GATINEAU – "The Commission is of the preliminary view that certain device financing plans may create a new barrier for customers to take advantage of competitive offers in the market.
“In particular, customers, who may benefit in the immediate term from lower monthly costs related to their devices, appear to be asked to accept terms and conditions that may require them to stay with their current WSP after the end of their wireless service plan commitment period or be charged for the remainder of the cost of the device,” reads the notice from the CRTC when it opened a Continue Reading
GATINEAU – After being told its first application was deficient, Videotron rewrote the CRTC to rectify the company’s application and request again the withdrawal for its unbundled up-to-1 Gbps download, up-to-100 Mbps upload service since as October 23rd, it no longer has any more wholesale clients on that tier.
As before the company wants to also grandfather its retail clients who pay for the service, but stop offering to any new customers.
The removal of top speed services tilts against the prevailing winds in the broadband world.
Generally, withdrawal/de-standardization like this takes place when a service is…
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Shaw CEO also warns regulators not to change things now
CALGARY – After showing strong wireless subscriber additions of more than 266,000 customers in fiscal 2019 and bringing in $1 billion in annual wireless revenue for the first time, Shaw Communications executives didn’t hold back their opinions during the year-end conference call with financial analysts.
CEO Brad Shaw, said the company spent the fiscal year (ended August 31) focused on adding broadband and wireless customers, expanding its wireless network in the west by rolling out its 700 MHz spectrum – all the while managing a large…
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Shaw adds 266,000 wireless customers as wireless revenue passes $1B
CALGARY – Shaw Communications announced this morning its wireless revenue for its full fiscal 2019, ended August 31, 2019, surpassed $1 billion for the first time as the company added 266,000 new Freedom Mobile customers, including 90,700 in the fourth quarter.
The meant wireless operating income before restructuring and amortization grew 45% year-over-year to over $205 million, as of August 31st.
On the wireline front, Shaw added 34,700 net broadband customers during the full year (11,400 in Q4), but saw 106,000 cable TV customers depart, a 24% steeper decline than in 2018.
Total…
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SHAWINIGAN – The Québec government today announced a new $100 million Régions branchées (Connected Regions) project.
The projects (submit yours now!) receiving funding will deliver reliable, high-speed broadband Internet service at a cost comparable to urban services, reads the press release, in French. The province made it clear it is seeking projects which hit the CRTC defined broadband threshold of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps up.
The new money should help over 70,000 homes and several thousand businesses in Quebec which are currently underserved by their current connectivity choices.
The zones being given priority with this new…
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But it may have support to change that CoL from other Canadian BDUs
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal this week refused to hear Vidéotron’s appeal of its condition of license which requires it to take part in a new ratings system using set top box data from all large pay TV providers.
Earlier this year, the Quebecor-owned BDU pulled out of the industry working group which is tasked with making the set top viewer data part of the ratings of the television industry in Canada and in May, as we reported, the company asked the…
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PHILADELPHIA – Comcast Business today announced it has signed an access agreement with Kamloops-based iTel Networks in order for the American communications giant to deliver managed broadband services to its U.S.-based enterprise customers with a presence in Canada.
Comcast’s press release says it will leverage iTel Networks’ vendor relationships to expand its business footprint and support its U.S.-based enterprise customers’ locations in Canada with its managed broadband offering. It's not expected at this time to compete for Canadian business customers against existing partners like Shaw, Rogers and Videotron.
“Our enterprise solutions team has uncovered a wealth of opportunities for Comcast Business…
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GATINEAU – The first call for applications for Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and all other satellite-communications-dependent communities in Canada closed on October 3.
While the CRTC confirmed that it has received 15 applications for funding, these applications were filed confidentially and will not be made public by the Commission.
Northwestel, however, made a sunmary of its own application public and Iristel has shared its application with Cartt.ca, defining the companies’ visions for bringing 50/10 Mbps Internet with unlimited data options to every community in Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
We asked a handful of other companies for their applications, too, but…
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OTTAWA – Reactions were quick after the Federal Court’s Friday announcement to grant a temporary stay of the CRTC’s third party internet access rates decision.
On September 13, the cable companies (Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco, Vidéotron and Eastlink) filed a leave to appeal CRTC Telecom Order 2019-288, which lowered the rates independent ISPs must pay to access incumbent networks and forced those incumbents to reimburse the independents hundreds of millions of retroactive fees. They also requested an interim stay of the CRTC Order, request that was granted on September 27.
“We’re disappointed that the…
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OTTAWA – On Friday, the Federal Court of Appeal granted a temporary stay of CRTC Telecom Order 2019-288, the decision which set new, lower, wholesale rates for third party internet access providers and also forced the incumbent network operators to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in retroactive fees to the independent resellers.
Cable companies Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco, Videoton and Eastlink were the first to file for a stay as well as for leave to appeal the CRTC decision, as we reported here. Bell Canada has also filed its own appeal application…
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