OTTAWA – Fraudulent calls continue to be an issue for Canadians despite the recent implementation of measures to try to combat them.
In April of this year, the CRTC directed telecommunications service providers (TSPs) to implement STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs), which is intended to combat caller ID spoofing, by Nov. 30 as a condition of providing telecommunication services.
As of Nov. 30, TSPs are expected to “certify whether a caller’s identity can be trusted by verifying the caller ID information for Internet Protocol-based voice calls,” a CRTC press release explains. The…
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GATINEAU – Numerous intervenors in their final submissions to the CRTC continue to argue the merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications is not in the public interest and should be denied, despite the fact Rogers offered some concessions in its reply on day five of the recent hearing into the matter as well as in other documents since submitted by the company to the Commission.
(You can read Cartt.ca’s coverage of the CRTC hearing here, here, here, here and here.)
The final submissions, which were due Monday, point to several problems the intervenors argue remain…
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Rogers and Fido see largest increases
OTTAWA – The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) accepted 17,003 consumer complaints in the past year – a 9% increase compared to the previous year, according to its annual report released today.
The annual report covers the period from Aug. 1, 2020, to July 31, 2021. In this timeframe, CCTS concluded 17,506 complaints, a 10% increase from last year (this includes complaints received before Aug. 1, 2020, which were concluded during the year covered by today’s report.)
The concluded complaints raised over 42,000 issues. The top issues were billing (16,304), contract dispute (13,147), service…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications announced today Robert Dépatie (above) will be the president and chief operating officer of the company’s new home and business division as of Dec. 6.
Dépatie has “nearly 20 years of executive leadership in telecom and media experience, including four years as a member of the RCI Board of Directors,” a press release says. He was previously president and CEO of Quebecor and Quebecor Media as well as spending 10 years as president and CEO of Vidéotron Itée.
“I am thrilled to welcome Robert to our leadership team,” said Tony Staffieri, interim president and CEO of Rogers,…
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CALGARY — Shaw Communications announced today a new partnership with Canada Learning Code (CLC), a national charity that champions computer science education, that will support the advancement of CLC’s Teen Ambassador program, Girls Learning Code Program, Teens Learning Code program and its Code Squad through 2022 across Western Canada.
“As digital technologies play ever-more important roles in our lives, CLC is committed to providing engaging and practical digital education opportunities for youth in Canada,” says Melissa Sariffodeen, CEO and founder of Canada Learning Code, in a press release.
“Through the continued generous contributions from our partners like Shaw, we will…
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TPIA providers say they’ve had to make tough financial decisions to stem the bleeding
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Canada’s large telecommunications companies are claiming third party internet service providers have never had it better with the interim bulk internet purchase rates the CRTC made permanent in May.
The telecoms were responding to petitions to the federal government to overturn the May decision filed by large independent internet service provider TekSavvy, ISP National Capital FreeNet, and the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC), an organization representing smaller telecoms who lease network space from the larger carriers. In the decision, the regulator said it…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC hearing into Rogers Communications’s proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications wrapped up Friday with a reply from Rogers during which the company argued the deal is good for Canadians and for the broadcasting system despite what interveners have said over the past week.
“As our panel highlighted on Monday, there is no question that this transaction is in the public interest,” said Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory at Rogers.
“It embraces the transformational moment we face, positioning Canada’s broadcasting system for a strong and sustainable future. With Shaw and Rogers joining forces, Canadian consumers will enjoy more…
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Bell says there are no safeguards that will fix the problems with the proposal
By Amanda OYE
GATINEAU – Intervenors delved deeper into concerns about the impact of Rogers Communications’s proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications on local news and competition Thursday, during day four of the CRTC hearing on the matter.
At the hearing Unifor, a union that represents 5,000 workers in the broadcasting and film industries, presented the Commission with a perspective on what the approval of the transaction could mean for employment and labour in local journalism.
The “broadcast sector in Canada is facing an employment crisis,” said Katha…
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GATINEAU – More concerns about Rogers Communications’s proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications were shared with the CRTC during day three of the hearing, Wednesday.
While the day’s presentations showed the deal definitely has its supporters, it also highlighted the many concerns there are about the consequences of the deal in its current form on the Canadian broadcasting system generally, and on independent broadcasters and consumers specifically.
TLN Media Group Inc. and Ethnic Channels Group Limited, who presented together to highlight issues specific to Canadian ethnic independents, told the Commission that despite their opposition to the deal in their written submission, they…
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Telecoms have said this would impact the value of the 5G frequencies
By Ahmad Hathout
Innovation Canada said last week it will stick with its proposal to place restrictions on the use of the 3.5 GHz spectrum in areas surrounding 26 major airports, which some of Canada’s telecoms want to deploy 5G wireless networks.
The exclusion areas are intended to prevent interference with aircraft altimeters, which use radio signals to guide the airplane to the runway.
The large telecoms, including Bell, Rogers and Telus, said Innovation Canada did not indicate before the 3.5 GHz auction in June that the department would prevent…
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