GATINEAU — The CRTC has approved Bell Canada’s application to conduct a 90-day test of an artificial intelligence-based system the telco has developed for blocking fraudulent and scam phone calls, the Commission announced in a decision Tuesday.
Bell first made the request in July 2019 and wanted to conduct the call-blocking trial using AI technology last fall. The Commission came back with an information disclosure directive in January, which Bell subsequently responded to and provided the required information.
In its decision today approving Bell’s 90-day call-blocking trial, the Commission set out a number of conditions, including:
Bell shall…
Continue Reading
By Ken Kelley
COULD SOME OF CANADA’S rail lines and dormant ones which have become rail trails be important to helping unlock rural broadband connectivity in underserved parts of the country?
This was one of several ideas put forward during a panel discussion on the role of governments at Canada’s Rural and Remote Broadband Conference series, which moved to an online format due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Moderated by Cartt.ca publisher and editor Greg O’Brien, the panel of experts included representatives from provincial and local government, and two operators. The guests provided a broad scope of varying perspectives from regions that each…
Continue Reading
“We don’t fit their business model”
By Lynn Greiner
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES FACE UNIQUE challenges when it comes to establishing broadband connectivity. At Canada’s Rural and Remote Broadband virtual conference (CRRBC) on Monday, a panel of experts who are addressing those challenges talked about what they’re doing, the roadblocks they’re facing, and why they’re persevering.
Moderated by Kim Barrington, Rogers Communications’ director of operations, enterprise division and chairperson for the Rogers’ Indigenous Peoples’ Network, the panel included Sally Braun, general manager, Western James Bay Telecom Network, Lyle Fabian, president/owner, KatloTech Communications, Rob McMahon, associate professor of communication and technology, Continue Reading
Says change disproportionately impacts their customers
By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – Third party internet service provider TekSavvy, along with the Competitive Network Operators Consortium (CNOC), said in complaints to the CRTC that a change to Rogers’ network management practices that would constrain some users’ internet usage during the Covid-19 pandemic would disproportionately affect subscribers of wholesale service providers.
Rogers submitted an application to the CRTC in May revising its access tariff to include a section outlining the company’s ability to apply internet traffic management practices (ITMP). “During these periods, any end-user whose disproportionate consumption of shared resources required for internet service is…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — After 30 years at Rogers Communications, Colette Watson (above) is stepping down as senior vice-president of television and broadcast operations for Rogers Sports and Media. Her last day at Rogers will be June 15, the company announced today.
“Colette has been an invaluable member of the Rogers team and a driving force behind industry change. Over her 30-year career, whether it was in cable, regulatory, or media, she consistently delivered under pressure, championed what’s right, and put the company first,” said Jordan Banks, president of Rogers Sports and Media, in the news release. “Faced with industry challenges,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Independent ISP and TV service provider VMedia Thursday announced the launch of RiverTV, Canada’s first live TV and on-demand streaming channel platform.
Such services are known as virtual multichannel video programming distributors in the United States (such as Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, AT&T TV Now and others) but in Canada, the company is sticking with our own vernacular, so RiverTV is a vBDU, or virtual broadcast distribution undertaking.
Like conventional BDUs, and VMedia TV is one of those, RiverTV packages top specialty channels Canadian programming groups including Corus, Blue Ant Media, Channel Zero and Wildbrain, as well as…
Continue Reading
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – On May 15, the CRTC sent a request for information to parties involved in its wireless policy review asking: Does the ongoing situation with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic change the views you have previously put forward on any of the issues being examined in this proceeding? Explain why or why not with supporting rationale and evidence, as necessary.”
We expected few minds to have changed and the responses filed on May 29, were almost unanimous. We’re paraphrasing here, but the answers are: “The current crisis reinforces what we’ve been saying.” The anti mobile virtual network…
Continue Reading
LONDON — Non-profit regional rural broadband project SWIFT (Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology) announced Monday its request for proposal (RFP) for a $5.2-million broadband infrastructure project in Caledon, Ont., will close on June 12. UPDATE: The deadline has been extended by a week. An earlier version of this story said the deadline was June 5th.
The RFP for the Caledon project was originally issued on March 9, 2020. Contracts will be awarded and service provider agreements will be put in place shortly after the RFP closes, says the news release.
Prequalified service providers have until June 12 to submit network…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU — The CRTC has approved a broadcasting licence for a radiocommunication distribution undertaking (RDU) that proposes to broadcast CBC Radio One programming to the Yukon community of Mount Jubilee for the first time.
In approving the licence application from the Yukon Government, the CRTC is granting permission for the signal of CFWH-FM Whitehorse to be rebroadcast to Mount Jubilee, bringing the CBC Radio One programming service at the 103.1 MHz frequency to that community.
The licence for the RDU expires August 31, 2026. The undertaking must be in operation by June 3, 2022, according to the terms of the…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU — As part of the CRTC’s ongoing wireless policy review, the Commission has directed Bell Mobility to disclose information previously designated as confidential regarding cost estimates related to the implementation of seamless roaming.
The order comes in a procedural letter dated May 29, in which the CRTC says Bell Mobility must “disclose its estimate of the per-border initial setup and ongoing maintenance costs associated with seamless roaming.” Bell is to provide the information to the Commission by June 5.
The request for disclosure came from Cogeco Communications in an April 30th letter submitted to the CRTC.
The Commission notes in…
Continue Reading
