By Ahmad Hathout
Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said Thursday that the telecom has a tiny amount of lead cables left in its network as it moves toward replacing the legacy cables with fibre, following a report from the Wall Street Journal last month that alleged the toxic substance was lingering in America’s telecommunications cables.
The Journal report alleges when the cables still in service degrade, the lead spreads to the surrounding environment, allegedly posing a health hazard. AT&T, working with regulators, has since denied the health hazard claims related to its own cables and has suspended the removal of them from…
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CBC calls it “irresponsible” and “abuse of power”; CAB says it shows “tangible disregard for democracy”
Starting Tuesday, Meta has begun blocking Canadian news content on Facebook and Instagram for their users in Canada.
In an update Tuesday to its June announcement of its intention to end news availability on its platforms in Canada, in response to the passing of the Online News Act, Meta says these changes “will be implemented for all people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada over the course of the next few weeks.”
The changes mean news links…
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Large telecoms emphasize need for mobile wireless projects
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Service providers are providing mixed responses to the CRTC’s proposal to use the Broadband Fund to subsidize the ongoing cost of operating networks it helps build, with responses ranging from not expanding its use beyond its current boundaries and allowing for its use for that purpose.
The CRTC launched a proceeding in March to broaden the scope of the $750-million fund supported by telecom revenues, from which three rounds of funding had been opened.
The commission – surveying the influx of other federal broadband programs since the emergence of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Quebecor has won an arbitration hearing at the CRTC to determine the cost to access Bell’s wireless network.
In a letter dated July 13, the CRTC accepted Quebecor’s June 22 application for the commission to call the final offer for that access, which the Montreal-based company said is integral for its mobile virtual network operator business and its growth as the fourth national carrier after acquiring Freedom Mobile from Shaw.
Quebecor argued that the two sides tried their best but could not hammer out a deal within the 30 days they were required to make a best-efforts…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – With less than a month remaining to get an agreement hammered before the CRTC-imposed deadline, Cogeco CEO Philippe Jette said the telecom is still working to get a deal done to roam on the large carriers’ wireless networks.
“We’re still determined to launch a mobile service in Canada and we are now in negotiations with the MNO,” Jette said on the company’s fiscal third-quarter conference call with analysts Friday. “For competitive reasons, we won’t go further on this call…it remains a critical element for our business case to enter for the long-term this market, so we…
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TORONTO – Bell is the latest media company to pause advertising on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram social media products, becoming the latest giant to retaliate after Meta’s decision to end news link sharing in Canada.
“As Meta continues with its plan to block Canadian news content from its digital platforms, we are immediately pausing our advertising on Facebook and Instagram,” Bell Media president Wade Oosterman said in a late Friday afternoon statement.
“Like many Canadians, we are concerned about the consequences Meta’s decision to block links from Canadian news organizations will have on Canadians, and all those who reside or work…
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OTTAWA – Bell filed Wednesday a letter of support for the Supreme Court of Canada to review a Federal Court of Appeal decision affirming that the CRTC does not have jurisdiction over wireless attachments on municipal structures.
The one-page letter supporting Telus’s application includes a copy to Rogers, Cogeco, Quebecor, Xplornet, Ice Wireless, the province of British Columbia and opponents of the argument, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Electricity Canada.
Telus filed the appeal to the high court last month, which has yet to decide if it will hear it. The Vancouver-based telecom argued that the appeal…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The spate of acquisitions by incumbents of wholesale internet service providers in recent months is not because of a difficult market or bad wholesale access rates, Bell argued in its most recent submission to the CRTC’s wholesale internet framework proceeding, which is messaging that runs counter to what competitors have been saying.
“These acquisitions were completed for a variety of reasons, including succession planning, and the sales were made at strong valuations, not because the Resellers went bankrupt, were driven out of the market or…because of ‘the broken wholesale access model,’” Bell said, in reference to…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA — In a rare display of non-partisanship support for government legislation, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez – joined by his opposition counterparts Martin Champoux of the Bloc Québécois and Peter Julian of the New Democrats – announced at a Parliament Hill news conference on Wednesday that the federal government will suspend advertising on Facebook and Instagram in response to parent company Meta Platforms Inc.’s decision to end news availability on both platforms prior to bill C-18 taking effect.
Last week, Google followed suit and announced that it would…
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MONTREAL – The federal government, Cogeco and Quebecor announced Wednesday they are pulling all their advertising investments from Meta’s platforms after the social media company banned news linking in response to the passing of the Online News Act.
“Any move by Meta to circumvent Canadian law, block news for its users or discriminate against Canadian media content on its platforms, through its algorithms or otherwise, cannot be tolerated,” Quebecor said in a press release Wednesday morning.
“In view of Meta’s categorical refusal to enter into negotiations, Quebecor announces that, effective immediately and until further notice, it is withdrawing all advertising by…
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