VANCOUVER – Until today, eligibility for the Telus Internet for Good program was limited to families that were receiving the maximum Child Care Benefit from the federal government.
However in April, Telus partnered with local school boards to expedite the process of bringing this critical connectivity to all students who needed it to continue learning safely at home and through the summer months, the company and the boards further simplified the process so that now, all K-12 students in need in British Columbia and Alberta will have a reliable high speed internet connection at home this September for $9.95/month.
Through the…
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OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has sided with the third party internet service providers in their defence of the August 2019 CRTC decision which lowered wholesale rates they pay to the incumbent telcos and cablecos – and established retroactive payments dating back several years.
It was a unanimous 3-0 decision and grants the respondents (the independents) their legal costs, too.
Companies like TekSavvy and Distributel and Start.ca serve tens of thousands of Canadians by leasing space on the networks of Bell, Rogers, Telus, Cogeco and the like and when the CRTC set the new rates with that decision,…
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GATINEAU — As expected, Iristel is officially asking the CRTC to review, vary, rescind and stay certain aspects of its recent decision which found the company guilty of traffic stimulation toward phone numbers in the 867 numbering plan area (NPA) area code in Canada’s far north.
The Commission’s decision (which we reported on here) was meant to end a dispute between Telus and Iristel in which the former accused the latter of traffic stimulation-related activities that caused a noticeable spike in traffic from Telus’s network to Iristel’s 867 numbers, which generated revenue for Iristel through high long-distance termination charges.
In…
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VANCOUVER — A new digital health assessment tool called Healthcheck has been added to the Babylon by Telus Health app, the company announced in an email on Wednesday.
Healthcheck is an AI-driven tool designed by doctors, scientists and epidemiologists to give users a holistic view of their health and provide recommendations for lifestyle changes to reduce risk for disease.
Healthcheck offers the following features:
Assessment: An engaging, conversational chatbot interface asks users about their medical history and lifestyle factors to assess their current health status and predict their future disease risks.
Digital Twin: Assessment results are presented through a “digital twin”,…
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VANCOUVER — Telus CEO Darren Entwistle has been named the gold winner of the CEO Achiever – Champion of the Year Award in the eighth annual 2020 CEO World Awards, a global recognition program honouring CEOs from organizations in every industry and of every size.
The award is honouring Entwistle for his leadership in leveraging Telus’ technology, human and financial resources to support Canadians, particularly the country’s most vulnerable citizens, as they grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic, says the Telus news release.
“Darren’s leadership during the public health crisis reflects his 20-year legacy of supporting his team, and the communities…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU — In October of last year, the vast majority of Canadian Internet service providers met or exceeded the maximum download and upload speeds they advertised, according to the second edition of the CRTC’s Measuring Broadband Canada report, released today.
The study was conducted by broadband testing firm SamKnows on behalf of the CRTC, and was based on measurement data collected from October 1 to 31, 2019. Using the data collected from 2,035 “whiteboxes” deployed to Canadian homes, the study examines download and upload speeds, latency, packet loss and web page loading time. Participating ISPs include Bell Aliant,…
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JOHN’S, CHARLOTTETOWN, HALIFAX, MONTREAL, REGINA and YELLOWKNIFE — Telus today announced it is expanding its Mobility for Good program across the country, including in Northern Canada, to provide youth leaving foster care with free smartphones and data plans for two years.
Starting today, in collaboration with Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada (CAFC), Telus’ Mobility for Good program is expanding to Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Northern Canada. In addition, in partnership with CAFC and youth centres of Quebec, the Mobility for Good program is being extended to more regions in Quebec.
Telus…
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Shaw, Videotron say up to half of legit porting requests were denied
By Greg O’Brien
GATINEAU – Last month, the wireless industry launched new measures to try to stem the rising tide of wireless number porting fraud. It lasted only a week.
Complaints from Videotron and Shaw Communications filed with the CRTC on August 20th said the Canadian wireless industry’s new enhanced process to identify phone numbers which criminals were attempting to steal were far too often rejecting legitimate number porting when customers were attempting to switch from Rogers to Freedom, for example.
Wireless number porting fraud, or SIM-swapping fraud, or port-out scams,…
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VANCOUVER — Just in time for back to school, Telus is selling youth-sized critter masks as part of the Telus Friendly Future Foundation’s fundraising initiative supporting Covid-19 relief efforts across the country, the company announced Wednesday.
Telus first started selling reusable cloth masks featuring critters from its advertising back in June. Now, for a limited time, youth-sized masks are on sale in packs of three for $35, which is $10 cheaper than the original price. Proceeds go to the Telus Friendly Future Foundation.
Masks can be purchased on telus.com as well as in select Telus stores.
“With many Canadians preparing for…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – In the lengthy CRTC process reviewing its wireless policies, one player played an unusually central role.
Since it had no economic interest and because of its professed expertise, the Competition Bureau (which falls under the purview of the department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development) convinced the Commission to be allowed special access to confidential company data, despite strenuous objections, all of which we have reported on previously.
So, when the Bureau admitted it made a mistake in its final comments and issued corrections, Bell Canada jumped on it and requested that…
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