OTTAWA – The everyday consumer probably doesn’t understand – or care to understand – what the VOIP decision was all about. They just want better stuff cheaper.
In the end, the decision was more than a little anti-climactic. Each side had it figured out already because the CRTC had left more than enough clues about the way it was leaning.
The decision was made official at 4 p.m., www.cartt.ca posted its story at about 4:01 (as soon as the CRTC web-heads turned back on the WiFi) and the wave of pre-written press releases soon began to wash into the…
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OTTAWA – Rogers Communications vice-president, regulatory, Ken Englehart told www.cartt.ca that the CRTC’s demand that cable open up its third party Internet access (TPIA) tariff agreements to explicitly include provisions for voice service, should not pose much of a problem.
While the Commission did adjust its position somewhat, calling for cable to make provisions for access-dependent” third party voice, “things change” shrugged Englehart.
“We had said that access independent voice (where the consumer and their new VOIP provider installs his or her own telephone service on top of their Rogers High Speed service) is okay. We think that…
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OTTAWA – “Why did we find that VOIP is a telephone service? Because Canadians use it as a telephone service,” CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen said today at the Commission’s headquarters upon the release of its voice over Internet decision.
The decision confirmed what the Commission had said previously: that it would continue to regulate VOIP when it is provided and used as a local telephone service.
That means incumbents like Bell and Telus will continue to have to file rate tariffs with the Commission for approval – to make sure predatory pricing below cost doesn’t happen – while the…
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OTTAWA – Did the industry have this decision pegged or what?
Mere minutes after the CRTC’s voice over IP decision was put out, the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association issued a press release declaring itself pleased by the decision, while Bell Canada wired one out which blasted the decision, saying it will appeal immediately, just like BCE CEO Michael Sabia said here last week.
“I think we’re very happy,” CCTA president Michael Hennessy told www.cartt.ca in Ottawa today upon the decision’s public release. “It’s pretty much what we expected and for the telephone companies, they’re allowed into the market, allowed…
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OTTAWA – “Why did we find that VOIP is a telephone service? Because Canadians use it as a telephone service,” CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen said today at the Commission’s headquarters upon the release of its voice over Internet decision.
The decision confirmed what the Commission had said previously: that it would continue to regulate VOIP when it is provided and used as a local telephone service.
That means incumbents like Bell and Telus will continue to have to file rate tariffs with the Commission for approval – to make sure predatory pricing below cost doesn’t happen – while the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Did the industry have this decision pegged or what?
Mere minutes after the CRTC’s voice over IP decision was put out, the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association issued a press release declaring itself pleased by the decision, while Bell Canada wired one out which blasted the decision, saying it will appeal immediately, just like BCE CEO Michael Sabia said here last week.
“I think we’re very happy,” CCTA president Michael Hennessy told www.cartt.ca in Ottawa today upon the decision’s public release. “It’s pretty much what we expected and for the telephone companies, they’re allowed into the market, they’re…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Coalition Against Internet Child Exploitation (CCAICE) today released its seven-point National Action Plan designed to help protect children from online sexual exploitation and to assist in bringing those who victimize children to justice.
"The Action Plan is the result of unprecedented collaboration by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and industry leaders, law enforcement, government and non-governmental agencies," said Inspector Jennifer Strachan, Officer-in- Charge of the RCMP National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre. "However, to succeed we require the help and support of all Canadians to protect children online."
The members of the coalition are: Cybertip.ca RCMP and…
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TED ROGERS TURNED TO AN old friend this week to expand his telecom empire, but was a little unclear whether or not he’ll use his new hammer to nail his cable friends while building local telephony across the country.
Today, Rogers Communications announced it would purchase Call-Net Enterprises, which does business mainly under the Sprint Canada name, in a $330 million all-stock deal. Still a money-losing competitive local exchange carrier (its net loss in 2004 was $78.4 million), Call-Net did book revenues last year of over $818 million and EBITDA of $105 million.
Call-Net CEO Bill Linton is a…
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OSHAWA – Spiky-haired former jock reporter John Gallagher will return to Toronto-area radio tomorrow morning on Oshawa’s 94.9 The Rock.
The two-time sportscaster of the year and one-time Foster Hewitt award winner will join host Sarah Beer and the “Beer for Breakfast” morning show on the Durham Radio-owned station.
A long-time broadcast veteran, Gallagher has had stints with Q107, TSN and Citytv, but has been off-air for the most part since City cut him loose in 2004.
“Joining Sarah Beer for ‘John Gallagher and Beer for Breakfast,’ Gallagher will inject a new dimension to mornings on 94.9 The Rock,”…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC said Friday that Shaw Communications was not giving itself an undue preference when denying full pay-per-view service to Telus and it’s yet-to-be-launched digital television service, Telus TV.
Telus filed a complaint in November 2004 saying that Shaw Pay-Per-View was saying it would limit the movie titles made available to Telus TV – which therefore means Shaw has given its PPV and cable divisions “undue preference” and subjected Telus to an undue disadvantage, said the western telco.
Shaw, on the other hand, claimed agreements with certain U.S. movie studios prohibit it from making programming available to…
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