By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers has filed an application requesting that the CRTC reverse its decision to expand the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) regime to internet of things (IoT) and enterprise services.
The market for those services, claims Rogers in its application to review-and-vary posted last week, “is likely one of the most competitive markets for telecommunications services in the country. Beyond Canada’s domestic national and regional , there are literally hundreds of service providers, including global wireless carriers, global and regional IoT/M2M aggregators of MVNOs, and global and regional IoT/M2M solutions providers in the Canadian market.”
The regulator affirmed…
Continue Reading
The regulator now moves to challenges against final wholesale decision
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC said large provider access to the aggregated last-mile fibre facilities of mainly Bell but also Telus in Ontario and Quebec have proven to increase consumer choice and competition between internet service providers, rejecting a cabinet recommendation to impose a ban on Rogers, Bell and Telus (Big 3) from accessing those facilities.
The commission’s relatively short decision hinged largely on what it said was a lack of evidence that such access would hinder network investment as well as evidence showing that Telus is now…
Continue Reading
The CRTC said it will not alter the Feb. 13 implementation deadline for Telus, Bell and SaskTel to provide competitors with workable access to their fibre networks in a decision last week that rejected Telus’s October 2024 request for a four-month extension to the implementation date in British Columbia and Alberta.
In arguing for the extension, Telus had said its systems would not be fully automated by Feb. 13 and using manual order processing created the potential for processing errors, which could have adverse effects on wholesale customers and their end users.
The telecom regulator…
Continue Reading
Broadpeak, a France-based provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for pay-TV operators and other content providers, announced last week Telus is using Broadpeak’s Origin Packager solution to simplify video streaming and cut costs.
“Running on Google Cloud Platform, Broadpeak’s high-performance origin packager reduces TELUS’ infrastructure costs while enabling the operator to provide a superior quality of experience to subscribers,” a Broadpeak press release says.
Origin Packager features a high-performance and scalable just-in-time packaging engine allowing content libraries storage in only one format for reduced storage capacity, the release explains. “It packages and encrypts live…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is directing the country’s legacy telcos on Tuesday to modify their tariffs to address certain issues surrounding corrective and make-ready work to hasten access by third parties to their telephone poles.
The commission ordered Bell, Telus and SaskTel to amend their tariff pages to ensure both make-ready and corrective are on the same timeline for completion and be scheduled together to minimize third party attachment delays. Make-ready is the work involved in preparing the pole for a new attachment and corrective work deals with things like meeting construction standards.
On the matter of simple work, such as…
Continue Reading
By Mark Goldberg, a telecommunications consultant
The headlines were breathless – Canada’s telecom regulator is going to cut the cost of internet services for people living in the far north
What the CRTC didn’t say, and what was entirely missed in the coverage, is the regulator wants customers in the rest of Canada to pay for it.
This is the same regulator that continually chastises Canada’s internet and wireless providers for not doing enough to lower prices while pushing for more investments to connect remote areas. This, despite the federal government’s own data showing cellular and internet prices keep falling while the…
Continue Reading
Telus quietly purchased the residential internet customers of wholesaler City Wide Communications through its subsidiary Altima last summer, the Vancouver-based telecom confirmed.
“As a new entrant in the region, Altima is offering customers the added benefits of greater access to a wide range of products, including mobility, home automation, security, health, and entertainment,” a Telus spokesperson told Cartt. “It is business as usual at City Wide, which continues to operate as a company serving their business customers.”
City Wide, which also offers television and landline services, is based in Nova Scotia.
Telus, which purchased Altima in 2022 and more…
Continue Reading
The Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) announced Tuesday a new digital advertising and social media campaign encouraging Canadians to join its fight to have the Big Three telecoms — Telus, Bell and Rogers — banned from accessing the wholesale aggregated internet regime.
CNOC’s “Break Free from the Big 3” campaign asserts, among other things, “Canadian regulators have allowed the Big 3 internet providers in Canada to freeze out the competition, giving them an unfair advantage over smaller and regional companies. Don’t fall for the illusion of choice.”
“Allowing the Big 3 to resell internet…
Continue Reading
Telus announced Tuesday anime fans can now get the Crunchyroll streaming service as a standalone subscription with eligible Telus services.
And for those customers who add Crunchyroll together with Telus’s Stream+ streaming bundle, Telus is currently offering a 10-per-cent discount on their monthly Crunchyroll subscription.
Telus customers can subscribe to the Crunchyroll Mega Fan plan for $12.49/month, or for $11.24/month with the 10-per-cent Stream+ discount.
“With Crunchyroll, subscribers can dive into a world of anime, featuring over 1,000 shows and more than 200 East Asian dramas — all ad-free,” said an emailed announcement from Telus.
Crunchyroll offers new episodes shortly…
Continue Reading
The CRTC has approved on an interim basis tariff pages, including terms and conditions, for aggregated wholesale last-mile fibre access to provide competitors with workable access to the fibre networks of Canada’s large telephone companies by Feb. 13.
The telecom regulator in October 2024 set the interim wholesale fibre rates smaller players will pay Bell, Telus and SaskTel to use their last-mile fibre networks. In August 2024, the commission had ordered the large telecoms to provide competitors with workable wholesale access to their fibre networks by the February date.
In…
Continue Reading
