WHILE THERE WILL surely be more announcements in the coming days, the broadband, telecom and TV industry is responding to the COVID-19 virus in a number of ways.
All have noted in emails their networks are up to the challenge of handling whatever increased traffic that might come from thousands of people working from home rather than the office. During a conference call with financial analysts Thursday discussing its 2019 fiscal fourth quarter, Vidéotron president Jean-Francois Pruneau said, when asked he is “not worried at all about the virus impact on consumption and network capacity.”
Then, on Friday, Vidéotron said it…
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OTTAWA —Canada’s publicly traded television service providers lost a new record number of traditional pay-TV subscribers in 2019, continuing the trend of accelerating TV cord-cutting in Canada, according to new research from Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services Inc.
The continued launch of new Internet streaming services and the growth of such services in Canada, a slowdown in the growth of IPTV, and continued record losses of subscribers of cable TV all contributed to a record cumulative loss by the big Canadian TV service providers of an estimated 278,000 TV subscribers in their respective 2019 fiscal periods…
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TORONTO — The 2020 Canadian Telecom Summit advisory board was announced Wednesday. CTS is scheduled to take place June 15-17 at the International Centre in Toronto.
The 2020 CTS advisory board members include:
Roger Perryman, special advisor and advisory board chair, Macgregor Communications
Katherine Winchester, director of operations, Canadian Wireless Technology Association (CWTA)
Samer Bishay, CEO, Iristel
Neel Dayal, director, innovation and partnerships, Rogers Communications
Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO, Telus
Mark Henderson, senior executive/CEO in the telecommunications industry, corporate director, Nomofob
Matt Stein, CEO, Distributel
Namir Anani, president and CEO, Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC)
Please click here to learn…
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It’s part of a war on personal financial identity
By Joanne McNeish
Once again a telecommunications company is telling its customers that they will no longer receive a paper bill. This time it’s Rogers.
What seems to some to be a non-issue evokes a strong reaction in others. When Telus eliminated paper bills, customers who prefer paper bills were shamed online. Others expressed solidarity with digitally disadvantaged groups or listed reasons why some consumers need paper bills.
But why do banks and billing organizations feel it necessary to stop sending paper bills and statements? One reason is the cost to print and mail paper….
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BRAMPTON, Ont. — Peel Region in Ontario is the latest community to receive a mobile health clinic powered by Telus Health, it was announced this week, as the company continues to expand its Health for Good program across the country.
In partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Peel Dufferin Branch, Telus announced Tuesday at a local community event the new CMHA Peel Dufferin Mobile Health Clinic will be providing essential primary medical care, mental healthcare and addiction supports directly to underserved citizens in Peel Region, including Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.
Already active in Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Shaw Communications plans to push Ontario to make mandatory the municipalities’ co-operation with telecommunications service providers to allow access to their infrastructure quickly for network builds, as urgency to lay the groundwork for 5G picks up.
The Alberta-based company registered lobby files with the province last week that reflect the telecom’s intention to bring the case to ministers that there is an urgent need for telecoms to obtain easy access to city infrastructure “to ensure connectivity can be built in a timely manner,” the registration says. It’s unclear how Shaw would like that co-operation to be…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – In Toronto on Thursday, Innovation, Science and Industry Navdeep Bains gave Canada’s Big Three wireless carriers an ultimatum to lower their prices within two years while increasing competition by giving smaller and regional telecom companies a chance to bid on 50MHz of a 3500 MHz spectrum auction to be held later this year.
Bains spoke to Parliament Hill correspondent Christopher Guly prior to making his major announcement.
Christopher Guly: So you’re forcing the big guys to lower their prices and giving smaller, regional guys a break to help do that.
Navdeep Bains: You’re right. The spectrum set-aside is…
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3500 MHz auction rules to be part of the release
TORONTO – Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains will deliver a “speech on the Government of Canada’s commitment to make life more affordable for Canadians,” at the Scarborough Civic Centre Library at 4 p.m. Thursday, it was announced today.
Sources tell Cartt.ca the announcement will define more of the parameters around the Liberal government’s commitment to a 25% reduction in Canadian mobile wireless prices going forward and also mark the release of the rules for the 3500 MHz spectrum auction which will happen later this year.
Spectrum costs have long…
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OTTAWA — On Tuesday, the same day it denied an application by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the National Pensioners Federation (NPF) to require Koodo Mobile and other wireless service providers to provide paper bills upon request, the CRTC announced a new proceeding looking into the issue of paper billing.
In its decision against PIAC and NPF, the Commission says it found “there was no existing legislature or regulatory obligation that mandated the provision of paper bills and, since the rationale and evidence on the record of this proceeding related largely to Koodo alone, it would not…
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HALIFAX — Telus continues to expand its Health for Good program, today launching in Halifax the new North End Community Health Centre (NECHC) Mobile Health Clinic, powered by Telus Health.
The new NECHC Mobile Health Clinic will expand upon the health centre’s Mobile Outreach Street Health (MOSH) program, which since 2009 has been bringing primary healthcare directly to people in need throughout Halifax. The Mobile Clinic is a specially equipped clinic on wheels that will provide essential primary medical and mental healthcare, including electronic medical records, directly to underserved citizens, wherever they are in the city, says the Telus…
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