By Ahmad Hathout
CHATHAM, Ont. – TekSavvy has filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC requesting that the regulator provide it access to a building in its home town so it provide fibre internet services.
The largest independent internet service provider said it has requested access to the building at 175 Churchill Park Road in Chatham on December 9, 2021. The owner of the multi-dwelling unit allegedly said later that month that it was being courted by another service provider and asked TekSavvy what it could be willing to provide in return for access. In February 2022, the building owner…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL — Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau declared Thursday that the Canadian market is in a “different world” following the company’s acquisition of Freedom, as it saw good reception to its new wireless offers that are expected to heat up the promotional period later this year.
“The market suddenly became more competitive in Ontario,” Peladeau said during a second-quarter earnings conference call with analysts Thursday. “We should not be surprised.”
“We can’t completely anticipate what will take place in the future, but this is certainly where we are today — a different world,…
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Large cuts hark back to time Telus threatened 5,000 cuts during wireless review
By Ahmad Hathout
Telus announced Friday it is cutting 6,000 jobs across its telecom and information technology business, which president and CEO Darren Entwistle partly attributed to getting ahead of regulatory changes.
The job losses are split across Telus and its IT business Telus International, with losses of 4,000 at the former and 2,000 at the latter.
“It is with heavy heart that we are seeking to reduce 6,000 staff positions across our global footprint,” Telus said in its second-quarter results release, adding it is also “offering early retirement and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said Thursday that the telecom has a tiny amount of lead cables left in its network as it moves toward replacing the legacy cables with fibre, following a report from the Wall Street Journal last month that alleged the toxic substance was lingering in America’s telecommunications cables.
The Journal report alleges when the cables still in service degrade, the lead spreads to the surrounding environment, allegedly posing a health hazard. AT&T, working with regulators, has since denied the health hazard claims related to its own cables and has suspended the removal of them from…
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Commission may launch public consultation on matter
OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking the country’s largest internet service providers via letter for comment on whether it should mandate participation in a data project in collaboration with Innovation Canada to track fixed wireless internet performance.
Participation is currently voluntary and requires that the fixed wireless service providers contacting all of its subscribers on the federal objective speeds of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps and higher and providing them material asking them if they are willing to participate in the study.
But the commission said that, while there have been a number of…
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By Connie Thiessen
The deadline for interventions in Bell Media’s request for regulatory programming relief passed late last week with 19 submissions received by the CRTC, the majority making the case against the broadcaster’s proposal.
Bell is specifically seeking a reduction in Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) from 30 to 20 per cent; a reduction in minimum PNI (Programs of National Interest) expenditures from 7.5 to 5 per cent; and an expansion of the current PNI categories to include analysis and interpretation, music and dance, variety, game shows, general entertainment, human interest, and reality television. In return, it’s proposing to increase its independent production…
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Large telecoms emphasize need for mobile wireless projects
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Service providers are providing mixed responses to the CRTC’s proposal to use the Broadband Fund to subsidize the ongoing cost of operating networks it helps build, with responses ranging from not expanding its use beyond its current boundaries and allowing for its use for that purpose.
The CRTC launched a proceeding in March to broaden the scope of the $750-million fund supported by telecom revenues, from which three rounds of funding had been opened.
The commission – surveying the influx of other federal broadband programs since the emergence of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said Wednesday the company is weighing its options, including possibly appealing a decision by the CRTC to pick Quebecor’s rate for access to the national carrier’s wireless network.
“We’re reviewing it,” Staffieri said about the decision. “As you would expect, we’re considering next steps, including potential appeals.”
The regulator said in its decision that while both offers for access met the policy objectives, it was Quebecor’s price that provided the regional player with an opportunity to market more data and therefore more plans.
Rogers said in its original pricing pitch that…
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Regulator argued Rogers’s investment capacity won’t be harmed
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has selected Quebecor’s price to access Rogers’s wireless network for the purposes of building out its mobile virtual network operator business, the regulator announced Monday afternoon.
The two parties were granted a final offer arbitration hearing in May after they couldn’t hammer out a deal on their own. The process involves the two sides presenting their own price offer for access and the regulator choosing one.
The CRTC ruled that despite its finding that both offers would have satisfied the policy objectives, it was Quebecor’s offer that…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Quebecor has won an arbitration hearing at the CRTC to determine the cost to access Bell’s wireless network.
In a letter dated July 13, the CRTC accepted Quebecor’s June 22 application for the commission to call the final offer for that access, which the Montreal-based company said is integral for its mobile virtual network operator business and its growth as the fourth national carrier after acquiring Freedom Mobile from Shaw.
Quebecor argued that the two sides tried their best but could not hammer out a deal within the 30 days they were required to make a best-efforts…
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