OTTAWA – The Liberal government’s 2023 budget, released Tuesday, includes a commitment from the feds to work with regulatory agencies to reduce what it calls telecom “junk fees.”
“Unexpected, hidden, and additional fees add up quickly. From internet overage charges, to roaming fees, to event fees, Canadians deal with junk fees every day,” the budget document said.
“Budget 2023 announces the government’s intention to work with regulatory agencies, provinces, and territories to reduce junk fees for Canadians,” it added. “This could include higher telecom roaming charges, event and concert fees, excessive baggage fees, and unjustified shipping and freight fees.”
The budget document…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Canada’s auditor general is recommending Innovation Canada come up with a specific mobile wireless connectivity target and timeline like the federal government has for high-speed internet, according to a report released Monday.
The department said in response that it will “conduct a review of the state of mobile coverage and planned investment” this year and will “seek additional resources if necessary.”
Currently, the federal government has in place goal targets of providing high-speed internet access with speeds of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload to the entire country by 2030, but no specific target for cellular…
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Bell said there was no consultation on the need for such requirements
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Some of the country’s major telecommunications companies are telling the CRTC that the interim notification requirements mandated by the regulator earlier this month for major network outages are unnecessary, citing an agreement signed last year by a dozen telecoms to notify relevant authorities in cases of such service disruptions.
The CRTC temporarily ordered the telecoms to notify the CRTC within two hours of a major network outage starting on March 8 until the regulator makes a decision on the permanency of such…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein, former chair of the CRTC, and Philip Palmer, former general counsel at the Justice Department focused on communications law
The Online News Act, Bill C-18, states as its purpose “to regulate digital news intermediaries” in order to bring fairness to the Canadian news marketplace. Digital news intermediaries are simply any online social media or search platform that carries links to or produces search results for news items.
The language of the Act is couched neutrally, but the announced intent is to regulate digital news intermediaries such as Meta (Facebook) and Alphabet (Google) so as to force them…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has sent a letter to Rogers and Bell on Thursday asking them to lay out what off-tariff wholesale internet access agreements they have with competitors.
The request for information includes details of a proposed arrangement that would see Rogers give Videotron access to its broadband network at favourable wholesale rates to win over regulators in its pursuit of Shaw.
The request is part of the CRTC’s evaluation of an application filed by TekSavvy, which alleges that Rogers and Bell are engaging in agreements that are disadvantaging competitors who don’t get similar rates…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC ruled Thursday that Rogers gave itself and its own sports channels an unfair preference by refusal to carry for broadcasting Timeless’s OneSoccer.
Timeless first brought the complaint last summer that alleged Rogers refused to carry OneSoccer because it was concerned about competition with its own Sportsnet channels. Rogers said it refused to carry the channel because it allegedly had limited appeal to viewers. Telus, which has carried the channel since 2021, urged the commission to investigate the matter.
The regulator ruled Thursday that OneSoccer is a comparable service to the sports channels of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC is proposing Thursday to open the $750-million Broadband Fund to bankroll the maintenance of networks in remote areas, improvements to network resiliency, and to have a separate funding stream for indigenous-focused projects.
The commission is also proposing that all future projects provide, at a minimum, the basic service objective speeds of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, whereas previously it was at least half of that. It is also asking whether the fund should have an increased emphasis on mobile wireless projects and possibly incorporating mobile wireless into the name.
Since the launch of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The head of the CRTC has confirmed Thursday that the regulator is examining the issue of high international roaming rates charged by the country’s wireless carriers, following a letter this week from the innovation minister asking it to look into the matter.
“We are taking action and have already started comparing the international roaming rates available to us with those available in other countries,” said CRTC head Vicky Eatrides in the Thursday letter to Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
“Our preliminary results confirm what many Canadians are feeling – that international roaming rates we pay are higher. We…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A technical working group with members from the country’s major telecommunications companies have this month recommended a bevy of changes to enhance network reliability, including enhanced criminal penalties in cases of negligent damage to critical network infrastructure, subsidizing certain infrastructure in areas with little coverage, and expanding the CRTC’s authority over municipal infrastructure.
The 27-page report from the Canadian Telecommunications Network Resiliency Working Group, released this month, packs a list consisting of general recommendations for network resiliency and asks of the federal government.
“To strengthen efforts to improve the resiliency of Canada’s telecommunications networks, the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Doug French, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Telus, said Tuesday that the company is confident that it could weather increased wholesale-based competition in western Canada in light of a CRTC proceeding launched earlier this month that will look to lower the rates competitors pay for access to incumbent networks.
The CRTC announced it is embarking on establishing a new wholesale framework that it said would address higher broadband prices in the country. A hearing on the matter is likely to be held next year. Meanwhile, the regulator will release a…
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