By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – With less than a month remaining to get an agreement hammered before the CRTC-imposed deadline, Cogeco CEO Philippe Jette said the telecom is still working to get a deal done to roam on the large carriers’ wireless networks.
“We’re still determined to launch a mobile service in Canada and we are now in negotiations with the MNO,” Jette said on the company’s fiscal third-quarter conference call with analysts Friday. “For competitive reasons, we won’t go further on this call…it remains a critical element for our business case to enter for the long-term this market, so we…
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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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STOUFFVILLE – The federal government and Ontario have announced Wednesday that Rogers will get $54 million to connect 83 underserved communities in the province.
The project is expected to provide high-speed internet access to over 20,000 homes in these communities.
The communities are: Acton, Alliston, Alton, Angus, Anten Mills, Ballinafad, Ballycroy, Barrie, Baxter, Baywood Park, Beeton, Belfountain, Bolton, Bond Head, Borden, Brown Hill, Caledon East, Caledon Village, Camilla, Campbells Cross, Cedar Mills, Cedar Valley, Cheltenham, Claremont, Coldwater, Colgan, Connor, Cookstown, Craighurst, Cundles, Elba, Elmvale, Erin, Everett, Everton, Fergus Hill Estate, Ferndale, Forest Home, Garafraxa Woods, Glencairn, Goodwood, Hillsburgh, Hillsdale, Horseshoe Valley,…
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OTTAWA – Bell filed Wednesday a letter of support for the Supreme Court of Canada to review a Federal Court of Appeal decision affirming that the CRTC does not have jurisdiction over wireless attachments on municipal structures.
The one-page letter supporting Telus’s application includes a copy to Rogers, Cogeco, Quebecor, Xplornet, Ice Wireless, the province of British Columbia and opponents of the argument, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Electricity Canada.
Telus filed the appeal to the high court last month, which has yet to decide if it will hear it. The Vancouver-based telecom argued that the appeal…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The spate of acquisitions by incumbents of wholesale internet service providers in recent months is not because of a difficult market or bad wholesale access rates, Bell argued in its most recent submission to the CRTC’s wholesale internet framework proceeding, which is messaging that runs counter to what competitors have been saying.
“These acquisitions were completed for a variety of reasons, including succession planning, and the sales were made at strong valuations, not because the Resellers went bankrupt, were driven out of the market or…because of ‘the broken wholesale access model,’” Bell said, in reference to…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Innovation Canada has not yet delivered all money announced to certain large internet service providers from the roughly six-year-old Connect to Innovate program as of May 4.
In a tally recently released in response to a question from Conservative member of Parliament Dan Mazier, the department said it has transferred roughly $98.4 million out of an announced $110.8 million to Bell and roughly $14.3 million to Telus out of an announced $28.9 million. Shaw, now part of Rogers, had $11.4 million reserved for it, but ISED does not say if it received any of it. Rogers…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Innovation Canada has followed through on a proposal to raise the costs of certifying telecommunications equipment, despite a warning from SaskTel that it would lead to higher consumer prices.
The department said in a decision Tuesday there will be a new wireless equipment certification fee of $4,000 instead of $1,200, the wireless equipment recertification fees are now $10 more expensive per person, per hour at $160 with a minimum application of two hours, a new single $750 fee for both telecom and radio equipment, and an equipment registration amendment cost of $375 – all in line…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Two public interest groups are asking the CRTC to consolidate multiple broadcaster requests of the commission to lessen their local television regulatory obligations and consider several options to tackle the issue.
The Forum for Research and Policy in Communications and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre filed an application Friday asking the regulator to bring together the seven relief applications brought forth by Bell, Corus, Rogers and Quebecor and provide one notice of consultation on them.
The groups then ask for a preparatory conference of interested participants so that the number of issues can be kept at a…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Corus CEO Doug Murphy reiterated Thursday the need for the CRTC to take immediate action on lessening Canadian content requirements ahead of the implementation of a new Broadcasting Act policy to force foreign streamers to contribute to those requirements.
Praising the death of the old Broadcasting Act and the introduction of three consultations on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, Murphy said the CRTC needs to set its sights on the now as broadcasters are being squeezed financially.
“We continue to urge the regulator through those consultations and other forums to revisit the obligations on Canadian…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Federal Court has again denied movie studio Voltage Pictures its request for the court to allow it to group a bunch of alleged copyright infringers to sue because its litigation plan was contrary to the Copyright Act.
Voltage Pictures had to show the court how it was to deal with notifying the hundreds of anonymous alleged downloaders and sharers of its movies about its plan to sue them in a rare reverse class action lawsuit, a process that groups a basket of defendants for a mass lawsuit.
But the studio’s proposal to use the notice-and-notice system…
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