By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said his government supports a bill that would require telecoms to clearly state what internet speeds customers should expect during peak periods.
Bill C-288, which was introduced by Conservative member of Parliament Dan Mazier, requires that telecoms clearly state what “typical” speeds subscribers should see during high congestion periods. The providers typically market the theoretical top end of the range of what to expect.
“The Government of Canada supports Bill C-288 as it reinforces the actions underway to improve broadband performance transparency for Canadians,” Champagne said in response to a…
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Court wrestled with whether Ian Scott’s beer meeting with Bell CEO showed bias
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Lawyers representing TekSavvy argued in front of the Federal Court of Appeal on Monday that the CRTC reneged on its obligation to make just and reasonable wholesale internet rates when it decided in 2021 to fall back on interim costs it set five years prior.
The independent telecom challenged the CRTC’s May 2021 decision that disregarded the lower rates it proposed in 2019, arguing that the regulator breached its mandate to meet the legitimate expectation of the industry…
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By Ahmad Hathout
WHITEHORSE – Northwestel will join the Connecting Families program, officials from the Bell subsidiary said Friday, after participants in the CRTC’s far north hearing this week expressed disappointment about its absence from the broadband discount program.
“We’ve listened to our partners this week and I would like to announce today that Northwestel will be joining Canada’s Connecting Families program,” Tammy April, Northwestel’s vice president of customer experience, said during the company’s opening comments. Its participation will be subject to CRTC tariff approval because it cannot set its own price, it said.
The program, which is funded by the participating…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA — Despite its recent test to limit news for some users in response to its objections to bill C-18, “Google is deeply committed to Canada” and is “one of the world’s biggest supporters of journalism,” Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer of the search-engine giant and its parent company, Alphabet Inc.
“We believe that the legislation could be amended to support journalism and to provide consumers with a more diverse range of perspectives delivered in innovative and accessible formats, without undercutting core principles that allow the internet to benefit Canadians and people around…
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By Ahmad Hathout
WHITEHORSE – Telus announced Thursday that it has struck a deal in principle to transfer incumbency to Bell’s Northwestel in the region of Atlin, British Columbia to better serve the area.
There are only three communities in the far north that are served by Telus as the incumbent – Fort St. John, High Level, and Atlin. But unlike the former two, Telus does not serve Atlin with its own transport facilities. Instead, it leases a stretch of 1,300 kilometres of the transport portion from Bell subsidiary Northwestel.
“It is an island completely separated from the rest of TELUS’ ILEC…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has denied an application by Telus that challenged the CRTC’s decision not to regulate wireless access to municipal infrastructure and that forced the carriers to provide seamless roaming to other providers.
Telus argued that the two components of the CRTC’s April 2021 decision – which mandated regional carrier access to the wireless infrastructure of the large players – were made in error. The thrust of the telecom’s argument – which was backed by Rogers and Bell – was that the CRTC too narrowly defined the term “transmission…
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The regulator has been urged not to rely on carrier negotiations for roaming rates
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has dismissed an application by Globalive that sought a commission review of wholesale roaming rates in general and a roaming agreement between Rogers and Videotron in particular, citing an existing application before the regulator addressing similar issues.
Globalive filed the Part 1 application late last month, which requested the CRTC make interim the current wholesale roaming rates, require the national carriers to file updated studies supporting new rates, and to open an investigation into Rogers’s proposed roaming agreement…
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WHITEHORSE – Officials from the Northwest Territories government recommended the CRTC adopt two affordability streams to address higher telecommunications prices in the far north.
The officials said Monday the CRTC should consider having both a low-income subsidy and a universal service subsidy to deal with higher prices in the region.
The government officials expressed disappointment that Northwestel, the Bell subsidiary that is the dominant provider in the region, is not participating in the Connecting Families initiative – a service provider effort to get eligible households on discounted internet services.
The officials said the regional government is open for the subsidies to be…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A group of six public interest groups is asking the CRTC to expedite the payment of money owed to the Broadcasting Participation Fund from the commission’s approval of Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw’s broadcasting assets.
The group, which includes the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications, filed a Part 1 application Monday urging the commission to amend a stipulation requiring Rogers pay the fund – which bankrolls public interest group participation in broadcast hearings – $725,439 in equal amounts over three years.
The application asks that the commission force Rogers to…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The fund that bankrolls consumer interest participation in CRTC hearings is warning that it is at a “critical juncture” with not enough money available to reimburse participants in broadcasting proceedings.
The Broadcasting Participation Fund said in a press release last week that it had less than $330,000 remaining in the fund to begin the year. In a busy year, it said, costs exceed $700,000.
“If the gap between available funds and qualified applications is not addressed, the Fund must cease operations either temporarily or permanently this year,” it said in the release. At the end of 2021,…
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