By Ahmad Hathout
After five years of injunctions against a host of unlicensed content, Canada’s major broadcasters earlier this week filed a notice to the Federal Court ending their legal action against GoldTV – a case that spawned a new era of court authority over content pirates.
The broadcasters first got an interlocutory injunction against the website in the summer of 2019, which meant GoldTV was ordered by the court to stop broadcasting the unlicensed content of the major broadcasters – in this case, Rogers, Bell, Groupe TVA. That order was renewed in December 2022 for a period of two years.
“At…
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Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) announced Monday a $45-million investment that will support the creation of a 5G testbed and living lab program as part of a $66-million project led by Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks (CENGN).
Based in Kanata, Ont., CENGN plans to develop eight living labs across Canada and support more than 100 Canadian startups and scaleups through the project, according to a CENGN news release. Living labs will be located in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, and will focus on the validation of 5G and…
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Rogers announced Tuesday morning the launch of Rogers Xfinity Storm-Ready WiFi, what it calls “Canada’s first home internet back-up solution”.
The new product combines Rogers advanced network technology with a device that automatically switches to the Rogers cellular network when there is an internet service or power outage. The product’s extended, rechargeable battery backup allows customers to keep working online and streaming without interruption for up to four hours during an outage. Battery status notifications are delivered via the Rogers Xfinity app.
The launch of Storm-Ready WiFi follows the recent introduction of Rogers Xfinity, a suite of in-home…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A group of internet service providers has filed a petition to cabinet on a precautionary basis asking it to vary the CRTC’s wholesale framework decision from August in case the regulator decides, after its latest consultation, not to ban the three largest ISPs from accessing the regime.
The launch of the CRTC’s latest consultation came at the behest of cabinet, which ordered the CRTC to revisit an interim decision from November 2023 that did not exclude Rogers, Bell and Telus (Big 3) from accessing the last-mile fibre networks of the latter two…
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Fans attending Taylor Swift’s final concert of her Eras Tour at BC Place in Vancouver on Sunday set a new record for the most data used at a single event on the Rogers 5G network, using more than 11 terabytes (TB) of mobile data to share and stream the concert experience, according to a Roger press release.
This shatters the previous record set Nov. 21 at the Taylor Swift concert at Rogers Centre in Toronto, when fans used 7.4 TB of data on the Rogers 5G network in just a few hours.
“Taylor fans use…
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Rogers Sports & Media last week unveiled its winter slate of content for its recently licensed Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, Investigation Discovery (ID) and Magnolia Network specialty channels, launching Jan. 1.
“Through Rogers and Rogers Sports & Media, Canadians won’t miss a beat when it comes to watching new episodes from returning hit series and new titles from North America’s biggest home renovation and culinary stars,” Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports & Media, said in a statement. “We continue to work with all distribution partners to ensure viewers can watch this top-rated content where and when…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telus is asking the Federal Court to quash a decision by the Governor in Council to force the CRTC to consider banning the three largest telecoms from accessing the bundled last-mile fibre networks of Bell and Telus in part because cabinet allegedly held “dozens of closed-door meetings between various parties adverse” to the Vancouver-based telecom without providing an opportunity to respond.
Those meetings, it argues, are outside the legal bounds of the review process permitted under the Telecommunications Act, which requires all parties who submit comments to the CRTC on a matter be given an opportunity to respond…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri on Monday defended a $7-per month price hike on the company’s TV set top boxes in front of House’s committee on industry, saying it’s the result of increased investments the company makes to improve software and functionality to the device it considers a premium product.
The cable giant’s head also said the majority of customers are not impacted by the hike on the Ignite boxes first revealed by a CBC/Radio-Canada investigation – stemming from consumer complaints that promises of fixed-rate contracts were allegedly broken – and that customers who were affected,…
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Rural broadband service provider Xplore Inc. announced Monday the appointment of Brent Johnston as its new CEO, effective immediately, following the departure of former CEO Rizwan Jamal earlier this year.
Xplore also announced Monday its chief financial officer, Geoff Lowe, who recently served as the company’s interim CEO, has been promoted to the position of president and chief financial officer (CFO).
A veteran of the Canadian telecom industry, Johnston previously served as president of wireless services at Rogers Communications, senior managing director at Apple Canada, and senior vice president of consumer…
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Telus announced Tuesday it has launched a petition looking to drum up support for the Vancouver-based telecom’s plans to use the CRTC’s aggregated last-mile fibre regime to bring its PureFibre internet to Ontario and Quebec, following a federal cabinet decision earlier this month asking the commission to reconsider allowing the Big 3 telecom providers to use the bundled fibre networks of Bell and Telus in those two provinces.
Telus said in its Tuesday press release that it is “calling on Canadians to protect their right to choose their Internet service…
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