OTTAWA – On Friday, the Federal Court of Appeal granted a temporary stay of CRTC Telecom Order 2019-288, the decision which set new, lower, wholesale rates for third party internet access providers and also forced the incumbent network operators to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in retroactive fees to the independent resellers.
Cable companies Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco, Videoton and Eastlink were the first to file for a stay as well as for leave to appeal the CRTC decision, as we reported here. Bell Canada has also filed its own appeal application…
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QUEBEC — Oricom Internet announced Wednesday it plans to improve its Internet packages for most of its residential customers, and will offer a significant reduction in pricing for many of them as of October 1, in the wake of the CRTC’s recent decision to lower wholesale broadband rates.
In a news release, Oricom Internet said it has recently informed its customers that it would review its residential Internet packages, which will include a price reduction, as a direct result of the CRTC’s decision in August.
“These beneficial changes are directly related to the CRTC’s recent decision to lower the…
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OTTAWA — In the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian’s assault of Atlantic Canada earlier this month, which caused widespread telecom service outages throughout the region, the CRTC has a number of questions regarding the steps taken by carriers to restore service and improve network resiliency.
In a letter sent to Bell, Telus, Eastlink and Rogers on September 13, the CRTC requested the carriers provide detailed information regarding the major telecom disruptions their customers experienced as a result of Dorian’s path through Atlantic Canada.
“In recent days, various media outlets have reported on service outages affecting your customers after hurricane Dorian swept…
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TORONTO — Distributel Communications says it plans to substantially increase home Internet speeds for the majority of its customers at no extra cost, as a result of the CRTC’s recent decision to lower wholesale broadband rates.
In a news release Tuesday, Distributel said the CRTC’s decision in August will allow the company to launch competitive new retail pricing for bundled and stand-alone products and services. In addition, Distributel said the CRTC decision directly benefits Canadian consumers and opens the door for the industry to invest, innovate and offer enhanced services at fair prices.
“Distributel is excited to offer Canadian…
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GATINEAU – Bell Canada’s Broadcasting Distribution Undertaking (BDU) licence (for Fibe TV) will expire on February 29, 2020 and the CRTC last week published a notice of consultation making Bell’s application public – as well as the correspondence between Bell and the Commission since Bell filed its application in August 2017.
The CRTC, in that notice, alludes to non-compliance issues they notice in their examination of the issue, especially in terms of providing Community television and local expression.
“The Commission intends to examine Bell Canada’s (Bell’s) compliance of with its regulatory obligations relating to local expression and community programming. The Commission…
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ON FRIDAY THE 13TH, the large cable companies as well as Bell filed motions in Federal Court requesting leave to appeal the CRTC’s recent decision on Wholesale High Speed Access pricing. Cable companies also requested a stay of CRTC’s decision, meaning that the Commission decision would not apply until the Court issued its ruling.
As there has been much chatter about these appeals, and others which may come, Cartt.ca thought it would shed some light on the various processes.
The Telecommunications Act provide three ways for parties to appeal CRTC’s decisions. It should be noted that the Broadcasting Act provides…
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CHATHAM – Independent ISP TekSavvy told customers today they will be seeing lower prices and upgraded internet packages, thanks to the recent CRTC decision on the rates the company must pay to incumbent operators for wholesale access.
It was a, well, savvy bit of timing, since five of those incumbents filed a motion for leave to appeal the Commission decision today as well.
TekSavvy said today in a release over 85% of its customers will benefit from reduced prices or upgraded, unlimited data plans on their next monthly bill, as the ISP streamlines…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC today announced that the Voter Contact Registry is now accepting registrations, and will accept them until 48 hours after the federal election, to be held October 21st.
As part of the legal requirements for the Voter Contact Registry, anyone (including candidates and political parties, corporations, trade associations and other persons or groups) using the services of a calling service provider to call voters during the election must register with the CRTC within 48 hours of making the first call. The calling service provider is also obligated to register with the CRTC during all federal election…
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TORONTO – Expect network investment to plummet, the growth of the digital economy in Canada to stall and an invasion of well-heeled foreign broadband resellers if the recent CRTC decision on third party internet access wholesale rates is not overturned, says a report published this week by TD Securities.
While saying he expects the decision to be challenged and overturned or at least revised, TD telecom and media analyst Vince Valentini pulls no punches in his analysis, saying the Commission-set wholesale rates and retroactive rebates are bad for the incumbent carriers, their customers and Canada as…
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GATINEAU – On Friday, the CRTC launched the review it said was coming over the 36-month device financing plans certain service wireless providers recently launched, which it told those carriers to stop doing in early August.
The Commission wants to ensure the provisions of its Wireless Code, which effectively make any sort of carrier service contract longer than two years illegal (there can be no break fee beyond 24 months for a customer to pay when they leave a carrier), are upheld. The carriers which launched the new 36-month plans, first from Rogers this summer, say…
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