Search Results for: telus

Cable / Telecom News

UPDATED: Angry Commission sets own wholesale high-speed access rates; independents rejoice

OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC took matters in to its own hands Thursday, throwing out the wholesale high-speed access rates proposed by the country’s large cable and telephone companies in favour of its own. In its decision, the Commission said that the proposed rates from incumbent carriers “were not just and reasonable” and that they were therefore revised downwards.  It also expressed “significant concern” that that some of the companies have not conducted their cost studies in accordance with well-established costing principles and methodologies, and disregarded the CRTC provided Regulatory Economic Studies Manuals . “Competitors that provide retail Internet services to Canadians using… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus clocks wireless speeds of 29.3 Gbps in pursuit of 5G

VANCOUVER – Telus and Huawei say that they’re one step closer to a 5G future after achieving wireless speeds of 29.3 Gbps during speeds testing at their joint 5G "Living Lab" in Vancouver. In addition to the successful 29.3 Gbps field trial of 5G, one 4G LTE wireless site in Vancouver has also been upgraded with the latest advancement in LTE-Advanced Pro technologies capable of speeds of up to 1 Gbps -10 times faster than current LTE-Advanced speeds, continues Tuesday’s news release.  Five more sites will be upgraded in the coming weeks, and Telus customers will be able to… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus, TWU reach tentative collective agreement

VANCOUVER – Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union, United Steelworkers Local 1944 (TWU) have agreed to the terms of a tentative collective agreement, covering approximately 10,800 TELUS employees nationally. The TWU has confirmed that it will present the tentative agreement to its membership in the coming weeks.  If ratified, the new five-year agreement will take effect later this year and expire on December 31, 2021. Telus president and CEO Darren Entwistle said that the agreement “effectively balances the needs of our team members, customers and shareholders”. “We are optimistic our frontline team members will agree and will vote in favour of the… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus awards $3.2M to local content creators

VANCOUVER – Telus, through its local programming fund, is awarding more than $3.2 million in funding to support 61 new projects in Western Canada this year. Telus supports compelling, original storytelling in British Columbia and Alberta by providing funding and training to filmmakers, as well as a platform to share their content with new audiences.  Content is distributed for free on Telus Optik On Demand as well as online. "Telus is extremely proud of the meaningful and sustainable impact that we are having on the lives and careers of people in the creative communities in B.C. and Alberta, and we are… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Big ISPs are hitting their advertised speeds, says CRTC-commissioned report

GATINEAU – The full results of a first-of-its-kind independent, national study on broadband performance in Canada shows that Internet service providers (ISPs) largely meet or exceed their advertised download and upload speeds. Participating ISPs in the survey (announced last year and for which preliminary results were made public in the spring), conducted by SamKnows and which was commissioned by the CRTC, included all the main wireline service providers in Canada, with the exception of Sasktel, which declined to participate, said the CRTC in a press release this afternoon. The data collected will… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

New national video relay service offers greater independence to deaf, hard of hearing

OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Canadians who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired now have a new way to communicate thanks to Wednesday’s launch of the new national video relay service (VRS). This made-for-Canada service enhances the ability of Canadian’s whose first language is American Sign Language (ASL) or Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) to conduct calls via video relay service with hearing people through a professional ASL or LSQ interpreter. VRS calls are placed using a high-speed Internet connection through a computer, tablet or smartphone and an operator facilitates the conversation between the two parties by relaying the conversation between sign… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus marks Royal Visit with donation to support Canadian youth leaders

VANCOUVER – To commemorate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to Telus Garden on Sunday, the company is donating $10,000 to Jack.org, an organization that the Royal couple will spend time with in Victoria during their visit to Canada. Founded in 2015 by Eric Windeler and Sandra Hanington in honour of their son Jack, Jack.org is a student-led organization brings young speakers into high schools and universities across Canada to transform how students think about mental health. "Telus is committed to educating and empowering youth to encourage and mobilize Canada's next generation of community leaders to reach their full… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

CRTC warns of potential service disconnection resulting from Telus, TNW dispute

OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC is warning customers of Téliphone Navigata Westel Communications (TNW) that they may lose phone and Internet service in November as a result of a commercial dispute between TNW and Telus. The Commission issued a public consumer alert Thursday, after determining that Telus may initiate service disconnection beginning November 21, 2016.  Telus, which provides underlying carrier service to TNW, advised the CRTC in June that it had given notice to terminate services as a result of payment issues with TNW. Headquartered in Vancouver, the independent facilities-based CLEC provides Internet, phone and television services to customers across Canada.  According… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus debt offering raises $600M

VANCOUVER – Telus has successfully closed its previously announced offering totaling $600 million in senior unsecured 2.80% 10-year notes. The company said Monday that the proceeds will be used to repay approximately U.S.$453 million of outstanding commercial paper and for general corporate purposes. "Through this successful U.S. debt offering, Telus further lowered its weighted average cost of long-term borrowing from 4.32 per cent to 4.23 per cent," said Telus EVP and CFO Doug French, in the news release.  "Combined with our average long-term debt maturity of 10.7 years, Telus continues to maintain a strong, investment grade balance sheet to ensure it… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

ANALYSIS: How the FCC’s set top box rules can kill Canadian television

Without a major regulatory change, the traditional TV industry here faces a chilling future IF THE CRTC DOESN’T, at long last, review the 1999 New Media Exemption Order, the Canadian TV industry as we know it may well perish in the next five years, at the cost of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs – all while production of Canadian content shrivels to whatever the CBC makes. Last week, the Federal Communications Commission reached a compromise deal with the subscription TV titans in the States over the American regulator’s so-called push to “unlock the… Continue Reading