Bell and Zoom on Tuesday announced a partnership to offer Workplace from Bell and Zoom, an open collaboration platform with AI Companion, that will be available nationally later this year to Canadian businesses exclusively through Bell.
This suite of communication and collaboration services complements existing Bell services and reinforces the Montreal-headquartered telecom’s objective to provide innovative and secure AI-powered communication solutions to meet the productivity and collaboration needs of all Canadian enterprises, a Bell press release said.
“With its AI-first capabilities built-in to every product and not ‘bolted-on’ to existing features, Workplace from Bell and…
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Corus urges CRTC move on children’s programming
By Ahmad Hathout
If the CRTC used current foreign streamer investments to the Canadian system as a baseline to determine obligations, then it would put the commission offside of the new Broadcasting Act and the policy direction from cabinet by forcing more contributions from them relative to traditional Canadian broadcasters, said representatives of a trade group representing the major foreign streamers Friday.
“If you were to establish the existing investment obligations as a floor, I think you would end up with foreign streaming services contributing a disproportionate amount to the Canadian broadcasting system when you…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has closed the loop on a matter it opened over a year ago: that it does, indeed, have concurrent jurisdiction with Industry Canada over the wireless attachments on telco-owned or controlled structures.
The ruling means the installation of small cell and Wi-Fi equipment is subject to the support structure tariffs filed to the commission, which was the starting point for the matter in question.
The commission held that preliminary view since February 2024 after Rogers and Quebecor applied to it for an order directing Bell, which was accused…
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The CRTC last week in a letter informed Bell that the telecom’s recent move to start selling wireless devices locked to Bell’s network for 60 days is in apparent breach of the Wireless Code.
Bell has until May 16 to explain to the CRTC how it intends to ensure it remains in compliance with the unlocking rules set out in the Code, which requires service providers to ensure devices are unlocked at or before the time of sale, without requiring any specific action on the part of the customer.
The CRTC’s missive was…
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By Peter Menzies, former newspaper executive, past vice chair of the CRTC, and a Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow
On June 1, the Vancouver Whitecaps will play one of the most important games a Canadian club sports team has ever played.
In most countries – in fact in almost any country – broadcasters would be clamouring over each other for the ability to show it. The national public broadcaster might be claiming it as a program of national interest and politicians would be weighing in to play a little hero ball of their own and grab the spotlight.
The Whitecaps’ Concacaf Champions League…
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Bell Canada on Monday launched a new multimedia campaign, “Build. Connect. Grow Canada”, calling on the CRTC and new federal government to implement what it calls “smart policies” to unlock billions in private sector investments to build critical fibre infrastructure.
Bell said in a Monday press release 7.8 million homes and businesses across Bell’s footprint currently have access to its pure-fibre network, but the CRTC’s recent decision to uphold the Big Three telecom providers’ access to the aggregated last-mile fibre facilities of Bell and Telus on a wholesale basis has…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor executives said Thursday that the company is prepared to fight a defensive price battle with its major regional rival to maintain a price advantage they said it needs to grow its market share.
Two quarters ago, the company announced that it would need to make overdue price increases to its internet plans because it was feeling some unnecessary downward pressure on its revenues.
But the company has seen cable revenue gains of just $2.6 million from the fourth to the first quarter, with the price increases fully baked into the latter period. To explain that, Hugues Simard…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell announced Thursday that it has struck a deal with one of Canada’s largest pension funds to invest over US $1.5 billion to help Ziply Fiber, a soon-to-be Bell subsidiary in the United States, build its fibre infrastructure in new markets.
The long-term strategic partnership will see the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) own 49 per cent of Network FiberCo, which will focus on new last-mile fibre investments in “growth markets” outside Ziply’s existing footprint of two million locations. Bell will own the rest of the equity in the partnership and all of Ziply’s operations, subscribers and…
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But most said they find contracts clear and easy to understand
By Ahmad Hathout
Only 18 per cent of Canadians are aware of the CRTC’s consumer protection codes, which are intended to make contracts easier to understand for internet, wireless and TV services, according to a survey commissioned by the regulator and released recently.
The result, which comes from a 1,500-person nationwide representative survey by Phoenix SPI and conducted between October 24 and November 20, 2024, is largely unchanged since the baseline survey from 2022. The results are accurate to within plus/minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Respondents were informed…
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Unifies acquisitions of FX Innovation, CloudKettle, HGC Technologies under one brand
Bell Canada on Tuesday introduced its new tech services brand, Ateko, which unifies Bell’s previously acquired tech services providers FX Innovation, CloudKettle and HGC Technologies under one operation.
For a couple of years, Bell has been making acquisitions and beefing up its cloud services and AI capabilities as part of its strategy to transform itself from a traditional telco into a tech services leader.
Operating under the leadership of CEO Guillaume Bazinet, FX Innovation’s co-founder,…
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