By Ahmad Hathout
A judge ruled earlier this month that the Federal Court will not hear a complaint filed by Cogeco and Eastlink asking to review whether cabinet erred by denying their request to toss a CRTC decision to allow the three largest telecoms to access the wholesale internet regime.
In short, the court ruled that the regional telecoms have better avenues to challenge the underlying decision, effectively accepting the application of the attorney general to reject the request based on the same reasons.
While the complaint specifically challenged cabinet’s alleged lack of sufficient reasons explaining…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell has “drastically degraded” wholesale last-mile fibre service to Telus in Ontario and Quebec, a move that increased its market power and harmed customers of the third-party service provider, the Vancouver-based telco alleges in a heavily-redacted application to the CRTC dated Tuesday.
Telus claims in the unjust discrimination and undue preference complaint that the issue started on the evening of January 14, 2026. “With only a few hours’ notice, Bell drastically degraded the mandated wholesale FTTP service … that it provides to TELUS,” it said in the complaint, which asks the CRTC to act urgently. The CRTC on…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to review whether the CRTC erred when it approved a request by Timeless Inc. to have staff-assisted mediation instead of accepting its own proposal to privately negotiate terms to carry OneSoccer.
The cable giant said in the judicial review application filed Monday that it proposed to carry the OneSoccer channel on similar terms as the three directly comparable channels on Rogers TV, thus claiming to resolve an undue preference decision made against it in March 2023.
Instead, the application claims, the CRTC approved in a letter last month…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell is asking the CRTC in a review and vary application, made public Friday, to revisit how it came to a significantly lower attach rate for its poles across Ontario and Quebec after it increased the telco’s attach rate that fell well short of what it was asking for.
Historically, the regulator calculated the attach rate by taking the number of billing units, which represented the number of poles, and divided that figure by the average number of third parties per pole. The rate assists the telcos in recouping their costs in managing the poles, and was made…
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Proceeding on new mobile reporting standard launched
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC said Thursday that it will begin making certain annual telecom coverage data public.
The previously confidential coverage data includes internet and mobile service by provider, technology and speed down to the 250-metre road segment level, which the regulator said will make it easier for Canadians to easily find services available in their area at a more granular level.
The data will be shared with Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), which will use that it to update its national broadband map.
The decision comes in response to a request by British Columbia’s…
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Still had impact on subscriber base
By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Corus said Wednesday that the removal of some of its kids channels has boosted other brands in unprecedented ways.
“Our thoughtful rationalization of our kids specialty portfolio to better reflect viewer demand has resulted in some audience consolidation into our remaining kids brands,” John Gossling said on a first-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday.
“We saw YTV and, for the first time ever, Boomerang position within the top 20 networks this fall,” he continued. “These achievements underscore the effectiveness of our strategic programming decisions and the continued appeal of our brands to…
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The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) received a record number of complaints from telecom and TV customers this past fiscal year, with billing problems continuing to be the leading complaint issue, according to the CCTS’s annual report published early Wednesday.
Between Aug. 1, 2024 and July 31, 2025, the CCTS accepted 23,647 complaints from customers across Canada. This represents a 17 per cent increase from the previous year and is the highest number of complaints accepted in the CCTS’s history.
The top 10 issues raised across all service types were: incorrect charge for…
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Telus claims lawsuit has no merit
By Ahmad Hathout
An Asian content programmer is alleging Telus has been broadcasting its programming without consent.
APNA Desi TV Network Inc. alleges in a statement of claim filed in Federal Court last month that Telus has been retransmitting Prime Asia Television content that it claims it has the exclusive rights to broadcast in the country.
“Plaintiff expressly notified the Defendant verbally in a meeting held in December 2023 and in January 2024 in writing of its exclusive rights and provided documentary confirmation,” the copyright complaint claims. “Notwithstanding such notice, the Defendant continued to carry, market, broadcast…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Eastlink is expressing disappointment Friday after the CRTC blocked it from destandardizing certain internet speeds for third-party service providers that it no longer offers to its own retail customers.
In March last year, the regional telecom asked the CRTC to allow it to eliminate the 100 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload and the 300/10 Mbps speed tiers from competitor access as it stopped offering those tiers to new retail customers in December 2024. The telecom said the proposal was part of its effort to streamline and consolidate its service offerings.
But the CRTC denied the change Friday on the basis…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled last month that a trial court should consider punitive damages in a proposed class action lawsuit involving the reimbursement of phone unlocking fees.
In February 2024, the Quebec Superior Court authorized a class of plaintiffs to sue Rogers, Bell, Telus, and Quebecor for charging phone unlocking fees to Quebec customers between the period of August 14, 2014 and December 1, 2017.
But the court denied a request to allow the class to seek punitive damages, which would go beyond reimbursement, in part because it believed that the telecoms did not act maliciously. The…
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