WHILE THERE WILL surely be more announcements in the coming days, the broadband, telecom and TV industry is responding to the COVID-19 virus in a number of ways.
All have noted in emails their networks are up to the challenge of handling whatever increased traffic that might come from thousands of people working from home rather than the office. During a conference call with financial analysts Thursday discussing its 2019 fiscal fourth quarter, Vidéotron president Jean-Francois Pruneau said, when asked he is “not worried at all about the virus impact on consumption and network capacity.”
Then, on Friday, Vidéotron said it is suspending all data limits on all residential and business Internet plans for its existing customers, from now until March 31st. The change will be applied automatically.
While noting the vast majority of customers already have no data caps on their home internet, Rogers Communications is temporarily lifting data caps for those who do. Rogers’ business customers already have no data caps. UPDATE: On Monday morning, Rogers added to the measures being offered to customers.
It’s worth noting that most smaller ISPs we know (such as the members of the Canadian Communications Systems Alliance) do not have – and have never had – data caps, so nothing changes for their customers.
Bell Canada also confirmed it is waiving any additional usage fees for Bell residential Internet customers through to the end of April. This covers all Bell customers (also including Bell Aliant, Bell MTS and Virgin Home Internet) not already on unlimited home Internet plans. Overage fees will be waived automatically, so customers don’t need to make any changes to their accounts.
Cogeco Connexion issued a release Friday reminding customers it “has invested heavily in its fibre-broadband infrastructure over the past years to build bandwidth capability and to achieve high levels of reliability and redundancy. This will allow the network to accommodate increased levels of demand during this time, especially as work-from-home arrangements become increasingly necessary. Cogeco Connexion will prioritize network maintenance activities and ensure customer connectivity both for their business and residential customers.”
Cogeco also pledged it will not terminate service to any residential or small business customer because of their inability to pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the pandemic and that it will waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are continuously monitoring the situation and the developments related to the coronavirus outbreak. We want to make sure our customers remain our top priority as well as the health and safety of our employees,” said Dominique Trudel, Cogeco’s vice president, sales and marketing. “We are committed to give our customers the best service they can have, particularly during this period when, more than ever, our services are necessary to stay informed,” she said.
Independent ISP TekSavvy announced it is suspending billing for overages for current TekSavvy customers on capped packages, effective immediately until April 5, 2020. This change has been automatically implemented and customers are not required to take any action.
Shaw Communications has no capped data packages and said Friday it is opening up its vast public Wi-Fi network out west to everyone for free, whether a Shaw customer or not.
“We’ve made significant enhancements and investments to our network over the last few years to increase our network upstream and downstream capacity, and – notwithstanding any unforeseen circumstances – we are confident that we are in an excellent position to manage significant network usage increases, especially within our major markets where we expect the largest increases to occur,” the company said in a statement.
As well, all Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct customers will be given access to a number of channels on free preview to help keep their family entertained. Free preview channels include Family, Family JR, Family CHRGD. A complete list can be found here.
Shaw had also already started remote work trials on a department-by-department basis and while only a relatively small number of employees currently work from home on a regular basis, the majority of its staff have the resources and capabilities necessary to work remotely.
The company said it is also being flexible with its employees who will have their kids at home for the foreseeable future and Sunday night it announced its corporate-owned Freedom Mobile and Shaw retail stories would be closed fro two weeks.
Telus also announced it is waiving home Internet overage charges through the end of April for any customers still on a capped plan (most are unlimited). ON the wireless side, the company said it is waiving all Easy Roam and Pay Per Use mobility roaming charges for Telus and Koodo mobility customers that are stuck in areas with Level 3 advisories, such as China and Italy, and are unable to return to Canada through the end of April.
No one will have their services cut off if their financial situation becomes dire during the pandemic outbreak.
Telus is also expanding its virtual healthcare capabilities through the Babylon by Telus Health app, which is available to all residents and businesses in B.C. and Alberta, and to businesses in Ontario, and through the Akira Health app which is available to businesses nationally.
“Our healthcare business is led by experienced medical professionals, and in addition, we have engaged a medical advisory council to support us through the COVID-19 outbreak, public health experts, and infectious disease specialists in partnership with public health offices and provincial health authorities to offer the most targeted, clinical support to all Canadians,” said the company’s announcement.
“In response to an increase in demand for healthcare technology services, we are training additional care practitioners so that we can provide increased support on these channels, which will help prevent the spread of infection. Canadians need information validated by health authorities that will give them clarity and direction, while in the safety of their own home.
“We have implemented a co-ordinated, organization-wide approach to support team members who have recently travelled to, or have been in close contact with, anyone who has visited, countries with confirmed cases. We are also tracking all team member travel and have banned all business travels throughout the organization,” said Telus.
It is also asking all employees who have the ability to work from home, to do so for the foreseeable future.
CBC said in an email to staff that no employee has reported a positive test for COVID-19 and it decided in the event any temporary employee who is not eligible for paid sick leave falls sick with the coronavirus or flu-like symptoms and is not able to come to work, they will be paid for the days they were scheduled to work during the 14 subsequent days.
It also said in that email not having a doctor’s note for illness will not jeopardize the eligibility for sick leave days in the immediate days of the absence.
The broadcaster also assured employees it has stepped up the cleaning of its offices and that it is re-evaluating its work from home policies to make them more flexible but will evaluate remote work requests on a case-by-case basis.
Telesat also announced it has closed all of its offices around the world, so all of its employees will be working from home.
There will surely be more to come on this.
