By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Canadian Network Operators Consortium say the inflated wholesale rates paid over the years to network owners are akin to its members providing the likes of Bell Canada and others interest-free loans.
CNOC is disputing a legal claim made by Bell which says the retroactive wholesale payments the CRTC demanded in August the incumbents pay resellers is an unconstitutional tax.
In its legal arguments to the Federal Court of Appeal last month, Bell said the repayment demand ordered by the Commission in August is illegal because the Regulator has no authority to levy taxes under…
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OTTAWA — Although the wholesale roaming dispute between Quebecor’s Videotron and Bell Canada has effectively been decided, with the CRTC telling Bell in early February it can’t suspend wholesale roaming services offered to Videotron, the Commission needed to step in once again to address a lingering issue in the matter.
The dispute between Videotron and Bell originated in May 2019 when the latter informed the former a number of Videotron’s customers were allegedly permanently roaming on Bell Mobility’s network, which contravened Bell’s access services tariff. In June 2019, Bell threatened to suspend the wholesale roaming service if the infraction…
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GATINEAU — Having already approved Leclerc Communication’s acquisition of classical music radio station CJPX-FM Montreal from Media ClassiQ in a decision earlier this month, the CRTC released its detailed rationale for the approval on Tuesday.
Recently, the Commission has been expediting some of its decisions and following up with releases of its rationales at later dates.
In November, Leclerc announced its intention to purchase CJPX-FM Montreal (Radio Classique 99.5) from Media ClassiQ, which is owned and controlled by performing artist and radio broadcaster Gregory Charles, in a transaction that has been valued as $4.89 million, according to the…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC is giving applicants to its rural Broadband Fund an additional month to submit their applications, as the Commission continues to push deadlines forward for opening proceedings due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The Commission had already extended the deadline for submissions to its second call for Broadband Fund applications from March 27 to April 30, 2020. In its latest Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2019-372-2, issued Monday, the CRTC now extends the deadline for submissions to June 1, 2020 at 5 p.m. Pacific time.
crtc.gc.ca
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GATINEAU and WHITEHORSE — The CRTC announced April 24 it is approving on an interim basis Northwestel’s request to extend its temporary relief on residential Internet usage during the Covid-19 crisis until May 31, 2020.
Northwestel had previously received permission from the CRTC to waive overage charges for customers exceeding their Internet usage caps during the months of March and April in its terrestrially served communities (which are most communities in Yukon, NWT, northern Alberta and northern B.C., says the company).
In its new decision released late Friday, the CRTC said Northwestel’s Covid-19 relief offer could be extended until…
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GATINEAU – After last week receiving a letter from third party internet access providers which said new install practices being instituted by incumbent network operators to protect people from Covid-19 were onerous and preventing new customers from being connected, the CRTC sent a letter back urging everyone to, well, work it out.
TekSavvy and the Canadian Network Operators Consortium filed a letter to the CRTC asking it to investigate how the incumbent ISPs are prioritizing their own customers for installs, repairs and maintenance during the coronavirus pandemic. Since the resellers use the incumbents’ network capacity, they also rely on…
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MONTREAL – Bell Canada said Thursday it is on track to reach 137,000 more homes than originally planned by the end of this month with its wireless home internet solution.
The company said it accelerated the rollout of WHI to 180 communities in rural Quebec and Ontario areas as part of its response to the Covid-19 crisis.
“Bell’s wireless home internet program is dedicated to bringing full broadband Internet speeds to rural communities and other traditionally underserved locations. And with WHI usage growing 40% over the last month, the Covid-19 crisis has clearly underscored the value of the service to customers…
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By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – The CRTC’s emergency services working group (ESWG) is testing Apple technology that allows first responders to get a more accurate location of where a 9-1-1 call is originating from, Cartt.ca has learned.
The proof of concept trials are part of the Regulator’s progress toward next-generation 9-1-1, which will include more ways for people to communicate with emergency dispatchers while facilitating a faster, more accurate retrieval of location to improve response times to distress calls.
The California-based company and the ESWG – consisting of telecoms, public safety answering points and 9-1-1 specialists – met in late September 2019…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the CRTC public hearing into the renewal of CBC/Radio-Canada’s broadcast licences that was supposed to happen in May has been postponed until further notice, but the deadline for interventions remained back at February 20th.
However, that did not stop Quebecor from sending a letter to the CRTC on April 14 requesting the Commission put the letter on the renewal’s record, so the issues it raises can be discussed at the hearing, whenever that might happen.
Quebecor also brought the issues to the attention of the federal government. It’s a complaint made before,…
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WHAT THE EORN MEDIA RELEASE this week omits is that, to the best of my knowledge, mobile operators require spectrum to provide service – and virtually all mobile spectrum in Eastern Ontario was bought at auction years ago by Rogers and Bell.
So, these two large companies are apparently the only two entities that have the spectrum and infrastructure to fulfill EORN’s objectives. Other mobile operators will, sometime in the future, be able to use their networks by paying roaming fees to Bell and Rogers.
Not a bad business plan for the two giant corporations.
My guess is that with this…
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