SEVERAL CANADIAN TELECOMS have decided to continue waiving fees for Canadians connecting to loved ones in Ukraine.
As Cartt.ca reported last month, many Canadian telecoms chose to waive fees for calls and texts from Canada to Ukraine, with several stating they intended to do so until the end of this month. Most, however, have now extended this deadline.
SaskTel announced last Friday it will continue to waive long-distance charges for wireless, landline and business calls from Canada to Ukraine, international text messages from Canada to Ukraine and roaming charges for calls, texts and data overages for customers currently in…
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“I’m not building yesterday’s telecom,” founder says
By Amanda OYE
RICHMOND, B.C. – After spending nearly two decades working for a major Canadian telecom, Babbl Communications’ president and founder Jason Speers (above) decided to put what he had learned to use to bring down Internet prices in western Canada.
Babbl is a third-party Internet access (TPIA) provider that was launched last September and currently serves over 40 communities in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Southern Vancouver Island and the Sea to Sky Corridor.
Internet packages, which are currently being offered at a discounted rate, include $35/month for Internet 75, $45/month…
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Freedom Mobile founder wants to buy the company back
TORONTO – Xplornet Communications Inc. is in talks with Rogers Communications Inc. about purchasing Shaw Communication Inc.’s Freedom Mobile, according to the Globe and Mail, which cites “three sources familiar with the talks.”
It was reported last week Rogers is in talks with potential buyers for Freedom. This news followed a statement from François-Philippe Champagne, the minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, which indicated he would not allow Rogers to acquire all of Shaw’s wireless assets.
Rogers needs approvals from the CRTC, Competition Bureau and ISED before it can…
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MONTREAL — The province of Quebec will see the introduction of three new area codes later this year.
Starting Oct. 22, the new area code 263 will be introduced in Montreal, which is currently served by area codes 514 and 438.
At the same time, the new area code 354 will be added in the regions currently served by area codes 450 and 579 in the surrounding area of Montreal.
In addition, the new area code 468 will be added to the regions covered by area codes 819 and 873, which includes communities in central and western Quebec such as Gatineau, Sherbrooke,…
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Also requests he make careful decisions about his participation in certain proceedings
GATINEAU – The Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) today asked CRTC chair and CEO Ian Scott directly to resolve a backlog of CRTC decisions and to consider his participation in certain Commission proceedings.
In a letter filed today via GCKey, which Cartt.ca has received a copy of, CNOC asks Scott “to resolve the Commission’s backlog of competition moving decisions as soon as possible,” arguing the CRTC “has accumulated a severe backlog of pending decisions and / or inactive proceedings that involve matters that are critical to…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC announced today Canadian television service providers can no longer distribute the Russian state-funded English-language channel RT (Russia Today) or RT France.
The Commission formally removed both channels from its list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution in Canada after determining their continued distribution “is not in the public interest,” according to a press release.
“RT’s programming is not consistent with the standards against which Canadian services are measured nor the policy objectives set out in the Broadcasting Act,” the release explains.
“The CRTC is also concerned with programming from a foreign country…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications is in talks with potential buyers of Shaw Communications’ Freedom Mobile, although according to the Globe and Mail, these talks do not include Quebecor subsidiary Videotron.
The news comes following a statement earlier this month from François-Philippe Champagne, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, in which he said he would not allow Rogers to acquire all of Shaw’s wireless assets. (Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw still needs approval from ISED, the CRTC and the Competition Bureau.)
At a Scotia Bank conference the following week, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said Rogers found the statement to be…
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TORONTO — Bell Media announced today the BioSteel All Canadian Basketball Games, which feature Canada’s top boys and girls high school basketball players, are set to return this year and will air exclusively on TSN on Sunday, April 3.
The two-game event will broadcast from the University of Toronto’s Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, with 24 players competing in each game with the support of BioSteel’s lineup of zero-sugar hydration products, explains a press release.
TSN’s live coverage tips off with the BioSteel All Canadian Girls Basketball Game airing at 12 p.m. ET on TSN3, TSN4, TSN.ca and the TSN…
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Interventions suggest scope of CRTC hearing could be appropriately widened
OTTAWA – The CRTC’s decision on the future of the Russian state-funded English-language news service RT is unlikely to have a significant impact, Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. (ECGL) argues in an intervention submitted to the CRTC yesterday.
RT came to Canada in 2009 after ECGL applied to add it to the Commission’s list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution in Canada.
The CRTC received an order from the Governor in Council last week, asking it to “hold a hearing to determine whether RT (formally known as Russia Today)…
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By Ahmad Hathout
COGECO CEO PHILIPPE JETTÉ (above) said today his company has been in “constant conversation” with Canada’s telecom regulator about when the industry can get the terms and conditions required for establishing a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), and is expecting something in ‘late spring, early summer.’
In April last year, the CRTC decided regional telecoms can force negotiations with the big three national telecoms for access to their mobile wireless networks, thereby allowing these smaller entities to establish services beyond their existing territory – so long as they have spectrum and infrastructure in the target area.
But the regulator has…
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