By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear a big telecom appeal about the alleged incorrectness of the CRTC’s decision to reduce the rate for internet capacity purchased by smaller service providers.
The decision, announced Thursday morning, exhausts the legal route for a challenge of the August 2019 rates that dramatically reduced the amount that smaller providers would need to spend to purchase network capacity from the larger players. The rates were never implemented because it almost instantly was appealed to the CRTC, the federal government, and the courts.
The SCC does not give reasons for why…
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Whatever the SCC decides, all still await the CRTC’s Review & Vary call
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada will, on Thursday morning at 9:45, release a decision on whether it will hear an appeal of the August 2019 decision which the CRTC set new wholesale internet fees for incumbents, a decision which also forced the likes of Bell, Rogers and others to pay retroactive fees to independent resellers.
Both Bell as well as the large traditional cable carriers sought leave to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal decision which upheld CRTC decision 2019-288—Final rates for aggregated wholesale…
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Working group includes members from Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Cogeco, Eastlink and CWTA
TORONTO — Investment in the telecommunications sector is key to Canada’s future prosperity and governments must focus on regulatory clarity, timeliness and stability to help drive greater investments in critically needed infrastructure, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.
The think tank today issued the first communiqué from its telecommunications policy working group which includes among its 19 members the chief regulatory experts from Bell, Rogers and Telus, as well as executives from Cogeco, Eastlink and Shaw Communications, and CWTA president and CEO Robert Ghiz. The…
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TORONTO — Rogers Sports and Media’s Sportsnet announced today it has entered into a multi-year partnership with Canada Basketball that will include the collaborative development and launch of several new national and international men’s and women’s basketball events, to take place in Canada, beginning in 2022.
The two organizations are also teaming up to deliver original and creative content featuring the stories and events that both influence and unite the Canadian basketball community, says Sportsnet’s press release. Highlighting the activities and accomplishments of the country’s most heralded players and coaches, as well as rising stars, this original content will air…
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CCO Tony Geheran on growth opportunities and funding broadband better
By Greg O’Brien
IN THE CANADIAN TELECOM world, the two big eastern Canada-based companies get a lot of the attention from those of us in the press.
And they should. They’re dominant in wireless and broadband and pay-TV in the most populous two provinces in Canada. They also own sports teams and television and radio stations and digital outlets. Their names are on the arenas in which some of our most beloved pro teams play. They’re in the media and they are the media. We can’t help ourselves.
Which means Telus, big as…
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New home for more adult fare from Disney+
By Greg O’Brien
TORONTO – For those determined to look at new things the old way, you could say Disney+ is launching a new channel today with Star.
However, with over 150 TV series and more than 500 movies at launch, increasing to nearly 800 by the end of 2021 – which will also include exclusive Star original content – there’s a lot more to watch than on a TV channel, as we reported in January.
The titles are generally those which don’t fit under the mostly kid-friendly existing Disney+ brands of Disney, Pixar,…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU — The Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) are asking the CRTC for expedited and temporary relief from Rogers Communications’ recent move to phase out new activations of DOCSIS 3.0 modems used by third-party Internet access (TPIA) service providers leasing Rogers’ networks. Rogers wants its TPIA customers to transition to DOCSIS 3.1 modems.
In a Part 1 application filed February 16 and posted to the Commission’s website on February 22, CNOC asks the Commission to determine that competitors using Rogers’ TPIA service be allowed to continue to activate DOCSIS 3.0 modems, when ordering download speed tiers…
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LONDON, U.K. — Telus has once again been ranked as the top national wireless provider in Canada, according to the latest report from UK-based mobile analytics company Opensignal.
Out of seven categories, Telus won four awards for mobile network experience, taking first place in video experience, voice app experience, download speed and upload speed in Opensignal’s February 2021 report.
Telus was also the joint winner for the three other categories — sharing top honours with Rogers for 4G availability, splitting the award for 4G coverage experience with its network-sharer Bell, and with all three providers sharing the award for games experience….
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TORONTO — Rogers Sports and Media announced today the launch of its “All In” inclusion and diversity program which will provide free advertising and creative services to five Canadian charities as well as help amplify the stories of a number of Black-focused charities and businesses.
The five organizations receiving free advertising and creative services through Rogers Sports and Media’s All In program are Big Brothers Big Sisters, Blacbiblio.com, Canadian Women and Sport, Friends of Ruby and Spirit North.
“Though these five organizations differ in their specific missions and the communities they serve, they each share a…
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TORONTO — Sportsnet and WWE announced today they are expanding their existing distribution agreement to now include live broadcasts of NXT on Sportsnet 360 and SN NOW, beginning Wednesday, February 24 at 8 p.m. ET.
Airing live every Wednesday night, NXT features the newest stars from WWE, including Finn Bálor, Adam Cole, Io Shirai, Karrion Kross, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae.
In addition to NXT, Sportsnet 360 will continue to air WWE’s weekly flagship programs Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown, as well as WWE Main Event and This Week in WWE. As part of a 10-year broadcast agreement…
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