TORONTO — The Canadian Telecom Summit — which will be held as a hybrid event from Nov. 15 to 17 — will feature Robert Ghiz, president and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, as one of its keynote speakers, event organizers announced today.
Ghiz (above) will address attendees on Tuesday, Nov. 16 from 2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. ET.
His keynote will be followed by the Canadian Telecom Summit’s “regulatory blockbuster” panel (from 3:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET), with confirmed participants including: Geoff White, executive director of Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC); Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory…
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OTTAWA — Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Seniors Deb Schulte today announced the second phase of the Connecting Families program, which they say will help hundreds of thousands of low-income seniors and families access affordable high-speed home Internet in 2022.
The so-called Connecting Families 2.0 program marks the first time low-income seniors will be included in the program. It also introduces faster speeds and increases the data usage amount available in Internet plans being offered by participating Internet service providers, which include Access Communications, Bell Canada, Cogeco, CSUR, Hay Communications, Mornington, Novus, Rogers, SaskTel,…
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SIMCOE COUNTY, Ont. — Following last week’s announcement by the Ontario government that construction has begun on rural broadband projects in Simcoe County, Ont., funded through the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology program, SWIFT today provided details on which projects are underway.
Bell Canada has broken ground “on three fibre-optic projects to bring greater connectivity to more than 10,600 homes and businesses throughout the Townships of Clearview, Adjala-Tosorontio, Essa, Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Tiny, Tay, Severn, Ramara and within the Towns of Midland, Penetanguishene and Innisfil,” reads a SWIFT press release. These projects are expected to be completed by June 2022.
Rogers Communications…
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SIMCOE COUNTY, Ont. — The government of Ontario announced today construction has begun on broadband infrastructure projects in Simcoe County, Ont., which will collectively connect more than 11,000 rural homes and businesses to high-speed Internet service.
The projects are being funded through Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology Inc. (SWIFT), supported by the governments of Canada and Ontario, which each committed $9 million in funding to broadband expansion projects that will deliver reliable Internet access to the townships of Clearview, Adjala-Tosorontio, Essa, Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Tiny, Tay, Severn and Ramara, and the towns of Midland, Penetanguishene, Innisfil, and the community of New Lowell.
In…
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Parliament’s intent was to give CRTC broad powers, court says
By Ahmad Hathout
THE FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL denied an application by Groupe TVA on Wednesday, which challenged the CRTC’s authority to regulate economic disputes between parties after the regulator forced TVA to continue supplying Bell with its sports channel signal in 2019 despite a disagreement on the financial terms of the arrangement.
In April 2019, on the first night of the NHL playoffs, TVA owner Quebecor cut the signal of its TVA Sports channel to Bell viewers because it felt the terms of distribution were unfair. Since the original agreement in…
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Will overbuild Cogeco
TORONTO – Rogers announced today it is investing over $140 million to connect over 20,000 homes and businesses to high-speed Internet.
The investment will bring the company’s fibre-powered network Quinte West, Belleville and Prince Edward Country.
“Once completed, residents and business owners will have access to the full suite of services including Rogers Ignite Internet with download speeds of up to 1.5 gigabit per second and Rogers’ leading IPTV service, Ignite TV,” says a press release.
A Rogers spokesperson confirmed via email the entire project is being funded entirely by the company.
August 4th UPDATE : What’s rather interesting with this…
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OTTAWA – Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada announced today the provisional results of the 3500 MHz auction, which earned a total of $8.91 billion.
The auction began in June and concluded July 23. Winning bidders have until August 13 to submit 20% of their final payment and until October 4 to submit the remaining 80%. The money will be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund administered by the Receiver General of Canada, according to an ISED press release.
In total, 15 Canadian companies were awarded 1,495 licences, 757 of which went to small and regional players.
“Results of the…
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TORONTO — The Ontario government announced today it is providing up to $14.7 million in funding for 13 new projects under its Improving Connectivity for Ontario (ICON) program, which was launched last year.
Collectively, these projects will help deliver high-speed Internet connectivity to more than 17,000 homes and businesses in 42 communities across the province, says a press release.
“Ontario’s ICON investment will help expand high-speed internet to more areas, from Belleville to Bancroft, Muskoka Lakes to Puslinch, and Sioux Narrows–Nestor Falls to Moose Cree First Nation. Ontario is partnering financially on these projects with various organizations who applied for…
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MONTREAL — Cogeco Connexion, the Canadian cable subsidiary of Cogeco Communications, announced today it has appointed Nancy Audette as vice-president and general manager for the Quebec region, effective today.
Most recently, Audette (above) was vice-president and general manager of Fido Mobile, a position she held since 2016.
With more than 25 years of experience in Quebec and internationally, Audette has served in several senior management and executive roles in sales, marketing and operations in companies such as Transcontinental (TC) Media, Rogers Communications and Microcell. Her international telecom experience includes working with Telesystem International Wireless (TIW), in Brazil, Czech Republic and Morocco.
“I am…
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By Denis Carmel
IN A DECISION RENDERED last Thursday, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) dismissed an application for judicial review that had been brought by six broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) and partially granted an application made by a group of nine collective societies.
The appeals stem from a decision from the Copyright Board of Canada (the Board), issued in August 2019 relating to royalties for the period 2014–2018.
In Canada, cable providers (BDUs) can distribute local over-the-air television signals for free and without permission from the signal owner. But, in the case of distant signals, the BDUs can distribute without permission…
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