GATINEAU – Canada’s major cable carriers (Eastlink, Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron) Wednesday made the point to federal cabinet that all the CRTC decision on new third party internet access aggregated wholesale rates does is disincentivize needed investment in high-speed networks, which is contrary to public interest.
November 13th was the deadline to file petitions to Cabinet (technically to the Governor-in-Council with cabinet) on the August CRTC decision to set lower final rates for TPIA – and force the incumbents to pay three years of retroactive overpayments to independent ISP resellers – and as the cable carriers argue, “by reducing…
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KELOWNA — Rogers Communications is investing $16.5 million to enhance wireless service in the Kelowna area of B.C., which will provide new coverage and more reliable connectivity for Rogers and Fido customers, the company announced Wednesday.
Rogers’ network investment includes the construction of new towers and major upgrades to existing cell sites, to be completed by early 2020, the company said in a news release. Furthermore, the network enhancements will lay the foundation for the rollout of 5G in Kelowna, West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation, including in Central City, South Pandosy-KLO, Leathead, Glenrosa Road and Lakeview Heights, Rogers…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications this week has made its new Pro-On-the-Go service available to existing customers across most of the Greater Toronto Area.
The service, which aims to make buying a wireless device more convenient and easy, where within hours of ordering, a connected solutions pro will meet a customer at their time and location of choice, with their device, and will set it up for them based on their preferences, was launched October 30th.
It started only in select neighbourhoods in Toronto but is now available across the GTA to existing customers who are upgrading or adding a line…
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TORONTO – Like most others worldwide, Canadians' TV viewing habits seem in constant flux. They're taking to streaming and on-demand viewing, driven by the adoption of Amazon Prime, Netflix, Crave TV, and other services, and are watching on more than television sets. An expert panel at the Canadian ISP Summit took a look at this changing landscape and discussed what the future may hold for ISPs and traditional TV providers.
Moderator Brad Fisher, CRO of Distributel, was joined by panelists Doug Edwards, executive chairman and founder of Zone TV, Kerry Travilla, VP of technology at MobiTV, John Pomeroy, GM –…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communication said today announced it is expanding the availability of Freedom Home Internet, an internet product which was tested in Calgary in October, which is designed to give its wireless customers the fast download speeds and unlimited data they need to stay connected at home.
“Freedom Home Internet gives our customers access to all the in-home connectivity they want, paired with the innovative wireless plans from Freedom Mobile that they already love,” said Paul McAleese, Shaw’s wireless president.
Freedom Home Internet is designed for customers who also want a fast, self-managed, in-home internet service, adds the company. This…
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Incumbents ask for two more months to file their R&V of the wholesale rates decision
GATINEAU – Following the August CRTC decision on final rates for aggregated wholesale high-speed internet access services (CRTC Telecom Order 2019-288), it was obvious by their collective reaction that the incumbent ISPs would challenge the decision, by any and all means necessary.
They went to the Federal Court of Appeal already and were granted a stay, as we reported, and the next step is to ask the CRTC to review, rescind or vary its own decision, as provided…
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TORONTO — BAI Communications today announced the appointment of Don Morrison (pictured) as the executive chairman of its Canadian operation, effective November 11, 2019.
The executive chairman role was created because BAI Communications Canada CEO Ken Ranger is relocating to London to become the chief operating officer for BAI Communications in the UK, the company explained in a news release on Tuesday. As CEO in Canada, Ranger led the team responsible for the rollout of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) cellular, IP and Wi-Fi network across the Toronto subway system. As executive chairman, Morrison will be driving the business,…
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VANCOUVER — Rogers Communications and the University of British Columbia (UBC) announced Tuesday they have launched the country’s first 5G-powered smart campus, which will be used by university researchers to test 5G applications in a real-world setting.
The smart campus includes 5G towers throughout UBC’s Point Grey campus and an edge computing-enabled data centre. As reported by Cartt.ca last year, Rogers announced a multi-million dollar partnership with UBC to fund academic research in 5G applications and applied sciences.
“With 5G at our doorstep, we’re focused on bringing together Canada’s brightest minds to research, incubate and commercialize applications that will transform…
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HAMILTON – There were five original owners of the first Hamilton Community Cable Access channel – now well known in the Steel City as Cable 14.
The city was an anomaly with five strong, growing, cable operators in the early ’70s. The owners of General Co-Axial Service (which would become Mountain Cablevision), MacLean-Hunter Cable TV, Northgate Cable T.V., Hamilton Co-Axial (which would become Source Cable) and Western Co-Axial TV and Appliance Service all thought it would be better to pool their resources on a single community channel to serve their city, which they launched in 1969 without (gasp!) regulatory permission.
So,…
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Freedom customers still the only ones with subway connectivity
TORONTO – BAI Communications has launched an online petition at iwantaccess.ca to try and pressure Rogers, Bell and Telus to come to the negotiation table and use the underground network it built for the Toronto Transit Commission.
Coverage in TTC stations has been live since 2015 for Freedom Mobile customers, “however, the Big 3 Telcos have yet to join the network,” says the petition. “Now, BAI is committed to educating cellular customers of the Big 3 Telcos about why they can’t access this network, and what they can…
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