But Commission won’t entertain issues related to merits of Covid contact-tracing apps
GATINEAU — After dismissing the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (PIAC) request in May for the CRTC to clarify the rules and responsibilities Canadian wireless carriers have regarding Covid-19 contact-tracing apps, the Commission has now decided to give further consideration to the issues raised in PIAC’s subsequent Part 1 application filed on September 9.
PIAC’s second application is not a re-submission of its first application, explains PIAC’s cover letter, which says it “seeks Commission guidance on privacy rules for potential government requests to TSPs to provide…
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But modems already removed from network can’t be redeployed
GATINEAU — CNOC members who are third-party Internet access (TPIA) customers of Eastlink and prefer to use Technicolor’s TC4350 model of cable modem will be glad to hear the CRTC ruled Wednesday Eastlink can’t remove Technicolor modems from its approved list.
However, any Technicolor modems which Competitive Network Operators Consortium members in recent months may have removed from Eastlink’s network, under the directive of Eastlink itself, can’t be redeployed even though the modem model is still on the approved list of modems.
The Commission’s decision regarding an ongoing dispute between Eastlink and its…
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Must pay nearly $18 million to production funds
By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — Bell Canada “misallocated” millions of dollars of funding for Canadian programming and failed to meet its obligations to community television programming by using much of its required funding for community TV on shows that clearly furthered Bell Media’s commercial interests, the CRTC announced in a lengthy (26,632-word) decision rendered on Thursday.
The performance of Bell’s community television was reviewed as part of its Fibe TV licence renewal, the company’s IPTV network in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, and as a result of the violations, Bell has been directed…
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Denies request for confidential SIM-swap info, too
GATINEAU — The CRTC informed the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) in a procedural letter last week it won’t be initiating a public proceeding into the issue of unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps, also known as wireless number porting fraud.
Furthermore, the Commission has denied PIAC’s request in July for the disclosure of confidential information submitted to the Commission by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) regarding measures being proposed to address unauthorized number porting and SIM swap fraud, as well as confidential data filed by wireless service providers regarding the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A former CRTC commissioner will go to court on Monday armed with new evidence he says will show why the Federal Court got it wrong when it dismissed his case for judicial review of his second termination from the regulator.
Former commissioner of Ontario Balraj Shoan (above) was twice fired by then-Heritage Minister Melanie Joly in 2016 and 2017 for allegations of workplace harassment, engaging in inappropriate stakeholder contact, speaking negatively of the regulator in public, and refusing to respect appropriate access to information policy.
Shoan, who was appointed by Heritage to the CRTC…
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VANCOUVER and GATINEAU – A Part 1 application filed October 1st with the CRTC this week says a Vancouver developer allegedly doesn’t know or won’t follow the rules around allowing competitive network providers into new buildings.
The application from Novus Communications asks the Commission to issue an order for timely access to certain developments currently being built by Polygon Construction Management. Novus provides broadband, TV, and telephone service to thousands of customers in and around Vancouver in multiple unit dwellings such as apartments and condos.
The application focuses on what has happened trying to get into the Berkeley House project in…
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MARKHAM, Ont. — The Canadian Telecom Summit, which this year is a virtual event taking place November 17 to 19, announced more keynote speakers this week.
Today it was confirmed Tony Geheran (left), executive vice-president and chief customer officer of Telus, will deliver a keynote presentation on Thursday, November 17 from 1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. ET. In his role at Telus, Geheran leads an organization of more than 12,500 team members who look after all aspects of the customer service journey for mobility and home solutions as well as the deployment of Telus’ PureFibre network and digital strategy. Read…
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But industry still has work to do
GATINEAU — The CRTC released today the findings of its first-ever secret shopper project, which was launched in response to the Commission’s 2019 report on misleading or aggressive sales practices among telecommunications service providers.
While the secret shopper report concludes the vast majority of enlisted shoppers’ interactions with the providers’ sales staff were perceived as positive, approximately one in five shoppers perceived they may have faced misleading or aggressive sales practices.
The report also says misleading or aggressive sales practices occur at a higher rate for certain vulnerable segments of the Canadian population, such…
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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…
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GATINEAU – Despite the demand it and others made to the CRTC for revised tariffs filed since the incumbent carriers lost their court case, no new revised tariff pages have yet been filed with the Commission by the network owners and until they are, independent ISP TekSavvy will stop paying its wholesale fees to Rogers and Bell.
On September 11th, TekSavvy, Distributel and the Competitive Network Operators of Canada each filed applications with the CRTC demanding the incumbent telco and cable carriers file new tariff pages as ordered by the Commission in its August 2019 decision setting new wholesale…
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