By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Some of the country’s largest carriers have lost an appeal challenging the process by which the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) set higher pole attachment rates they say could hamper the delivery of broadband services.
Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Cogeco, Quebecor and Bragg (Eastlink), among others, didn’t like the consultation process that saw the rate to attach their cables on structures jump from an annual rate of $22.35 per attachment set in 2005 to $43.63 across the province. They argued in the province’s divisional court in late September that the OEB had not provided them with the appropriate…
Continue Reading
Videotron, others, are skeptical of Bell’s commitments
By Denis Carmel
MONTREAL – On Friday, Bell Canada issued a news release announcing new measures to simplify the process for access to poles by recipients of the Québec Branché and Régions Branchées grant programs and other service providers.
This follows a process announced by the Government of Québec back in May 2020, along with the members of a working group that was tasked to accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet in rural regions through a program financed by the Government of Québec.
“To address the many technical challenges associated with the deployment of fibre…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Bell Media’s 24-hour news network CTV News Channel has launched a nationwide free preview, the broadcaster announced today.
The free preview is available through participating television service providers across the country, including but not limited to Bell, Bell Aliant, BellMTS, Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers, SaskTel, and participating members of the CCSA.
Please click here for more.
Continue Reading
By Greg O’Brien
TORONTO – While reminding that the Covid pandemic continues to have an impact on business – and cautioning there remains considerable uncertainty, Rogers Communications reported a solid rebound in its businesses in the third quarter of 2020, beating most of Bay Street’s estimates.
The company reported wireless total net loading of 168,000 new customers – including a 34% increase in postpaid net subscriber additions, the company said in its third quarter press release this morning. Rogers also said approximately 2.2 million total subscribers have now switched to Rogers Infinite plans, up almost 60% in 2020.
That’s important, said CEO…
Continue Reading
Feds say attachment costs “often prohibitively expensive”
By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – The newly-appointed board of directors of the Ontario Energy Board will oversee a review of pole attachment rates in the province, according to a mandate letter sent earlier this month, a priority assignment that is aligned with the province’s efforts to reduce equipment install costs to drive its broadband expansion goals.
Captured in just one line underneath a section on reducing regulatory burdens, the letter requires the “modernized” board to “consider pole attachment policy in the context of opportunities to better serve areas that are currently underserved.”
Ontario has the highest…
Continue Reading
Rogers was the fastest fixed broadband provider in Canada in Q3, says Ookla
SEATTLE — In its latest Speedtest Global Index measurement of network speeds in Canada, Seattle-based Ookla reports Rogers Communications was the fastest fixed broadband provider among top providers in Canada in the third quarter of 2020.
According to Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence data from July to September, Rogers achieved a speed score of 151.51 in Q3 2020. (Ookla’s speed score incorporates measurements of each provider’s download and upload speeds to rank network speed performance, with 90% of the final speed score being attributed to download speed.)
The next highest…
Continue Reading
MORE TV DISTRIBUTORS in Canada are adding CBC/Radio-Canada’s 24-hours news channels, CBC News Network and ICI RDI, to the lineup of channels available to all of their subscribers.
The public broadcaster says it is collaborating with the country’s TV distributors as Canadians face a resurgence of Covid-19. Back in mid-March at the beginning of the pandemic, many of Canada’s TV distributors made the two news channels available to their subscribers.
CBC News Network is now available to all subscribers on Bell TV, Rogers, Cogeco, Eastlink, SaskTel and others, with Telus and Shaw joining next week. In addition, as of tomorrow,…
Continue Reading
Ad spend down 60%, says broadcast association
By Ahmad Hathout
VICTORIA – A little over a month after a radio station in Kelowna went off the air due to pandemic-related advertising declines, the head of the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters (BCAB) sent a letter in May to the premier with a plea.
Pointing to relief measures introduced by the Quebec and federal governments, which include the waiving of licensing fees and consistent ad buys on local stations, Rob Bye requested a virtual meeting to discuss possible options.
“We’ve got positive verbal responses,” he said in an interview with Cartt.ca on Wednesday, adding…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU — As the CRTC continues a Review and Vary of its August 2019 order which slashed the wholesale rates third-party Internet access (TPIA) companies pay to the incumbent network owners, the Commission announced today it is approving a stay of the order’s implementation while it completes its review.
The stay was requested by Bell Canada and cable companies Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron when those incumbents requested in December 2019 that the Commission review and vary its Telecom Order 2019-288 decision.
The Commission’s announcement today comes after the Federal Court of Appeal on September 10 dismissed the…
Continue Reading
LONDON — Rural broadband funding organization SWIFT (Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology) announced Friday it has now officially issued approximately $197 million in requests for proposals (RFPs) to expand broadband access throughout southwestern Ontario.
Now in the third phase of its broadband expansion plan, SWIFT says it is on track to close all phase three RFPs before the end of 2020 and intends to award 90% of the project’s contracts by the end of 2020 and 100% by January 2021, says its press release.
To view SWIFT’s full tendering schedule, including procurement values, closing dates and RFP status updates, please Continue Reading
