By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal will hear a SaskTel challenge that alleges the CRTC’s decision to mandate access its bundled fibre facilities was based on a cabinet direction that conflicts with the Telecommunications Act.
The court approved the telco’s leave to appeal application on Friday, just over a year after it was filed in September 2024.
The gist of the argument is that the CRTC allegedly preordained a decision based on what it was told by the federal government, which, through section 10 of the 2023 cabinet direction, ordered it to adopt a specific policy of…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Cogeco said Thursday that the internet resale policy has not impacted the company’s ability to grow as a reseller nor has it turned customers off its brand.
“At a higher level, internet resale in Canada between the different players is a fact of life and it’s been a fact of life for quite some time,” said President and CEO Frederic Perron during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call Thursday. “Two of the big three that we don’t already compete with on an infrastructure basis are already reselling our network in Quebec and Ontario and have…
Continue Reading
Channel closures could contribute significantly to possible double-digit sub declines
By Ahmad Hathout
Corus executives are looking forward to the end of the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series run, as the millions of Canadian eyeballs on the team have, at least temporarily, pulled advertisers away from the media company’s properties, its CEO and interim CFO said Thursday.
When asked about the 23-per-cent dip in advertising this fourth quarter compared to last year’s, John Gossling said the postseason run by the nation’s only big league baseball team has definitely had an impact.
“The audiences for Blue Jays domestically have been massive, more than five…
Continue Reading
Northwestel announced Tuesday it is now offering up to 700 Mbps download and upload speeds to home internet users in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, and businesses in the community can now access speeds of up to 750 Mbps.
With the upgrade, the community also now has access to Northwestel TV Plus, the northern telecom provider’s live and on-demand TV service.
Northwestel first launched fibre internet in Tuktoyaktuk in October 2023, offering speeds up to 50 Mbps. The speed boost to 700 Mbps is made possible after Northwestel recently connected its fibre…
Continue Reading
Cogeco announced Thursday that it is rolling out its home internet service across most of Quebec, including Montreal, Laval, Gatineau, Sherbrooke, and Quebec City.
Residents in the new expansion areas can enter their address to confirm availability by visiting Cogeco’s website at cogeco.ca/en/internet/packages.
“After successfully bringing much needed competition to the wireless industry, today, we’re taking another critical step, expanding our home Internet service across the majority of Québec,” Frederic Perron, president and CEO of Cogeco, said in a press release. “Canadians have been clear: regional carriers, like us, are vital in providing a compelling alternative to the three…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The attorney general of Canada (AG) is asking the Federal Court to reject an application filed by Cogeco and Eastlink asking the judicial body to review whether cabinet did not provide the legally required justification for rejecting their request to send back a CRTC decision that allows the three largest telecoms to access the wholesale internet framework.
The AG said in a submission last week that the parties have already filed a review of the decision directly to cabinet and have won an appeal related to the CRTC’s decision that rejected their request to…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Several internet service providers have filed petitions asking cabinet to send back a decision by the CRTC this summer that refused to back down on letting Rogers, Bell and Telus (Big 3) access the wholesale internet regime.
Rogers, SaskTel, Cogeco, Eastlink, the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC), and TekSavvy filed petitions in September – made public on Friday – requesting that cabinet send back for reconsideration the decision by the CRTC in June refusing to heed their advice to review and vary the commission’s final framework in August 2024.
That framework allows…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Sports streamer DAZN is telling the Federal Court of Appeal that it is not sure whether it is obligated to immediately pay the base contribution amount forced upon it by the CRTC to support Canadian content funds.
The United Kingdom-based company filed a motion to the court last week seeking leave to intervene in an outstanding appeal against the CRTC policy for the purposes of clarifying whether a stay granted in December applies to all streamers or if must file for a suspension pending the outcome of the court’s decision.
“Providing this clarity with regards to whether the Base…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Iristel is asking the CRTC to provide smaller service providers money to support the commission’s policy of sending wireless public alerts.
In a Part 1 application dated October 3 but made public Wednesday, the far north service provider is recommending that the CRTC use the National Contribution Fund (NCF) to bankroll the policy for smaller service providers because of what it conveys as a crippling cost of implementing it.
“The imposition of a requirement that wireless public alerts must be served by very small wireless carriers makes their business cases nonviable,” Iristel says in the application. “The Commission must…
Continue Reading
Telco focusing on content and mobility bundle
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell said Tuesday it will use the CRTC’s wholesale internet framework to launch fibre-based internet services in British Columbia and Alberta, reciprocating what its telco rival Telus is doing in eastern Canada.
The telco confirmed to Cartt that the launch of the services in western Canada “is a result of the CRTC’s recent decision,” which it does not agree with because of what it says is the policy’s negative impact on network investment. The regulator mandates that competitors have access to the bundled fibre infrastructure of Bell and Telus nationwide.
“Our position on…
Continue Reading
