MONTREAL — The ENCQOR 5G testbed initiative Thursday announced it has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with six telecom service providers in Canada — Bell, Cogeco, Ecotel (Ambra Solutions), Rogers, Telus and Vidéotron.
ENCQOR stands for Evolution of Networked Services through a Corridor in Quebec and Ontario for Research and Innovation. The Canada-Quebec-Ontario partnership has a mandate to bring together small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academia to contribute to the advancement of research, innovation and demonstration of applications through a pre-commercial 5G testbed. ENCQOR 5G has five Digital Innovation Hubs, located in both Quebec and Ontario, providing a 5G…
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Renews call to remove foreign ownership restrictions
By Greg O’Brien
GATINEAU – It’s been 18 years since Darren Entwistle, president and CEO of Telus, has personally appeared in front of the CRTC at a formal hearing. So why come to one?
“I’m frustrated,” he said to a small group of people in the hearing room in Gatineau a few minutes before he sat down for his four-plus-hour turn in front of the Commission as it examines wireless policy in Canada.
How frustrated? Enough to reduce network investments by $1 billion with a corresponding loss of 5,000 jobs, apparently.
While the entire Telus presentation was…
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Cogeco airs its HMNO model
By Greg O’Brien
GATINEAU – On Wednesday, CRTC commissioners tried to get Bell Canada CEO Mirko Bibic and other company executives to pick what they might think is a least-bad mandated mobile virtual network operator option from the choices of MVNO models others have brought to the proceeding.
Each time, Bell said no MVNO is the only option.
While some operators have said, if forced to choose, the only palatable proposed MVNO model is the one from the Competition Bureau, which would see MVNO access mandated for existing regional operators like Freedom and Videotron, and only for five…
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VANCOUVER — Telus announced Wednesday it is selling 25 million common shares to a syndicate of underwriters in a deal valued at $1.3 billion (C$52.00 per share).
The group of underwriters is led by RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities, together with CIBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets and Scotiabank as joint bookrunners.
Telus says in its news release that it intends to use the net proceeds from the equity offering for general corporate purposes including funding growth opportunities, capital expenditures and debt reduction.
Completion of the offering is subject to customary conditions and the receipt of all necessary stock exchange…
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MANY OF THE ARGUMENTS in favour of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) are not informed by facts, as evidenced by Samer Bishay’s editorial from February 16 (Wireless review is critical for Canada; MVNOs must be mandated).
Using actual data from Canada and other OECD countries, the evidence clearly demonstrates that implementing wholesale MVNO access regulation will harm Canadian consumers. MVNOs have little to no competitive impact as their business model focuses on identifying niches in the market, rather than competing in existing markets. They are generally not sustainable, as market saturation and competition yields few, if any, viable niches…
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By Greg O’Brien
GATINEAU – If you’re looking for drama, day one of the CRTC’s wireless policy review hearing was not for you.
That’s not to say it was boring, however. During the morning session, we got an engaged CRTC chair Ian Scott taking a deep, detailed dive into the Competition Bureau’s evidence as well as its idea for mandating a tempered vision for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in Canada.
The Bureau is not for broadly mandating an MVNO structure where any company that comes along wanting to sign up wireless subs using a CRTC-decree as the crowbar can get into…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) has filed a counter submission to the Governor-in-Council (a.k.a. federal cabinet) over petitions sent by the big incumbent carriers who are protesting the CRTC’s decision to lower wholesale prices for internet.
Last August, the CRTC lowered the final prices the incumbents – Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Videotron, Cogeco, and Eastlink – can charge resellers, and made those rates retroactive to 2016, when interim rates were set. The incumbents protested to the Federal Court, the cabinet and the CRTC. The court granted the leave to appeal and has yet to…
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MONTREAL — Stingray is adding to its TV channel offerings with the launch announced Tuesday of its Stingray Country music video channel, featuring new country, bro-country, ’90s country hits, pop country and more. Stingray says the channel is currently the only dedicated country music channel in Canada.
“We are thrilled to introduce our latest TV channel, Stingray Country, to Canadian country music fans,” said Mathieu Péloquin, senior vice-president of marketing and communications for Stingray, in the news release. “With a growing millennial fan base including both men and women, country music’s popularity is spreading across all regions of the…
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By Samer Bishay
IT’S NO SURPRISE CANADIANS are paying some of the highest wireless prices – especially for data – in the world.
In another international audit of prices last fall, by Rewheel Research, it confirmed what Canadians already know: we pay far too much. In public surveys released by Canada’s telecom regulator earlier this month, Canadians said overwhelmingly they feel cell service in Canada is more expensive than abroad.
Affordability is the main reason the federal government ordered the CRTC to move up its review of the wireless market and start a critical public hearing February 18, a…
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BELCARRA, B.C. – Telus announced today it is investing more than $500,000 to connect more than 90% of homes and businesses in the village of Belcarra directly to its fibre optic network.
Construction on the PureFibre network is already underway, and the company anticipates the majority of homes and businesses will be connected by the end of the year. Belcarra is a part of Metro Vancouver, but is somewhat isolated as it is located on Indian Arm, a side inlet of the Burrard Inlet, northwest of Port Moody.
“We are delighted with Telus’ investment in our village to provide residents with…
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