TekSavvy says regulator lacking teeth on the matter
By Ahmad Hathout
Despite CRTC letters asking them to maintain access, Cogeco and Eastlink have told the regulator they intend to move forward with decommissioning legacy facilities that will affect their wholesale customers.
In two recent letters, CRTC staff had asked Cogeco and Eastlink, who are converting their coaxial networks to fibre, to maintain those older facilities for TekSavvy and Fibernetics, respectively, and that it will embark on a review of decommissioning practices. The CRTC staff had asked the cablecos to confirm that access will be preserved.
But the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) approved Thursday the extended use of the extended Ku (xKu) band for direct-to-home satellite broadcasting service (DTH) for at least another decade.
The department will allow Telesat to continue providing the service to Shaw Direct, which parent company Rogers uses to provide television services to some consumers and other broadcasters, until November 2039. In 2010, ISED forbade Telesat from continuing to carry DTH services in the band after January 1, 2028.
Telesat had requested the extension in December and, in filing the supporting intervention, Rogers warned about the negative impact…
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Rogers announced Wednesday its satellite-to-mobile service Rogers Satellite now supports Messenger and outdoor mapping apps from onX.
“Canadians should be able to stay connected no matter where their travels take them,” said Mark Kennedy, chief technology officer of Rogers, in a press release. “With Rogers Satellite now powering these apps, customers can stay on top of weather, find their way on remote highways and trails, and check in with family when they’re beyond the reach of traditional cell towers.”
Rogers Satellite customers will be able…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is mandating that all service providers report the origin of nuisance or spam calls, rejecting a request by some smaller service providers to be spared from the new condition of service.
“The Commission considers that excluding specific types of TSPs could leave a loophole for nuisance calls to enter Canada through TSPs excluded from the traceback process,” the CRTC said in a decision Friday.
“Requiring all TSPs that provide voice telecommunications services to participate in the traceback process would enable Commission staff to respond to complaints from customers of any TSP” and “prevent a TSP from ignoring…
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CBC announced Tuesday the two-part documentary Speechless from Emmy Award-winning Canadian filmmaker Ric Esther Bienstock will air commercial-free on CBC TV on April 14 and 15 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT), and will also be available to stream on CBC Gem as of 9 a.m. ET on April 14.
A CBC and Documentary Channel original produced in association with BBC, Speechless (two episodes x 90 minutes) will also premiere in the U.K. on BBC Storyville and iPlayer.
“Filmed on campuses in the U.S. and the U.K., the documentary brings together years of investigation and on-the-ground filmmaking to…
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The CRTC told Cogeco in a letter last week to maintain TekSavvy’s access to its network, after the latter informed the commission that Cogeco was on the verge of decommissioning copper facilities that TekSavvy currently relies on to provide internet service to customers in Ontario.
The CRTC has instructed Cogeco to continue providing wholesale access to TekSavvy either by maintaining existing hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) wholesale infrastructure at four Ontario locations targeted for decommissioning or by providing TekSavvy access to newly installed fibre facilities at the current HFC available speed and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rural broadband service provider Xplore is asking the department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development to pause authorizing SpaceX’s use of the E-band until international standards are established for co-existence with ground mobile wireless networks.
The American aerospace company filed a request with Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) in December requesting that it be able to utilize the E-band (71-76 GHz downlink and 81-86 GHz uplink) for fixed satellite service (FSS) communications between its satellites and gateway earth station located at Saint-Laurent, Quebec and Janet, Alberta, which are currently serving users via the Ka-band. The E-band…
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Rogers’s new TV services Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery and Magnolia Network have exceeded 210,000 subscribers, making them no longer exempt discretionary services.
As such, the CRTC has approved an application from Rogers Media for broadcasting licences to operate the five TV services, the licences for which will expire on Aug. 31, 2026.
Rogers acquired the Canadian programming and brand rights to Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery and Magnolia Network from Warner Bros. Discovery in the summer of 2024. Corus Entertainment and Bell previously held these Canadian programming rights.
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Rogers last week filed a trademark application with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) for computer chatbot software for simulating conversations and providing customer service.
The trademarked name for the AI virtual assistant software is to be “STARGAZE” or “STAR GAZE.”
Rogers is looking to have the trademark cover not only computer chatbot software but also: authentication services; consultancy and information services in the field of computer system integration, data integration, data migration and cloud automation; data encryption services; platform as a service (PaaS) offering a software platform to train computers to predict…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Internet service provider Fibernetics is asking the CRTC to stop Eastlink from decommissioning legacy facilities it relies on to provide service to customers in Nova Scotia.
The wholesaler said in a Part 1 application, made public Thursday, that it was notified in February that Eastlink was completing a technology upgrade in Sydney that would transition its network from coaxial to fibre by September 1, meaning its third-party internet access service (TPIA) would no longer be available for two of Fibernetics’s customers.
Fibernetics claims it asked Eastlink to either suspend decommissioning until after the CRTC makes a Continue Reading
