GATINEAU – The third day of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS) mandate review saw telecom providers in the West and East agree on a few changes to the complaints body. Quebecor Media and Shaw Communications noted in their respective testimony to the CRTC on Thursday they believe it’s natural for the CCTS to conduct some code interpretation.
They also believe that participation in the complaints body should be mandatory.
Peggy Tabet, senior director of regulatory affairs for telecommunications at Quebecor, noted under questioning that it’s about treating all players equally. In a world where the company is subjected…
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GATINEAU – Rogers Communications told the CRTC on Wednesday that the Commissions for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) should become “a destination of last resort” for consumer complaints.
The country’s largest wireless provider argued during day 2 on the hearing into the CCTS (click here for day one's coverage) the industry should take a page out of the banking sector’s playbook and adopt a model similar to that of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI). Kim Walker, Rogers’ Ombudsperson, said during her opening remarks that the OBSI is the final recourse for customers after…
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GATINEAU – The mandate review for the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS) kicked off on Tuesday with the body arguing that voluntary participation would make it much more difficult to resolve complaints – and that some consumers could find themselves on the short end of the complaints process.
In addition, the trigger-based system of participation is unruly and hasn’t proven effective in forcing telecom service providers (TSPs) to join the CCTS.
Josée Thibault, assistant CCTS commissioner, noted “there is a real risk that many providers would withdraw from CCTS, creating a situation in which some customers are entitled to…
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TORONTO – Hollywood Suite’s four HD movie channels are officially now known as Hollywood Suite 70s Movies, Hollywood Suite 80s Movies, Hollywood Suite 90s Movies and Hollywood Suite 2000s Movies, after being relaunched on Monday.
The independent broadcaster announced in September that the rebrand would include a streamlined look that brings a single Hollywood Suite identity to the four on-air HD channels, On Demand, the Hollywood Suite Go app, and its web and social media properties.
Subscribers can still find the big pre-1970 films with programming blocks dedicated to the essential classics from the golden age of Hollywood. All movies will remain uncut…
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OTTAWA – Rogers’ lock on the NHL broadcast rights in Canada has not substantially lessened or prevented competition in any relevant market in Canada, the Competition Bureau has determined.
The Bureau said that it reviewed Rogers’ $5.2 billion, 12‑year agreement for exclusive rights to all national NHL games “given the duration, significance and exclusive nature of this deal, as well as the fact that Rogers is a vertically‑integrated company with sizeable programming and distribution operations”. The review included consultations with advertisers, television service providers and distributors, as well as an analysis of evidence from the NHL, Rogers and other sources.
After examining…
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TORONTO – Many Canadian businesses still aren’t sure how to leverage the Internet of Things despite the technology's advantages, says a Rogers Communications official.
Eric Simmons, the company’s general manager of IoT and wireless made the comment during an interview Wednesday at this year's annual Canadian Wireless Trade Show in Toronto, where he spoke about IoT and how new end-to-end solutions announced recently by the carrier will help make it "available to the masses."
The three are:
Farm and Food Monitoring, which allows farmers to remotely check key status of produce, livestock, and equipment by automating…
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TORONTO – Adding packet-switched voice calling to LTE networks (VoLTE) is in some ways the holy grail of true 4G wireless.
By enabling an all-IP based communications system, not only will it improve the quality of voice calls compared to legacy networks, VoLTE will ultimately also make network stacks simpler.
But on Wednesday a consultant warned Canadian carriers about to implement VoLTE they will need to work closely with older 2G and 3G networks – which will have to handle voice calls when users drift out of LTE coverage – to get the benefits of the new technology.
“The message here is…
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TORONTO – Just over five million (5.1 million) Canadians participated in fantasy sports online or via a mobile device at some point in the past (about 20% of the online population), according to Solution Research Group’s most recent Sports Canada Quarterly report which tracks sports fans, sponsors and emerging consumer behavior in the sports space.
Top sports for fantasy sports participants in the past year were (in order of popularity): NHL Hockey, NFL Football, Major League Baseball, MLS Soccer, NBA Basketball and CFL Football, says the SRG press release.
On a top-of-mind basis, the top sites/apps that came to…
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OTTAWA – Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus must disclose their interim wholesale wireless rates within the next week after the CRTC found in favour of a disclosure of information request from Vaxination Informatique.
Vaxination filed a request for disclosure of all the confidential information in the wholesale wireless roaming interim tariffs issued on June 4, 2015 by the national wireless carriers, part of the Commission’s decision on wholesale mobile wireless services issued last May.
In a letter to the big three wireless carriers dated October 27, the CRTC said that it rejected submissions opposing the request, saying that the disclosure is…
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PEOPLE ARE ALREADY CALLING Justin Trudeau our first “selfie” Prime Minister. Images of him on the campaign trail – and the day after the election – mugging with various Canadians who have one arm outstretched and the other around our PM-to-be number in the hundreds of thousands. He’ll apparently even click it for you, if you like.
Of course, those snapshots are then uploaded to the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other sharing platform to display to followers around the country and the world. Just Google “Justin Trudeau selfie”.
Invariably, those images ride…
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