The province is moving away from an old methodology on telecom procurement
By Ahmad Hathout
VANCOUVER – Telus Corp. CEO Darren Entwistle sent a seven-page letter to British Columbia premier John Horgan in March expressing concern the province’s move toward a price-focused approach to the purchase of telecommunications services would jeopardize the company’s future investments in the province and possibly force the company to move its headquarters out of Vancouver.
Telus is currently on a 12-year, $1.6-billion “strategic” deal – signed in 2011 and expiring next July – that sees it provide telecommunications services to the provincial government, with stipulations requiring it…
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WHITEHORSE — Northwestel announced today the launch of what it calls “the North’s fastest home Internet plans”, which offer download speeds of up to 500 Mbps with unlimited monthly data.
The new plans are available in 20 communities in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, according to a press release.
“These improvements are part of Northwestel’s significant investments to expand high speed Internet speeds and access in communities across the Yukon and NWT,” the release reads.
With Northwestel’s Internet 500 unlimited plan, “Internet customers can look forward to more gaming, streaming and browsing on multiple devices in the home,” the release says. The…
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“I think they’d better listen,” minister says
OTTAWA – Industry minister François-Philippe Champagne today announced the terms he wants to see in place as he considers whether to approve a deal between Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Quebecor, which would see Shaw’s Freedom Mobile sold to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron in an attempt to alleviate concerns about the impact of the merger of Rogers and Shaw on wireless competition in Canada.
The minister, stating he is officially denying the request by Rogers to acquire Shaw’s spectrum licences, announced “the lens” through which he is considering the proposal for Videotron to…
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MONTREAL — Three new area codes – 263, 354 and 468 – will be introduced in Quebec starting Oct. 22, the Telecommunications Alliance announced today.
The new 263 area code will be introduced in Montreal, which is currently served by area codes 514 and 438, while the area code 354 will be added in the regions surrounding the city that are currently served by area codes 450 and 579.
Area code 468 will be introduced in the regions currently covered by area codes 819 and 873, which includes communities in central and western Quebec such as Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Drummondville, Rouyn-Noranda,…
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SEATTLE — Telus was the fastest mobile operator among Canada’s national providers in Q3 2022, and Rogers was the fastest fixed broadband service provider in the country during the same quarter, according to the latest report from Seattle-based broadband and mobile network testing company Ookla.
The report, released today, says Telus achieved a median mobile download speed of 76.03 Mbps (please see the chart above) during Q3 2022. The median download speeds for Canada’s other two national mobile providers, Bell and Rogers, were 73.3 Mbps and 59.86 Mbps respectively, according to the report.
Rogers achieved the fastest median upload speed for…
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Globalive (and Wind Mobile) founder adamant national wireless only player the solution
TORONTO – Canadians are more fed up with the nation’s telecommunications industry than they are with airline delays and real estate prices, according to the 2022 Canadian Telecom Sentiment Report, released late last month.
The survey, conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights and commissioned by Globalive, shows 59% of Canadians “are angry or annoyed when they think of telecom companies, the highest of all major Canadian industries surveyed,” a press release announcing the report says.
Furthermore, 71% of Canadians “are angry about telecom bills specifically, the third highest of 13 cost-of-living…
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BPF reviewing whether it will continue awarding funding to CMAC moving forward
OTTAWA – A month and a half after the federal government announced it was cutting funding it awarded to the Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC), the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage is trying to figure out why the organization received the funding – to develop an anti-racism strategy – in the first place.
Funding was cut to CMAC’s project after numerous concerns were expressed about antisemitic and other racist tweets posted by Laith Marouf, a senior consultant with the organization.
At a meeting last Friday, committee members, who argued CMAC…
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SEVERAL CANADIAN TELECOMS are currently waiving fees to help their customers stay connected to their loved ones in Iran.
Xplore posted on Twitter today to say it is waiving all home phone long-distance calls to Iran from now until the end of the month.
Telus announced on Sept. 27 it (and Koodo) would be waiving all long-distance calling and text messaging to Iran until Oct. 14.
On Sept. 28, several more companies including Rogers (and Fido and Chatr), Bell (and Virgin Plus) and Shaw (and Freedom Mobile) announced they would be waiving long-distance fees for calls and texts…
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TORONTO — Toronto-based live television app toober, announced today it launched 12 more channels in September, expanding its arts, travel, esports, sports, music and entertainment content.
toober “aims to fill a gap in the live streaming market by providing subscribers access to all of their favourite channels from around the world at one low price,” a press release says.
The new channels include:
Scream Flix — an English-language channel from Jungo featuring Asian, European and Hollywood horror films.
Front Row — an English-language music channel from Jungo featuring “the biggest acts performing in the biggest gigs from around the globe”,…
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TORONTO – Amazon’s Prime Video today announced production has started on a new Canadian Amazon Original documentary on the life and career of Ernie Coombs (above) – or as he is more commonly known, Mr. Dressup.
The feature-length documentary, which is currently untitled, will celebrate “the origins and history of Canada’s favourite children’s show, Mr. Dressup, which built a legacy of kindness, patience, inclusiveness, and creativity in 4,000 episodes across 29 years on CBC in Canada,” a press release says.
“The documentary will combine never-before-seen archival footage, interviews with series puppeteers and musicians, the Coombs family, and other notable Canadians, all sharing the impact the series…
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