By Connie Thiessen
A group of private and public sector partners have announced the coordinated takedown of X.CPE, a global botnet hidden in more than 1.3 million set-top boxes across more than 200 countries, including Canada and the U.S.
Led by Google, Plume, TrendAI, Lumen, HUMAN Security and Synthient, alongside Japan’s National Police Agency, the group says X.CPE was hidden on devices before they were ever sold, using subscribers’ devices and home internet connections without their knowledge or consent.
Embedded in firmware and built to evade pre-release security checks, the botnet generated revenue from compromised devices by reselling bandwidth, delivering video content, ad…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Timeless and Rogers have agreed on rates for the cable giant to carry OneSoccer, but not yet on packaging.
The CRTC said Friday that, during final offer arbitration (FOA), Timeless agreed to Rogers’s rates to carry the discretionary sports channel. With that, the parties resolved the undue preference complaint Timeless filed against Rogers in 2023. Rogers offered rates similar to those given to comparable services – Sportsnet West, beIN Sports, and Goal TV – and to provide it to Rogers’s entire subscriber base to add on an à la carte basis or as part of a package, according…
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Reasons coming later; Rogers “considering next steps”
By Ahmad Hathout
The Competition Tribunal ordered Rogers on Wednesday to pay a $15-million penalty for marketing wireless service plans with a finite amount of high-speed data as “unlimited” and “infinite.”
The tribunal said Rogers, which also must disseminate a “corrective notice,” contravened paragraph 74.01(1)(a) of the Competition Act, which covers false or misleading representations to the public. The tribunal said it will work with the parties to redact any confidential information before releasing its reasons, which is expected within 10 business days and will include said corrective notice.
“Canadians rely on accurate…
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Bell announced Tuesday it has signed an agreement to sell a 49.9-per-cent stake in a newly formed wireless tower infrastructure company to Quebec pension fund La Caisse (formerly CDPQ) for $2.45 billion.
The new tower company (TowerCo) will own and operate Bell’s portfolio of wireless infrastructure assets, which includes more than 5,000 sites across Canada.
Under the terms of the agreement, TowerCo will lease capacity on the transferred towers to Bell, which will retain a 50.1-per-cent controlling equity interest in TowerCo.
The transaction values the new tower company at approximately $4.91 billion and is expected to close…
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Cable giant watching AI shopping
By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers executives said Friday that the cable giant felt the full impact of the CRTC’s fees elimination decision in the third quarter, as it continues to seek ways to offset the loss of revenue that it says was used to recoup costs.
On a year-over-year basis, wireless service revenue decreased one per cent to just north of $2 billion and mobile phone ARPU fell 2.6 per cent, or $1.48, to $55.22 in the third quarter, which encompasses the months of July, August and September.
“The full run rate for the decision was felt in the…
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Corus Entertainment announced Tuesday the launch of its new StackTV app across select devices, with additional platforms to be supported soon.
Currently available on Roku, iOS (iPhone and iPad) and the web, the new StackTV app’s rolling launch will continue this fall with Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Android phones and tablets, Apple TV, LG Smart TVs and Samsung Tizen Smart TVs, according to a Corus press release.
The app offers a free account option, allowing viewers to stream thousands of hours of TV shows and movies, 24/7 Global News channels, and select episodes of Global’s…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers and Corus have agreed to a new distribution deal that ends a long-running carriage dispute that involved several regulatory and court decisions.
Corus wrote a letter to the CRTC last month stating it wished to withdraw two 2024 undue preference applications, including one that targeted Rogers’s intention of removing or repackaging its Home and Flavour channels, which replaced HGTV and Food Network, respectively, after the cable giant scooped up the rights to those trademarks and content that summer.
In a reply on Tuesday, CRTC staff acknowledged that Corus and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers is claiming in a Part 1 made public Monday that Concord Pacific Development Corp. is forcing it to pay a $300 per-unit fee to access two properties under construction in Burnaby, British Columbia.
The cable giant claims, since July 2024, it has been seeking access to the properties at 5889 Barker Avenue and 4750-4754 Kingsway, but Concord “has consistently refused to discuss access by Rogers to the Properties unless Rogers agrees to pay an upfront per unit entry fee of $300 to obtain Concord’s permission to access the multi-dwelling units after construction is complete.
“Concord has also stated…
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The CRTC sent a letter to the national and regional telecoms this week requesting an update on the progress of the MVNO regime that is four years out from sunsetting.
From Rogers, Bell, Telus and Sasktel, the regulator is asking for a list of MVNO agreements entered into with regional carriers. It is asking the same from Quebecor, Cogeco, Eastlink and Iristel, as well as the areas where these regionals are using the wireless capacity to deliver services, where new radio access networks (RAN) have been deployed, the total capital investment to expand into these new areas, the number of…
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Canada’s big banks and the three largest telecoms will be able to share information through a single platform to protect Canadians against fraud.
The Cross-Sector Anti-Fraud Exchange (CSAFE), launched this week, aims to help identify and prevent repeat fraud through the shared platform. Its goal, according to a press release, is to disrupt fraudsters, identify repeat fraud at critical decision points across account opening, authentication and transaction, reduce fraud risks with aggregated insights drawn from a broader set of confirmed events across participating institutions, and facilitate timely sharing of confirmed fraud intelligence so participants can respond.
CSAFE was developed by EnStream,…
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