By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers on Wednesday filed a challenge in the Federal Court of Appeal against the CRTC’s decision to select Quebecor’s rate for access to the cable company’s wireless infrastructure to build out its mobile virtual network operator business.
Rogers is alleging that the reasoning provided by the CRTC for selecting Quebecor’s rate in July deviates from legal precedent and runs counter to the “just and reasonable” provision under the Telecommunications Act.
Specifically, Rogers is alleging the regulator made errors in its determination that the rate it selected didn’t need to provide Rogers with an immediate-term return on investment…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications on Wednesday launched 5G service for its customers in tunnels and stations in the core parts of Toronto’s TTC subway system.
Rogers says in a press release it also upgraded the cellular network, “providing all riders with more reliable access to 911 service in these areas as part of its phased network upgrade and expansion work.”
Starting Wednesday, Rogers customers can talk, text and stream on Rogers 5G in all the stations and tunnels in the TTC subway system’s “Downtown U,” plus the tunnels between St. George and Yonge stations. In addition, Rogers…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Rogers is asking Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice to force Telus to continue fulfilling its obligations under existing wireless roaming terms with the cable company while the two competitors wrangle over terms of a proposed agreement.
Rogers is alleging in the August 14 filing that Telus is threatening to cease providing certain wireless services to it as a result of a dispute “over a particular term” in a proposed bilateral wireless agreement that is before arbitration. The particulars of the commercial dispute are not outlined in the complaint.
“TELUS has threatened to terminate Rogers’ access to certain…
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By Connie Thiessen
Former Rogers Communications CEO Joe Natale is suing for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract over his ouster during the 2021 family power struggle for control of the company led by Edward Rogers.
Natale’s statement of claim, filed in Ontario Superior Court last week, seeks $24 million in damages, including $4 million related to an unpaid bonus due upon closure of Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw Communications, under terms of his employment contract.
A former Telus CEO, Natale served as Rogers’ CEO from 2017 to Nov. 2021, when current President & CEO Tony Staffieri was appointed to the role.
The suit…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers is urging the Supreme Court of Canada to review a decision by the CRTC declining to regulate wireless attachments on municipal structures, arguing that carriers would otherwise have “no recourse” with the regulator on that critical access required for the next generation 5G rollout.
Rogers filed a two-page argument on Monday backing Telus’s application for leave at the high court after the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in April that a lower court got it right when it said Parliament intended a reference to “transmission line” in the Telecommunications Act to literally…
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‘Large number’ of Bell subscribers tried accessing unauthorized NHL streamers, telco said
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers said viewership on its official channels increased after it was ordered by the Federal Court to block unauthorized streamers of National Hockey League games during the 2022-2023 season.
The Federal Court ordered service providers to block access to unlicenced streamers of the games. As part of the order, the court required a report on the lessons from the block within 60 days of the final NHL game, which occurred on June 13. The deadline, therefore, was this week.
In an affidavit filed to the court…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said Wednesday the company is weighing its options, including possibly appealing a decision by the CRTC to pick Quebecor’s rate for access to the national carrier’s wireless network.
“We’re reviewing it,” Staffieri said about the decision. “As you would expect, we’re considering next steps, including potential appeals.”
The regulator said in its decision that while both offers for access met the policy objectives, it was Quebecor’s price that provided the regional player with an opportunity to market more data and therefore more plans.
Rogers said in its original pricing pitch that…
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Regulator argued Rogers’s investment capacity won’t be harmed
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has selected Quebecor’s price to access Rogers’s wireless network for the purposes of building out its mobile virtual network operator business, the regulator announced Monday afternoon.
The two parties were granted a final offer arbitration hearing in May after they couldn’t hammer out a deal on their own. The process involves the two sides presenting their own price offer for access and the regulator choosing one.
The CRTC ruled that despite its finding that both offers would have satisfied the policy objectives, it was Quebecor’s offer that…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers told the CRTC that it must act expeditiously on its request to access Bell and Telus poles because the new policy direction from Cabinet requires it.
Rogers said as much in a reply submission last week to Bell and Telus, who told the CRTC to deny Rogers’s request last Wednesday asking for interim access to attach wireless equipment on their poles.
Telus said in its submission that the expedited request is “unsubstantiated” and that Rogers allegedly failed to “demonstrate any need for the Commission to exercise its discretion to implement an expedited process…
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Bell alleges it has approached Rogers about terms and didn’t hear back
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers is accusing Bell and Telus of delaying its requests to attach wireless equipment on their poles and is asking the CRTC to make an interim order granting those requests on an expedited basis.
Rogers said in a Part 1 application filed earlier this month and published Wednesday that Telus had invited it to apply for attachment permits last year, but “abruptly changed its position” on the basis that the CRTC said it would be reviewing the wireless attachment framework in a decision on wireline…
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