TORONTO — In its third report, released today, the C.D. Howe Institute’s new telecommunications policy working group — which includes executives from Bell, Rogers, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and Shaw, among others — says cellular phone services have seen a 25% price drop over the past five years, which they say meets Ottawa’s mandated wireless rate cut.
That means, the group says, it’s time to shift the focus of telecom policy debates to other issues, such as the modernization of the CRTC and rate-setting challenges for mandated access.
Citing data from Statistics Canada’s consumer price index, the telecom group says cellular services…
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By Ken Kelley
MONTREAL – Not that we expected otherwise, but there was no dodging the Rogers-Shaw elephant in the room when Cogeco president and CEO Philippe Jetté spoke during the Desjardins’ Group annual Industrials, TMT & Consumer virtual conference Tuesday.
In fact the session’s moderator, analyst Jerome Debreuil, ripped off the band-aid straight away, asking Jetté if he expected Cogeco would be interested in bidding on any wireless assets Rogers may be forced to divest as part of the tie-up.
“There’s a great deal of uncertainty as far as we’re concerned, as to whether the deal will be approved and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – Canada’s big telecoms are divided on a CRTC proposal to create a framework that would establish an independent body tasked with creating and maintaining a block list of known malicious software networks, known as botnets.
A botnet is a network of malware-infected devices that are controlled from a central location and used to do things like steal data and/or send an overwhelming number of communications to a server, which causes it to fail (denial-of-service attack). The increasing number of internet-connected devices coming to market, a lot largely with flimsy security measures, are multiplying the risk of…
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ISPs to receive funding include Videotron, Cogeco, Bell, Xplornet, Telus and Sogetel
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. — The federal government and the government of Quebec today announced the launch of the Canada-Quebec “Operation High Speed” initiative to connect almost 150,000 underserved Quebec households to high-speed Internet by September 2022.
This initiative is being made possible by a joint investment totalling $826.3 million from the government of Canada and the Quebec government. The ISPs (which are also investing some of their own money) receiving funding through the program include Videotron, Cogeco, Bell, Xplornet, Sogetel and Telus.
Here are some of the details of each ISP’s…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC last week announced seven transport projects will receive up to $57.7 million in funding from the Commission’s Broadband Fund to improve broadband connectivity in 15 underserved communities in northern Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
Approximately 1,400 kilometres of fibre transport networks will be built in the 15 rural and remote communities representing almost 6,500 households, including five communities that are both Indigenous and official-language minority communities. In addition to providing improved transport connectivity for households in the targeted communities, the networks will collectively connect up to 55 public institutions, such as schools, medical facilities and libraries.
A…
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And what still stands in their way
By Greg O’Brien
THE PURCHASE OF SHAW by Rogers has been a steady recurrent rumour which would crop up from time to time over the past 23-plus years this reporter has been tracking the industry, meaning Monday’s $26 billion purchase deal by Rogers was a long, long time coming.
In fact, when I first spoke with former Shaw president Peter Bissonnette in late 1997 (so long ago I don’t think he had yet been appointed president), I asked him then about the rumour I heard Rogers would buy Shaw. Too soon. Much too soon,…
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ESTÉREL and LAC-DES-SEIZE-ÎLES, Que. — The federal ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry announced today 774 households and 12 businesses in the Laurentides Region of Quebec now have access to high-speed Internet, made possible by a combined investment of more than $1.5 million from the government of Canada, the government of Quebec and Cogeco.
Government funding for the project was provided through the Connect to Innovate and Quebec branché programs, with the federal and provincial governments each investing $57,160 in this backbone network. Project partner Cogeco Connexion, which also invested in building a last-mile network, contributed more than $1.4 million.
With…
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CALGARY and TORONTO — Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications announced today they have reached an agreement for Rogers to acquire all of Shaw’s issued and outstanding Class A and Class B shares in a transaction valued at approximately $26 billion.
The deal agreement will see Rogers pay $40.50 per share in cash, amounting to approximately $20 billion. The transaction total includes approximately $6 billion of Shaw debt.
The Shaw Family Living Trust has already agreed to vote in favour of the transaction, which still requires the approval of two thirds of votes cast by Class A and Class B shareholders at…
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Lobbying, new energy board, sees province take action
By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – The Ontario government has made good on a pledge to tackle broadband roadblocks in the province by proposing in new legislation to reduce hydro pole attachment costs, a move that is receiving praise across the board and that has been many months in the making.
The legislation, called Building Broadband Faster Act, proposes timely access by telecommunications companies to infrastructure owned by utilities and municipalities, including underground facilities, and requires utilities to better prepare their poles for new wire attachments, which require weighting assessments – the cost of which…
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TORONTO — The federal government “must dramatically reduce the regulatory burden on the telecommunications industry to accelerate 5G deployment,” says the newest report from the C.D. Howe Institute’s telecommunications policy working group – which includes top regulatory experts and executives from Canada’s biggest telecom companies, including Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Cogeco and Eastlink.
“Telecommunications providers face obstacles in gaining access rights to infrastructure for installing telecommunications facilities. These barriers, alongside difficulty navigating government incentive programs for expanded connectivity, could stall the federal government’s aim of extending high-speed internet coverage to 98 percent of households by 2026,” reads a press…
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