its network. The software — called...
Most Canadians satisfied with Internet service: CIRA
Media | 12/14/2016 4:48 pm EST
Canadians are “generally satisfied” with the speed of their home Internet service, according to a new report from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). “More than 80 per cent of those surveyed...
December to see ‘hyper competitive’ wireless market: Barclays
telecom | 12/05/2016 6:35 pm EST
Heavy handset promotions during Black Friday and Cyber Monday last month hint at a December that is shaping up to be “hyper competitive” for the wireless market,...
Netflix now allows customers to download shows
Media | 11/30/2016 5:59 pm EST
Netflix Inc. viewers will now be able to download content from its over-the-top (OTT) service to watch off-line. The company said in a press release Wednesday that the new free feature is included in all plans and...
Limited handsets a concern as Wind rebrands: analyst
Media | 11/21/2016 9:41 pm EST
Shaw Communications Inc.’s Wind Mobile will be rebranded as Freedom Mobile and its LTE roll-out will come sooner than expected in two cities, the company’s CEO said Monday. The move comes despite some analyst concern about the availability of handsets compatible with its spectrum. Alek Krstajic made the announcement at a press conference in Toronto. He said the rebranding was a fresh start, part of an effort to eliminate “baggage” associated with the Wind name and to make the company, which was previously held by foreign owners, more Canadian. He also...
Huawei declined to make Google Pixel: report
telecom | 11/16/2016 9:51 pm EST
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. refused to make Alphabet Inc.’s new phone because the phone wouldn’t have featured Huawei’s own brand, according to a Monday Forbes report. Colin Giles,...
Half a billion subscribers will be on 5G by 2022: Ericsson
telecom | 11/15/2016 10:27 pm EST
An Ericsson AB report is projecting that more than 550 million subscribers will be on 5G networks by 2022. The latest Ericsson Mobility Report, released Tuesday, said that...
Sasktel ties for fastest LTE speeds in the world: OpenSignal
telecom | 11/10/2016 9:29 pm EST
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp.’s LTE download speeds are among the fastest in the world, according to a new OpenSignal Inc. report. “In the fourth quarter, Singapore had...
MacDonald talks competition for radio, set-top rating system
Media | 11/10/2016 7:08 pm EST
CRTC commissioner Christopher MacDonald said radio stations must build on their strengths in order to deal with increasing competition in a speech to the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB)...
Canadian Note 7 class action suit filed
telecom | 11/08/2016 7:14 pm EST
A class-action lawsuit regarding Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphone has been filed in Canada. Samsung stopped production of the phone last month after reports the batteries were...
Millennials spend 30 hours a week online: MTM
Media | 10/21/2016 9:02 pm EDT
Anglophone millennials spend more than 30 hours a week on the Internet, and about four-fifths of that generation watch TV online, according the latest report from Media Technology Monitor, a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. The...
Samsung stops sales, production of Note 7
telecom | 10/11/2016 6:59 pm EDT
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has stopped sales of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. The company said in a statement Tuesday it is “working with relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently...
69% of anglophones use social networks: MTM
Media | 09/28/2016 8:43 pm EDT
Facebook Inc.’s platform is by far the dominant social network among Canadian anglophones, with almost all — 92 per cent — of social networkers using the site, according to a new report...
BlackBerry to outsource all hardware development
telecom | 09/28/2016 7:14 pm EDT
BlackBerry Ltd. will “end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners,” the company said in a press release Wednesday. It also said that it signed a licensing agreement with Indonesia’s BB Merah Putih, a joint venture led by an affiliate of Indonesia’s largest wireless carrier, Telekomunikasi Indonesia. In a blog post Wednesday, Ralph Pini, chief operating officer and general manager of BlackBerry’s mobility solutions, said that Indonesia has historically been the biggest market for BlackBerry devices. The...
500 Canadian radio stations to be available through app
Media | 09/28/2016 5:28 pm EDT
Radio stations from some of Canada’s biggest broadcasters—including Rogers Communications Inc., Cogeco Inc., Newcap Inc., and Corus Entertainment Inc., among...
CBC ‘past the disruption stage’ of strategic plan: Lacroix
Media | 09/27/2016 10:51 pm EDT
CBC/Radio-Canada CEO Hubert Lacroix said during the public broadcaster’s annual meeting in Moncton, N.B., that “27 months after launching our 2020 strategy, we are past the disruption...
Ottawa U study uses mystery shoppers to test Wireless Code
telecom | 09/23/2016 6:24 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Researchers at the University of Ottawa say the preliminary results of a small mystery shopper test found some wireless providers are leaving some potential customers ill-informed about...
Quebecor in ‘no rush’ to get rid of 700MHz spectrum: Pruneau
telecom | 09/22/2016 10:26 pm EDT
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...
Videotron announces testing as 5G gains momentum in Canada
telecom | 09/20/2016 9:46 pm EDT
MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron said Tuesday it will begin to test 5G technologies as part of a new project, in a move that appears to be part of an increasing push toward the next generation of wireless in recent months. All carriers will eventually get to 5G, Videotron CEO Manon Brouillette said in an interview following a lunchtime speech at the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. “It’s like LTE. If you wanted to be a real player, you had to go there. It’s like any other evolution of technology,” she said. “You have...
New iPhone driving discounts for older models: Barclays
telecom | 09/19/2016 7:56 pm EDT
Carriers are capitalizing on demand for Apple Inc.’s new iPhone with heavy discounts on older models, according to Barclays Capital. Despite a $400 price tag for the 32GB iPhone on a two-year...
Rogers logging in to Twitter for customer care
telecom | 09/15/2016 6:40 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. is taking to Twitter Inc.’s social media service to allow its customers to connect with its support representatives. The partnership, announced in a Thursday press...
Rogers’ Laurence says CanCon should be international brand
Media | 09/14/2016 7:11 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence said the government’s ongoing review of Canadian content in a digital age should lead to more focus on promoting and selling content...
Telus to offer free WiFi in some Toronto cabs
telecom | 09/12/2016 5:17 pm EDT
Telus Corp. will offer free WiFi to customers of Toronto taxi company Associated Toronto Taxicab Co-operative Ltd., following a similar partnership with a cab company in Vancouver established last year. Telus said in a press...
Extra data promos to drive upgrades: Barclays
telecom | 09/07/2016 4:48 pm EDT
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...
Galaxy Note 7 fires prompt international recall by Samsung
telecom | 09/02/2016 4:24 pm EDT
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is recalling its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in multiple markets, including Canada, after reports that batteries were catching fire. In a statement posted to its...
Bell has fastest wireless network again: report
telecom | 08/31/2016 8:51 pm EDT
BCE Inc. owns the country’s fastest mobile speeds for a second consecutive year, helped by partnerships agreements with other companies, according to a report released Wednesday by PCMag.com. With an average of 59.72...
Telecoms need to be ‘proactive’ with video development: report
Media | 08/30/2016 4:39 pm EDT
Telecom service providers should look towards improving video quality across their networks if they want to increase customer loyalty, according to a new joint report from Huawei Technologies Co....
CRTC limits special number porting zone to Vancouver
telecom | 08/26/2016 8:09 pm EDT
The CRTC has approved one but rejected another application on number portability. On Friday, the regulator released its decision on an application by Telus Corp. to “establish a special location porting zone (LPZ) within the Metro Vancouver area” so that residential and business subscribers can keep their phone numbers as they move within the area. “Implementation of the proposed LPZ would increase substitutability and competition between wireline, wireless and [Voice over Internet Protocol] telephone service providers operating within the Metro Vancouver...
More devices moving Internet usage beyond home computers: Sandvine
telecom | 08/24/2016 8:25 pm EDT
Rio Olympics draws 32M viewers: CBC
Media | 08/23/2016 6:03 pm EDT
The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were the most-watched Summer Games in Canadian history, CBC/Radio-Canada said Tuesday of the two-week event that wrapped up Sunday night. In a...
CRTC consulting on disconnection practices
telecom | 08/18/2016 8:41 pm EDT
The CRTC is requesting comment on whether regulatory measures are required to prevent service interruptions after a dispute between two telecommunications providers in January. In a notice of consultation posted to its...
Asian makers carry Q2 phone sales: Gartner
telecom | 08/18/2016 4:50 pm EDT
Asian mobile phone manufacturers helped drive global smartphone sales to a 4.3 per cent year-over-year increase in the second quarter of 2016, despite slowing overall sales, according to data released by Gartner Inc. Thursday. Only half of the top-10 mobile phone vendors increased their sales in the quarter to a total of 344 million units, though overall sales of all mobile phones contracted by 0.5 per cent, the U.K.-based company said in a press release. “Demand for premium smartphones slowed in the second quarter of 2016 as consumers wait for new hardware launches in the second...
Canada in top 10 for mobile networks: OpenSignal
telecom | 08/17/2016 9:35 pm EDT
Canadian wireless users have access to 3G or 4G networks 93.16 per cent of the time, placing the country in the 10th spot for 3G/4G availability, according to a new OpenSignal report. In its Global State of Mobile Networks...
Canada outranks peers in wireless prices: report
telecom | 08/11/2016 9:02 pm EDT
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...
Federal gov’t facing second legal battle over wireless wipeout
telecom | 08/05/2016 7:11 pm EDT
The Canadian government could end up fighting a war on two fronts over the previous government’s drive to have four national wireless carriers. According to a notice on the Global Affairs...
StatsCan testing text message surveys: report
telecom | 07/22/2016 4:04 pm EDT
Statistics Canada is testing sending questionnaires to Canadians' cell phones via text message to combat low response rates to surveys, according to a media report. On Friday, The Canadian Press reported that documents it...
Pokémon Go not augmenting wireless data reality
Media | 07/18/2016 9:11 pm EDT
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...
Toronto to explore 911 texting
telecom | 07/15/2016 4:41 pm EDT
The city of Toronto will be asking its police force to look into the possibility of accepting emergency 911 text messages. Toronto’s city council voted Thursday afternoon in favour of the motion brought forward by...
FCC opens up spectrum for 5G
telecom | 07/15/2016 3:46 pm EDT
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has opened up 10.85 GHz of spectrum for the next generation of wireless networks, or 5G, the United States regulator said Thursday. That includes 3.85 GHz of licenced spectrum and...
Complaints, bill shock fell after Wireless Code: study
telecom | 07/14/2016 3:22 pm EDT
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...
Ice Wireless can continue to roam until final decision
telecom | 07/07/2016 4:43 pm EDT
Sugar Mobile, an affiliate of Iristel Inc.-subsidiary Ice Wireless, can continue roaming on Rogers Communications Inc.’s network while the CRTC considers its final decision in a dispute between the two companies. In a letter Thursday, the commission said it would grant Sugar Mobile’s request for interim relief ahead of a decision on a Part 1 complaint filed after Rogers threatened to disconnect Ice Wireless unless Sugar Mobile stopped roaming. Sugar Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) whose service mostly runs on WiFi. Users...
NextRadio expands into Canada
telecom | 07/06/2016 3:31 pm EDT
NextRadio LLC is bringing its FM radio app across the border into Canada. The Indianapolis-based company said in a press release Wednesday that its app has been live in the Google Play store since the beginning of the...
Advocacy groups take aim at data caps in zero-rating review
Media | 06/29/2016 6:45 pm EDT
Questions around telecoms’ usage of data caps should be at the centre of the CRTC’s proceeding on differential pricing practices, advocacy groups said in interventions, calling for the...
Localized cell signal jamming possible during presidential visits
telecom | 06/29/2016 6:42 pm EDT
A short, localized disruption of wireless service for those next to the presidential motorcade may not have been out of the question Wednesday, when U.S. president Barack Obama visted Ottawa for...
Mobile ads, music streaming to be a force in 2020: PwC
Media | 06/22/2016 9:31 pm EDT
Mobile advertising revenue and music streaming activity will see dramatic increases over the next four years, as technological innovation takes hold over traditional methods of media consumption,...
RCMP using ‘stingray’ tech for past decade: report
telecom | 06/10/2016 8:12 pm EDT
Newly released court documents suggest the RCMP have been using “stingray” surveillance technologies, or IMSI catchers, for at least 10 years, Motherboard and Vice News reported Friday. The news outlets said they obtained thousands of pages of documents from a Montreal court relating to a 2010 drug bust known as Project Clemenza, following the lifting of a publication ban. Testimony captured in the released documents indicated the RCMP purchased its first IMSI catcher in 2005, and that officers were trained to use the devices between 2006 and 2007. “Court filings show that...
Privacy commish warns telecoms about transparency reporting, metadata
telecom | 06/09/2016 12:42 am EDT
TORONTO — Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told a telecom industry audience Wednesday that companies should be prudent about the collection and use of metadata, and cautioned companies that...
CRTC considers regulations after lost telephone service case
telecom | 06/08/2016 6:00 pm EDT
The CRTC said it might consider preventative regulations after a dispute involving two phone service providers resulted in lost telephone service for 27,000 Canadian phone number holders. On Jan. 15,...
Internet traffic in Canada to nearly triple by 2020: Cisco
telecom | 06/07/2016 6:47 pm EDT
Data released Tuesday by Cisco Systems Inc. shows Canadian Internet protocol (IP) traffic will double, and overall Internet traffic will nearly triple by 2020, aided by an increase in new...
76% of anglophones multitask while watching TV: MTM
Media | 06/02/2016 9:03 pm EDT
According to a new report, 76 per cent of anglophones used the Internet at the same time as they watched television in 2015. “While multitasking has grown immensely over time, incidence has slowed over the past year,”...
IoT device connections to surpass mobile phones by 2018: report
telecom | 06/01/2016 9:11 pm EDT
The majority of the 28 billion devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) by 2021 won’t be mobile phones, according to the latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report. IoT devices are...
Bell extends enterprise VoIP service to small business
telecom | 05/31/2016 5:34 pm EDT
BCE Inc.’s Total Connect VoIP service for enterprises is now available to small businesses in Ontario and Quebec. The company said Tuesday that previously, only large businesses and...
Smartphone penetration 77% among anglophones: MTM
Media | 05/17/2016 7:42 pm EDT
The number of anglophone Canadians with smartphones reached 77 per cent in the fall of 2015, up from 73 per cent in the spring of that year, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor, a project...
Big-box wireless customers ‘high risk’: study
telecom | 05/13/2016 8:43 pm EDT
Consumers who shop at big-box stores are more likely to purchase unlocked phones and are more likely to switch wireless providers, according to results of a study released Thursday. Half of the customers who buy phones from...
Campaign for smartphone radio brewing
Media | 05/12/2016 8:49 pm EDT
A collection of radio stations are gearing up for a campaign for easy access to FM radio on smartphones in Canada. Similar to a campaign in the United States, Free Radio on My Phone is looking for collaboration with carriers to activate the FM chip in smartphones and inviting Canadians to contact their carrier directly and sign a petition advocating for the change. “For no additional cost, listeners could have easy access to radio for the entertainment they love and information they need, but wireless carriers are dragging their feet and won’t activate the FM chips that are in...