TORONTO – Rogers is launching Narrow-Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network technology in Ontario this year in what it calls a “strategic step” in its multi-year technology plan to bring 5G to Canadians.
NB-IoT is ideal for IoT devices that generate and receive small amounts of data, have low power requirements, and/or have a long life cycle, such as stationary asset monitoring, industrial automation, smart meters, and smart city applications. The technology also enables consumer IoT applications such as personal SOS devices and trackers.
The Rogers NB-IoT network will be available in Ontario later this year and deploy additional sites on…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC’s decision on who will get, or even whether to grant, a mandatory carriage TV licence under section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act for a national, multilingual and multi-ethnic television service, will come on Thursday at 11 a.m.
The Commission held a four-day hearing at the end of November to hear from Rogers, which owns the existing 9(1)(h) license under the OMNI brand until August 2020, as well as applications from Ethnic Channels Group (Voices), an ATN/Telelatino partnership (CanadaWorld), Bell Media (OurTV), Corrcan Media Group (no name), ICTV (Tele1/Tele2), Amber Broadcasting (Amber News Network), and Multicultural Described…
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HALIFAX – Rogers Square, a new outdoor event space in downtown Halifax, officially opened to the public on Friday at an event attended by three levels of government, members of the local business community and Rogers’ officials.
Housed in the middle of the Nova Centre, the open-air space and can hold more than two thousand people at a time and is available for organizations and community groups to use on its own or as an extension of activities hosted inside the building.
“We are proud to be an important part of the fabric of the Halifax community and to provide a…
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GATINEAU – When the CRTC launched its review of mobile wireless services earlier this year it stated: “This proceeding will focus on three key areas: Competition in the retail market; The current wholesale mobile wireless service regulatory framework, with a focus on wholesale MVNO access and the future of mobile wireless services in Canada, with a focus on reducing barriers to infrastructure deployment.”
This focus on Mobile Virtual Network Operators sure did not fall in deaf ears – and some players jumped right in with strong support since the high cost of entry into the wireless business means many players…
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GATINEAU – In its submission to the CRTC’s review of mobile services, Cogeco – which already offers cable, Internet and local phone in various markets in Quebec and Ontario – has proposed another way to get into wireless without losing its shirt.
With less than 800,000 wired subscribers, the company can hardly afford the cost of entry in the wireless club but definitely wants to add mobile so it can provide the entire bundle of services to customers. For years, Cogeco has been advocating a mandated Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) regime to piggyback on larger wireless operators at cost…
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OTTAWA – Canadians who live in areas without a strong regional wireless competitor pay more for their mobile plans, according to the Competition Bureau.
In its comments for the CRTC’s mobile wireless services review, the Bureau said that 10GB plans, for example, can be priced as low as $60-$75 per month in Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan (i.e where Bell, Rogers and Telus compete with regional players Videotron, Bell MTS and SaskTel). By comparison, the same 10GB plans in other provinces and territories can be as much as 80% higher, priced at $105-$110 per month.
Factors such as network quality, coverage,…
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We’re not sure where the MPs get some of their facts
OTTAWA – Since January when Nova Scotia MP Bernadette Jordan was appointed Canada’s first Minister of Rural Economic Development, she has met and spoken with Canadians from all walks of life, including those in rural and remote communities from coast to coast to coast.
Speaking before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology on Thursday, Jordan said the number one concern expressed almost unanimously by the people she visited was their need for better internet connectivity. This was the first committee meeting studying private member’s…
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GATINEAU – Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck, or 100 duck-sized horses?
That was the unusual, if creative, way SaskTel chose to demonstrate how, if the CRTC is going to mandate third party wireless resellers, we can expect a much worse competitive market that causes serious damage to regional independent mobile wireless operators.
“Mandated MVNOs will harm 4th carriers more than the National Wireless Carriers. In any market, there is a portion of the customer base which is most likely to move to a new competitor, a portion which is quite unlikely to change, and a portion somewhere between these…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC needs to be “split up in terms of the kinds of people making broadcasting decisions and the kinds of personnel making telecom decisions,” said Tim Denton, chairman of the Internet Society Canada Chapter (ISCC) at the two-day Policy 3.0 Communications Law conference organized by the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications last week.
Denton, a former CRTC commissioner who now works as a consultant on Internet and telecom policy, also called for the creation of a chief technology officer within the Commission to provide advice on current technology-related issues. He said the CRTC needs to…
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Independent broadcasters want their HD added to satellite services
MONTREAL — The licence renewal applications of Bell and Shaw’s satellite TV distribution services prompted 156 replies, the vast majority of which were comments from individuals upset Shaw Communications plans to discontinue a free basic TV service it set up for people who lost access to over-the-air stations during the digital transition.
The Local Television Satellite Solution was promised and provided by Shaw in 2010 as a tangible benefit during its acquisition of CanWest’s television assets, including Global TV. The company proposed spending $15 million to send free…
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