GATINEAU – Four and a half months after Vidéotron announced it would exempt certain music streaming services from its wireless data caps, prompting two complaints to the CRTC mere days later, telecom companies, consumer rights groups and others are still debating the interpretation of the Telecommunications Act, Internet traffic management policy and the wording of a recent CRTC decision.
The Unlimited Music offer applies to higher-end data plans offered by Vidéotron Mobile. It exempts a list of music streaming services, including Songza, Spotify, Google Play Music and Stingray Music, from…
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TORONTO – Police in Ontario will have to be careful when they ask a judge to order cellular carriers to hand over data records of phones that use particular cell towers in the province, a judge has ruled.
Law enforcement agencies want such data, including personal information on subscribers, to track the movement of suspects and who they are contacting.
But Justice John Sproat of Ontario's Superior Court of Justice ruled Thursday that a 2014 order by a justice of the peace telling Rogers Communications and Telus Corp. to turn over records for all phones activated, transmitting and receiving data through…
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TORONTO – Bell Media’s television streaming service CraveTV is now officially available to all Canadian Internet users, whether or not they have a paid subscription to a TV service provider.
For $7.99 per month, CraveTV can be streamed via iOS, online, and to TV screens through Apple TV, Chromecast and select Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-Ray players. It's also available through TV service providers including Telus, Eastlink, Sasktel, and Bell TV at a lower (unspecified) price.
New users get one month free when they subscribe, which they may do at CraveTV.ca or by downloading the CraveTV app from the…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco and subsidiary Cogeco Cable held their annual general meetings in Montreal on Wednesday, preceded by a conference call with analysts and a meeting with journalists. Here’s what we heard.
Wireless
“It’s been 10 years that you’ve asked me that question,” Cogeco CEO Louis Audet told journalists, and he had it again in the investor conference call. But the logic hasn’t changed, even as Shaw’s acquisition of Wind Mobile makes Cogeco the largest Canadian cable or telecom provider without a wireless service.
“Our perception since the beginning is that if we enter this industry it has…
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TORONTO – The Ontario Superior Court in Brampton is expected to issue a ruling this week that could have far reaching effects on cellphone privacy.
According to a report in the Globe and Mail, Justice John Sproat heard arguments from Rogers and Telus last summer pertaining to “tower dump” production orders issued by Peel Regional Police asking the two companies to provide communication records related to 21 cellular towers or sites. That would have required the telcos to disclose the personal information of about 40,000 customers.
Police use such orders as a technique to get all call-detail records from specific…
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LAS VEGAS – “Cable companies find it hard to accept that people don’t just want to watch TV in the living room anymore,” said Jay Mehr, EVP and COO of Shaw Communications as it announced the launch of its FreeRange app Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show.
The app makes content instantly available to subscribers no matter where they are and Mehr (pictured) told a gathering of industry partners and press that the cable company had partnered with Comcast and Cisco to leverage Comcast's X1 platform to provide a truly disruptive mobile experience by providing live…
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OTTAWA – Independent ISPs and consumer groups are telling the federal government not to buy Bell Canada’s assertions that investments in next-generation fibre networks will come to a standstill if the CRTC’s wholesale fibre access decision is allowed to stand.
A day after the Justin Trudeau Liberals swept into power in Ottawa on October 19, Bell filed appeal with the Governor-in-Council seeking a Cabinet order overturning Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-326. The company claims the decision favours “resale over investment” which will lead to less capital for fibre to the home…
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TORONTO – A new fourth player in Canada’s wireless industry combined with increased wireline competition are two factors poised to significantly impact the Canadian telecom industry in 2016, says Canaccord Genuity.
An industry overview released Wednesday by analyst Aravinda Galappatthige says that company is taking “a more cautious stance” as it considers this year’s outlook for the telecom stocks, particularly when it comes to the big three incumbents BCE, Telus and Rogers.
Galappatthige predicts that wireless competition will heat up as a “resurgent Rogers Wireless” continues to aggressively add wireless net additions, and as regional player Videotron Wireless advances towards its…
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OTTAWA – Telus is the second big wireless provider to reach an agreement with the Competition Bureau to credit or refund its customers who were charged for premium text messages that they had been led to believe were free.
The Bureau said Wednesday that Telus will issue rebates of up to $7.34 million to select current and former wireless customers after it concluded that the Vancouver-based telco made, or permitted to be made, false or misleading representations in advertisements for premium text messages in pop-up ads, apps and on social media.
The rebates will apply to Telus, Telus Mobility and Koodo customers…
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VANCOUVER – Telus president and CEO Darren Entwistle has bought up a sizeable chunk of the company’s common shares in what can only be seen as a clear vote of confidence in its future.
Telus said Tuesday that Entwistle, in combination with a family trust, purchased a total of 263,000 Telus common shares on December 17, representing an investment of approximately $10 million. Entwistle purchased 79,000 shares at an average price of $37.76, and the family trust purchased 180,000 shares at an average purchase price of $37.86, continues the news release.
Following this purchase, Entwistle will now personally own 233,865 Telus shares…
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