Global tablet shipments will be down 8.1 per cent for 2015 overall, though tablets with detachable keyboards are expected to see strong growth for this year and in 2016, according to International Data Corp. The technology research company said in a press release Tuesday that tablet shipments will total 211.3 million this year. IDC research director Jean Philippe Bouchard said in the release: "We're witnessing a real market transition as end users shift their demand towards detachables and more broadly towards a productivity-based value proposition." Bouchard said detachable...
Wind Mobile announced Tuesday it is partnering with Lifeline Syria, a non-profit organization that helps Syrian refugees with the relocation process in Canada, to provide incoming refugees with mobile phones and wireless service for free. "Canadians are responding with compassion and generosity to the plight of Syrians who have been forced to flee their homeland. We want to do what we can to help," Jennifer Douglas, vice-president of mobile marketing at Wind, said in the release. "Access to mobile communications can help them make a smooth transition to life...
Rogers Communications Inc. announced Tuesday it has acquired Internetworking Atlantic Inc., a Halifax based communications technology company that offers a range of IT products and solutions to government agencies, institutions...
Shaw Communications Inc. said Monday that it has started providing free WiFi to the public at a leisure centre in Mission, B.C., and that it plans to add more hotspots in 10 other public spaces in the near future. "Our...
Shaw Communications Inc. announced Friday it is introducing SmartWiFi and SmartSecurity, two services that will provide small- and medium-sized businesses with WiFi and network security solutions. It...
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. announced Friday it will be deploying its InfiNet fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in residential areas of two cities in Saskatchewan by next year. SaskTel said in a press release...
BCE Inc. will cover about 90 per cent of its wireline footprint with fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) in a little less or a little more than a decade, though the issue of whether smaller Internet service providers will get mandated access to such networks will affect the build-out in an unspecified fashion, Bell CEO George Cope said Thursday. "I don't know if it will be eight years, I don't know if it will be 12 years, but we will have glass to 90 per cent of the homes, that being fibre to 90 per cent of the homes," he said during the Scotiabank Telecom & Cable Conference held...
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. said Friday that it has partnered with Telus Corp. to create a lab to help develop 5G technology. It said in a press release that the project, called the 5G Living Lab, will design, test and deploy...
Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) connections are anticipated to reach two billion by 2020, rising from about 123 million connections this year, according to a new report released Monday from Juniper Research Ltd. It said the opportunity...
AT&T announced Thursday that its customers can now make WiFi calls from their iPhones while in the U.S. The company said in a blog post that customers’ phones, once set up, will use the WiFi calling setting where there...
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...
BCE Inc.’s Bell Aliant announced Tuesday it has enhanced its FibreOP Internet service for Atlantic Canada by increasing download speeds up to 1 Gbps. Bell Aliant said in a press release that the service, called Gigabit...
Rogers Communications Inc. announced Thursday that it has introduced a cloud-network service for businesses to manage their IT technology and infrastructure. During a conference call, Nitin Kawale, president of the enterprise...
Cogeco Cable Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Tuesday he believes Canada's telecommunications regulators will come around to mandating access for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), notwithstanding the CRTC's decision on...
U.S. wireless carrier AT&T said Tuesday that it has partnered with ZTE Corp.’s U.S. division to offer the first plug-in vehicle WiFi hotspot device. The device, called ZTE Mobley, can...
WiFi hardware is increasingly being designed to blend in with the surrounding environment or be more esthetically pleasing, and the providers of such technology say they are able to do so without compromising on the quality of network connections. BigBelly Solar Inc., a Massachusetts-based waste and recycling management system company, recently partnered with the City of New York to install waste bins that also deploy free public WiFi. The 11-year-old company uses a cloud-based technology that allows cities to monitor public waste and recycling units. It notifies sanitation official when...
T-Mobile US Inc. is making video calling available to its customers, its chief technology officer Neville Ray said in a blog post Thursday. “Of course, there are apps that do video calling. But this isn’t another app....
Google Inc., in partnership with TP-LINK Technologies Co. Ltd., announced Tuesday it is launching a new WiFi router that it says will provide faster and more efficient Internet connections. OnHub, the router that looks like a...
The FCC announced Thursday it is adopting new rules to accommodate unlicensed use of devices in the 600 MHz spectrum bandwidth and TV broadcast bands, while protecting interruptions or interference it may cause with licensed TV...
Canadian companies’ recent embrace of gigabit Internet isn’t meeting a need that exists in the market, but it is setting telecoms up for the day customers start demanding such speeds, according to Greg MacDonald,...
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 this idea have a few specific goals in mind to help their vision become reality: creating a highly secure router that efficiently divides a home's private network from that accessible to the public, and convincing people that using such technology is worth their while. Adi Kamdar, an activist with a San Francisco-based non-profit called the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which started the Open...
Openface Internet announced Thursday it will provide the main bandwidth to power a public WiFi project in Montreal. The company, based in Montreal, said in a press release it will provide a 20 Gbps Internet connection, following...
The City of Montreal has started deploying free WiFi in parts of Montreal, according to a notice on its website. It said the service launched in Old Montreal and some surrounding areas on Thursday after getting funding from the...
As wearable technology moves further into the mainstream, thoughts are turning toward how individual privacy can be protected with such devices that track and transmit information as personal as health data and real-time location....
The House of Commons health committee is recommending that government consider more funding for researching links between wireless technology and health conditions such as cancer. As a result of...
Almost 60 per cent of the data generated globally by smartphones and tablets will be offloaded to WiFi networks by 2019, Juniper Research Ltd. said Tuesday. Juniper said in a press release that more than 115,000 petabytes from...
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...
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.,...
Charter Communications Inc. announced Tuesday it is acquiring Time Warner Cable Inc. for $78.7 billion US, including the assumption of debt. At the same time, Charter Communications said in a press release that it is buying a...
The global tablet market saw its second straight year-over-year decline in shipments in the first quarter of 2015, International Data Corp. said Thursday. The technology research company said in a press release that companies shipped 47.1 million tablets in the first quarter, down 5.9 per cent from a year earlier. Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC's research director for the tablet market, said that certain types of tablets are seeing growth, such as those equipped to run on cellular networks. "In addition to driving higher usage than WiFi-only tablets, cellular-enabled tablets also help...
OTTAWA — A U.S. scientist who was part of a team that won a Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore in 2007 for their work on climate change told a Canadian parliamentary committee on Tuesday that...
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...
Shaw Communications Inc. said Tuesday it has named Vito Culmone as its executive vice-president and chief financial officer. The appointment is effective June 1, the company said in a press release. Culmone’s most recent...
Ottawa-based networking technology company Mitel Networks Corp. said Monday it has reached a deal to purchase Texas-based Mavenir Systems Inc., a provider of software for mobile operators. Mitel and Mavenir said in a joint press...
Shaw Communications Inc. has partnered with the City of Port Coquitlam, B.C., to bring free WiFi to the city’s parks and public facilities, the city and company announced Monday. Under the five-year agreement, Shaw will provide its Go WiFi service in these public spots, accessible to all regardless of whether they are Shaw customers or not. Shaw has more than 55,000 hotspots in Western Canada and parts of northern Ontario, mostly for use by its Internet customers. Other arrangements for public access have been reached with municipalities such as Victoria and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.,...
Sandvine Inc., a Canadian company that provides software to telecommunications service providers around the world, said Wednesday that it has added capabilities enabling it to help carriers offer...
Shaw Communications Inc. said Wednesday it is shutting down call-centre operations in Edmonton, Calgary and Kelowna, B.C., with about 1,600 workers at these locations having a choice of whether to move, assume a different position...
Industry Canada’s announcement last week that it is opening up TV white space for the use of "super WiFi" technology could improve broadband availability in rural areas and has the...
Industry Canada said Thursday it was moving forward with initiatives it says will provide new opportunities for rural Canadians to access "WiFi-like services" through the use of TV white...
Greater Toronto transit authority Metrolinx said in a press release Monday that it’s expanding WiFi service to an additional 22 stations on its GO network transit system. Metrolinx said in a press release the expansion,...
Montreal will support public WiFi and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections in a three-year plan. The document, presented by the municipal government Thursday, said the city plans to develop “ultra high speed multiservice...
Shaw Communications Inc. said Friday it has entered into a partnership with the Canada Games for the next three events to take place in 2015, 2017 and 2019. Shaw will be the official telecommunications provider for the games, and...
OTTAWA — The former president of Microsoft Corp.'s Canadian operations is calling on companies involved in wireless technology to be more forthcoming in addressing what he says are health...
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, according to a new report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. The annual report predicting the coming year’s technology trends from Deloitte’s Canadian office, released Tuesday, said from the 1950s until about 10 years ago “new technologies and advanced versions of technologies were...
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...
New York City will replace its payphones with a free WiFi network, the mayor’s office said in a press release. The network, called LinkNYC, will cover all five boroughs and will generate $500 million in advertising revenues...
Industry Canada is being lobbied to open up more unlicensed spectrum for wireless Internet, as the United States did earlier this year. Government briefing notes and emails written in advance of a meeting planned for May 27...
Canada has the 10th highest home-WiFi penetration rate among countries, U.S. research company Strategic Analytics said in a press release Wednesday. It said 61 per cent of homes in Canada have WiFi. The United States is in 11th...
The federal government's email consolidation program, slated to begin earlier this year, has yet to get underway and the government department in charge of the project says it’s because BCE Inc., contracted to undertake the initiative, has been slow to the draw. “Bell has not yet been able to meet the committed project deadlines,” Shared Service Canada spokesman Ted Francis said in an email to The Hill Times. “SSC is very disappointed by these unacceptable delays,” he said. The email transformation initiative (ETI) is intended to convert the 63 current...
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...
Shaw Communications Inc. said Wednesday that Steve Wilson, its executive vice-president of corporate development and chief financial officer, will retire next year. It said in a press release that Wilson, who has been the...
The Wi-Fi Alliance, a non-profit organization that certifies products capable of operating on WiFi connections, announced Monday that it is now 15 years old. The organization said in a press release its six founding companies in...
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...
Ikea Canada said Thursday that it will be launching free WiFi service in stores throughout Canada. The furniture retailer said in a press release that the service would allow customers to view the mobile version of its website...
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...
The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, which owns the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks, said this week it has reached a 10-year deal with Telus Corp. to provide, among other things, free WiFi at the Redblacks' home stadium....
Telecommunications providers are discovering an untapped resource in their quest to provide customers with more opportunities to get online, and that resource is other people's homes. Service providers in the United States...
A group of physicians on Wednesday presented Health Canada with a letter asking it to take stronger action to protect people against the effects of radiation from wireless signals, including from cellphone towers and WiFi networks. A letter signed by more than 20 doctors asks the federal health department for: tougher standards on wireless radiation exposure; to do a full literature review as it updates safety guidelines with "less reliance on industry-funded studies"; strategies to minimize exposure to wireless signals in schools or other places where children gather; and produce...
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. and Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron have both announced the availability of new high-performance, multi-device WiFi routers available to its customers for an extra cost. On Monday, Bell said in a press release that its...
WiFi is not necessarily a friend of mobile carriers, though it could be, according to a Denmark-based industry consultant who’s hosting an international summit on WiFi in mid-June. Wireless service providers are...
Independent Internet service provider Distributel Communications Inc. announced Thursday the launch of what it said was Montreal’s first WiFi bus. Société de transport...
Two Canadian cities have been granted free WiFi in separate arrangements involving Shaw Communications Inc. and Cogeco Cable Inc. Shaw said in a press release Wednesday that under a five-year agreement with the City of Penticton in British Columbia, its Go WiFi service will become available in the coming months to the general public in public locations, such as city hall, several parks and other community buildings. Simone Blais, spokeswoman for the City of Pentiction, said in an email that the municipality is not paying any money for the equipment or operating costs. On Monday, Cogeco said...
Parks Canada has issued a public tender for suppliers of equipment and service to provide WiFi access to visitors of national parks and historic sites. The tender was published on the Merx website on Monday. A Canadian Press...
Google Inc. on Wednesday finished a two-day developer conference about its plans for a smartphone with replaceable parts. An article published Tuesday on the PCWorld website said the phone, dubbed Project Ara, will have removable...
Air Canada said Wednesday that it would begin equipping the rest of its North American fleet with WiFi capabilities next month. The airline said in a press release it already has two planes equipped with WiFi. Subject to a final...
The Canadian who led the efforts of Avaya Inc. to build the communications network for use by athletes, journalists, volunteers and others directly involved with the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi,...
Local authorities in some of Canada’s major cities are arranging to have communications infrastructure installed for use by their citizens, and these projects have something in common — public money is not part of the...
WestJet Airlines Ltd. will begin to offer in-flight WiFi and Internet access this year thanks to a multi-year deal between the low-cost carrier and Panasonic Corp.’s avionics division. The deal, announced in a Feb. 14 press...
Though all the possibilities that 4G wireless technology presents still haven’t been fully explored, industry experts gathered in Ottawa on Wednesday to look ahead at the next generation of wireless networks and discuss what...
Shaw Communications Inc. is allowing flood-affected Albertans to use its Western Canada WiFi network, even if they don't subscribe to the company's services, Shaw said. Shaw, which began rolling out a WiFi network in 2011...
Mobile wireless subscribers offloaded their Internet traffic onto fixed, or wireline, WiFi networks at a much higher rate than forecasted, Sandvine Inc. said in a new report. Sandvine's “Global Internet Phenomena Report,” released Tuesday, said “home roaming,” or when users offload mobile traffic onto WiFi networks, continued to grow globally in the first half of 2013 as traffic generated by smartphones and tablets climbed to over 20 per cent of all traffic on North America’s fixed networks. The network technology company said that rate is up from nine...
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will free more spectrum for WiFi to improve network speeds and help relieve congestion, Julius Genachowski, chairman of the FCC, said Wednesday. Genachowski made the comment during...
Emerging WiGig technology will eliminate the need for wires to complete short-range, high-speed file transfers and change the way consumers move videos and other large files between devices,...
Shaw Communications Inc. is interested in joining a U.S. consortium of cable companies that have agreed to let each other’s customers roam freely on their WiFi networks, Brad Shaw, the company’s CEO, said Wednesday....