And why there’s much more to rural connectivity than funding
By Lynn Greiner
AN ADDITIONAL $1.75 BILLION for rural broadband, which the federal government announced this month, is certainly a good step, albeit delayed, in the right direction. But, it’s not enough.
“It’s not a silver bullet,” said Telus vice-president telecom policy and chief regulatory legal counsel Stephen Schmidt during the Canadian Telecom Summit’s annual Regulatory Blockbuster session on Wednesday. “It won’t work on its own… In our view, complementary spectrum policy reform is an essential companion piece that will ensure that the networks that get built with or without public…
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TORONTO – While he didn’t directly address the now-expired hostile bid to purchase the company he just joined, Cogeco Connexion president Frédéric Perron (pictured in a screen cap) did use his first speech to the industry to send a message: “We’re here to stay… and we’re here to grow.”
During a Tuesday keynote to online delegates of the 19th annual Canadian Telecom Summit, Perron (a Canadian with a long background of telecom experience in Europe) noted the company likes to say “that we’re one of the well kept secrets in the industry, at least up to recently,” and he…
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Companies say they won’t pursue the acquisition further
TORONTO and NEW YORK — The joint Altice USA-Rogers Communications months-long pursuit of Cogeco and Cogeco Communications has come to an end, with the companies’ second acquisition offer expiring today and both Altice and Rogers saying they won’t pursue the matter further.
In an email statement sent to Cartt.ca, an Altice spokesperson said: “Our offer to acquire Cogeco in order to own Atlantic Broadband has expired and we do not intend to extend it. We remain committed to our growth strategy and continue to focus on opportunities to drive value for our…
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Breakfast Television in Vancouver and Calgary cancelled
TORONTO — Without providing specific numbers, Rogers Sports and Media confirmed to Cartt.ca this afternoon a “small percentage” of employees across the country are being laid off and the local Breakfast Television morning shows in Vancouver and Calgary, in their current form, have been cancelled.
“In early 2021, we will be expanding the Breakfast Television brand and a new BT will air on Citytv in 6 markets across the country: Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal. In addition, there are some programming changes at select radio stations across the country; listeners will continue to…
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GATINEAU — Having already extended the deadline once for submissions to its proceeding regarding the appropriate network and service configurations for disaggregated wholesale high-speed access (HSA) services, the CRTC says it won’t delay the proceeding further by agreeing to add procedural steps requested by the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC).
The Commission launched the proceeding in June, and then revised the deadlines in July, making interventions due by October 5 and replies due by December 7, 2020.
However, on November 2, CNOC sent a letter to the CRTC asking for a Commission order to address alleged instances of…
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TORONTO and WATERLOO — Rogers Communications, Sportsnet and the University of Waterloo today announced the launch of the Sportsnet Hockey Hack, a virtual hackathon in which students will design applications to enhance the fan experience for Sportsnet viewers, using Rogers’ 5G technology and data from the NHL’s Puck and Player Tracking system used during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The student teams participating in the hackathon will also use Intel technology, software tools and expertise, including Intel Smart Edge and OpenVINO, to build applications designed to create fun, immersive viewing experiences for Sportsnet and NHL fans. Some of the potential…
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Report due by February
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The federal government’s pledge to have wireless prices drop by 25% is expected to be studied during House of Commons hearings into accessibility and affordability of telecommunications services, starting next week.
The committee on industry will begin the proceedings on Tuesday with witnesses Telesat and Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX). Both satellite companies made news over the past two weeks as they push low earth orbit satellites to colve rural broadband coverage. The former this week formalized a $600-million agreement for the federal government to purchase satellite capacity to serve…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – To no one’s surprise, Bell Canada and the large cable companies have sought leave to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal decision of September 10, 2020, over CRTC Decision 2019-288 (about the fees third party internet access ISPs pay to the incumbents) to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Bell adopted the reasoning put forward by the large cable carriers (Rogers, Shaw, Videotron, Cogeco, and Eastlink) and let them argue more at depth the issues at hand.
Their argument seems to focus on, besides the basic issues they contended before when they went to the Federal Court…
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By Ahmad Hathout
CANADA’S LARGEST INTERNET service providers say they are pleased with the federal government’s infusion of cash with the $1.75 billion Universal Broadband Fund, but some are concerned about the speed objectives.
On Monday, the federal government announced the program was open for applications with an additional $750 million in new money and $150 million of it dedicated to a faster stream for projects that can deploy by November 2021. All projects must meet the speed threshold of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload.
Rogers, Bell and Telus praised the announcement as one that will help connect those economically-challenging…
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Bell takes top speed spot
NEW YORK — Bell is the fastest wireless carrier in Canada, according to PCMag’s annual Fastest Mobile Networks Canada 2020 report, released today.
Bell is regaining the fastest mobile network title this year, after Telus topped the list for the last three years.
To test the country’s mobile networks, PCMag’s Canada-wide testers drove through 20 cities, some as large as the Greater Toronto Area and as small as Sudbury, Ont., and Drummondville, Que., as well as rural areas in parts of Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. The tests were conducted from September 14 to October 15.
Overall, PCMag awarded…
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