New wireless competitors took over half of mobile sub adds in 2024
By Ahmad Hathout
Independent wholesale-based internet service providers lost half of their market share since 2020, according to a report from the CRTC.
The market share dropped from a high of 8.4 per cent in 2020 to 4.2 per cent in 2024, according to the Canadian Telecommunications Market Report, released Tuesday. And it’s been steady in between: falling to 8 per cent in 2021, 6.1 per cent in 2022 and 5 per cent in 2023.
“With shifts in the internet service market and in…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A judge ruled earlier this month that the Federal Court will not hear a complaint filed by Cogeco and Eastlink asking to review whether cabinet erred by denying their request to toss a CRTC decision to allow the three largest telecoms to access the wholesale internet regime.
In short, the court ruled that the regional telecoms have better avenues to challenge the underlying decision, effectively accepting the application of the attorney general to reject the request based on the same reasons.
While the complaint specifically challenged cabinet’s alleged lack of sufficient reasons explaining…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Eastlink is expressing disappointment Friday after the CRTC blocked it from destandardizing certain internet speeds for third-party service providers that it no longer offers to its own retail customers.
In March last year, the regional telecom asked the CRTC to allow it to eliminate the 100 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload and the 300/10 Mbps speed tiers from competitor access as it stopped offering those tiers to new retail customers in December 2024. The telecom said the proposal was part of its effort to streamline and consolidate its service offerings.
But the CRTC denied the change Friday on the basis…
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Follows other telecoms asking for change in reporting thresholds
By Ahmad Hathout
Telesat is asking the CRTC to clarify if satellite transport providers are subject to its new outage reporting rules and, if so, to amend them because they are not privy to some of the information the regulator is asking for.
In a review and vary application made public on Monday, the Ottawa-based company said because it doesn’t provide services directly to retail customers, it cannot comply with the CRTC’s new rules that establish a new threshold for reporting to official bodies. It is asking for a new set of reporting…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal will hear a SaskTel challenge that alleges the CRTC’s decision to mandate access its bundled fibre facilities was based on a cabinet direction that conflicts with the Telecommunications Act.
The court approved the telco’s leave to appeal application on Friday, just over a year after it was filed in September 2024.
The gist of the argument is that the CRTC allegedly preordained a decision based on what it was told by the federal government, which, through section 10 of the 2023 cabinet direction, ordered it to adopt a specific policy of…
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The CRTC said in a letter last Friday it is temporarily suspending the Nov. 4 implementation deadline for its new telecom service outage reporting requirements as it considers an Oct. 7 review-and-vary application jointly filed by major telecoms Rogers, Bell, Telus, Eastlink, Cogeco, Quebecor and SaskTel.
The group has requested changes be made to the new outage reporting requirements to address operational challenges and to reduce the administrative burden on them, while also asking the CRTC to extend the implementation deadline.
The CRTC is granting an extension,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Cogeco said Thursday that the internet resale policy has not impacted the company’s ability to grow as a reseller nor has it turned customers off its brand.
“At a higher level, internet resale in Canada between the different players is a fact of life and it’s been a fact of life for quite some time,” said President and CEO Frederic Perron during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call Thursday. “Two of the big three that we don’t already compete with on an infrastructure basis are already reselling our network in Quebec and Ontario and have…
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Cogeco announced Thursday that it is rolling out its home internet service across most of Quebec, including Montreal, Laval, Gatineau, Sherbrooke, and Quebec City.
Residents in the new expansion areas can enter their address to confirm availability by visiting Cogeco’s website at cogeco.ca/en/internet/packages.
“After successfully bringing much needed competition to the wireless industry, today, we’re taking another critical step, expanding our home Internet service across the majority of Québec,” Frederic Perron, president and CEO of Cogeco, said in a press release. “Canadians have been clear: regional carriers, like us, are vital in providing a compelling alternative to the three…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The attorney general of Canada (AG) is asking the Federal Court to reject an application filed by Cogeco and Eastlink asking the judicial body to review whether cabinet did not provide the legally required justification for rejecting their request to send back a CRTC decision that allows the three largest telecoms to access the wholesale internet framework.
The AG said in a submission last week that the parties have already filed a review of the decision directly to cabinet and have won an appeal related to the CRTC’s decision that rejected their request to…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Several internet service providers have filed petitions asking cabinet to send back a decision by the CRTC this summer that refused to back down on letting Rogers, Bell and Telus (Big 3) access the wholesale internet regime.
Rogers, SaskTel, Cogeco, Eastlink, the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC), and TekSavvy filed petitions in September – made public on Friday – requesting that cabinet send back for reconsideration the decision by the CRTC in June refusing to heed their advice to review and vary the commission’s final framework in August 2024.
That framework allows…
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