MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. announced yesterday a revenue increase of 3.7% to $649.3 million, for its third quarter, which ended on May 31st 2021, compared to the same period last year.
This was partially attributed to an increase in its Canadian broadband services revenue by 10.2% due to its December 2020 acquisition of DeryTelecom, as well as “the cumulative effect of sustained demand for residential high-speed Internet since the beginning of the pandemic and rate increases implemented for certain services,” according to a press release.
Cogeco also reported its adjusted EBITDA increased by 1.3% in Q3, reaching $302.3 million, according…
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Rogers, Telus and Bell have all put out new low-cost and occasional-use wireless plans in compliance with a CRTC directive to do so by today.
The directive was part of the outcome of the CRTC’s recent review of mobile wireless services and required each of the three national companies to provide customers with three new low-cost mobile plan options.
The Commission mandate says the carriers must include unlimited Canada-wide calling, unlimited text messaging, and a minimum of 3 GB of data. Fido (owned by Rogers), Koodo (owned by Telus) and Virgin (owned by Bell), are all…
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PIAC unhappy with lack of information provided
The CRTC yesterday publicly disclosed there has been a 95% decline in the total amount of unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps from October 2020 to May 2021.
The disclosure was made in response to a February request from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) for the CRTC to direct mobile carriers to make public the number of unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps made per month for each of their wireless brands, which they currently submit confidentially to the CRTC.
PIAC did not find the CRTC’s response to its…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC yesterday released accessibility reporting regulations, made under the Accessible Canada Act.
Outlined in Telecom and Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2021-215, the regulations “generally establish procedural requirements relating to the reporting obligations of broadcasting undertakings, Canadian telecommunications common carriers, and telecommunications service providers under the ACA,” according to the policy.
More specifically, they “concern the manner and form of accessibility plans, feedback processes, and progress reports under the ACA.”
Where possible, the CRTC aligned its regulations with those of other ACA regulators, particularly the Governor in Council.
The ACA, which came into force in July, 2019, required the…
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By Ken Kelley
DESPITE BEING SEPARATED by the 49th parallel, both Canada and the United States are facing remarkably similar challenges when it comes to the widespread rollout of broadband internet service.
In an online roundtable discussion hosted by the Canadian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications last week, CRTC chair Ian Scott and his American counterpart, Acting FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, compared notes and observations on what they are seeing in their respective countries.
“There was a time before this pandemic when a lot of policymakers thought broadband was just nice to have,” Rosenworcel began, “but those days are over….
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GATINEAU — The CRTC announced last week it is reopening a proceeding regarding a proposed annual digital media survey, saying it now wants the survey to be administered to both Canadian and foreign digital media broadcasting undertakings (a.k.a. streamers) alike.
When the proceeding was first launched in March 2019, the CRTC said its intention was to apply the annual survey to all currently licensed Canadian broadcasting undertakings to collect financial information on their digital media broadcasting activities. At the time, the CRTC said the survey would not be administered to non-Canadian digital media broadcasting companies that provide services in…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications last week posted a revenue increase of 4.8% to $1.38 billion for the company’s third quarter of 2021, which ended on May 31st, compared to the same quarter in 2020.
The company also saw an increase of 5.4% to $642 million, in its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the quarter. Shaw’s Q3 results included what it called “incremental wireline consumer revenue of approximately $20 million related to the release of a provision following the CRTC decision on final aggregated third party internet access (TPIA) rates.”
“Our third quarter and year-to-date results reflect…
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Start.ca wants government to overturn decision; CNOC launches email campaign
CHATHAM, LONDON and OTTAWA — On Monday, independent ISP TekSavvy Solutions filed a notice of motion with the Federal Court of Appeal seeking leave to appeal the CRTC’s recent wholesale third-party Internet access (TPIA) rates decision which reversed the Commission’s August 2019 decision to lower the rates.
Monday was the deadline for parties to file a court appeal against the Commission’s decision.
TekSavvy has already filed a petition to cabinet in May, asking for the CRTC’s 2019 final rates order to be reinstated. In its petition, TekSavvy also asks for CRTC…
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GATINEAU – Long-time CRTC executive director of telecommunications, Chris Seidl (above), is retiring in July.
“While this is wonderful news for Chris and marks the beginning of new and exciting chapter in his life, he will be greatly missed within the sector and throughout the organization,” wrote CRTC chair Ian Scott in an email to Commission staff.
After 14 years as a professional engineer and director of software development at Nortel Networks, Seidl joined the Regulator in 2003. During his time there, Seidl held various roles including director of telecommunications policy, director of new media and technology and director general of…
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By Greg O’Brien
CHATHAM, Ont. – Back in 2017, the official reason former Ontario CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan was finally removed from his position is because he met privately and “inappropriately” with a person who had applied for a radio station licence prior to the decision on a licence being officially announced.
Readers of Cartt.ca back then will remember the whole story was longer and much more complicated than that (and we’re not going to rehash it here), but today, independent ISP TekSavvy said it has filed additional evidence with the federal government showing CRTC chair Ian Scott met inappropriately with…
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