Bureau notes past Shaw comments about its influence in the market
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Competition Bureau has asked the Federal Court to compel the disclosure of records from four telecoms related to its inquiry into the proposed purchase of Shaw by Rogers.
The competition watchdog filed the first in a possible series of document requests on July 22, which, if approved, will force Bell, Telus, Quebecor, and Xplornet (respondents) to disclose related information on mobile wireless activity in the shared operating provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba, and outside.
That information, which falls roughly within the timeframe between…
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By Denis Carmel
IN A DECISION RENDERED last Thursday, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) dismissed an application for judicial review that had been brought by six broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) and partially granted an application made by a group of nine collective societies.
The appeals stem from a decision from the Copyright Board of Canada (the Board), issued in August 2019 relating to royalties for the period 2014–2018.
In Canada, cable providers (BDUs) can distribute local over-the-air television signals for free and without permission from the signal owner. But, in the case of distant signals, the BDUs can distribute without permission…
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The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), wrote the CRTC last week to express “serious concerns regarding the actions” of Bell, Telus, and Rogers with regards to their recently released low-cost plans.
On July 14, Bell, Telus and Rogers each released new low-cost and occasional-use plans, as directed by the CRTC in Telecommunications Regulatory Policy CRTC 2021-130. PIAC, in its letter to the CRTC, noted the policy indicated “the Commission expected that the incumbents provide at least one low-cost plan on their premium brands.”
Despite this, PIAC did not find any such plan on the any of the companies’ premium brand…
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Telus fastest mobile operator during the quarter
SEATTLE — Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications were the fastest fixed broadband providers in Canada in the second quarter of 2021, according to Seattle-based broadband and mobile network testing company Ookla, which released its Q2 2021 Canada Market Report today.
Using Speedtest Intelligence data from the second quarter, Ookla gave Shaw and Rogers speed scores of 181.66 and 179.95, respectively, for their fixed broadband network performance. Ookla’s speed score incorporates measurements of each provider’s download and upload speeds to rank network speed performance, with 90% of the final score being attributed to download…
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TORONTO – Stamina Group Inc. and BAI Communications today announced they are partnering to bring syndicated content from publications including View the Vibe and WanderEater magazine to BAI’s public Wi-Fi network, TCONNECT, which is available in all Toronto Transit Commission subway stations.
“Incorporating the Stamina Group’s content into the Wi-Fi login experience delivers the added value commuters expect and encourages them to dwell and interact with targeted brand messaging,” reads a press release.
Commuters will have access to a variety of content including lifestyle news, entertainment and sports.
“Stamina Group’s content is engaging, relevant and provides insightful articles that are curated for…
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By Amanda Oye
LARGE INTERNET SERVICE providers have been the recipients of the vast amount of funding from the Universal Broadband Fund that had been allocated as of June 30th, 2021.
Jay Thomson, CEO of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA), compiled publicly available data, which shows Videotron, Cogeco, Bell, Telus and Rogers have been the major winners of UBF funding (see chart below).
The data takes into account two sets of funding. The first is funding from the UBF’s Rapid Response stream and the second is from the Canada-Quebec Operation High-Speed project, which received half of its $826.3-million funding from…
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CityWest, meanwhile, seeks to be its own last-mile provider
By Ahmad Hathout
Shaw Communications wants to, in some capacity, get involved in British Columbia’s $45.4-million Connected Coast fibre project, according to a briefing note obtained by Cartt.ca.
The company has asked the project’s main proponents, Prince Rupert’s CityWest and the Strathcona Regional District, to “partner to accelerate the delivery of service and/or as a key wholesale customer,” according to the note, written ahead of a February 3, 2021 meeting between company officials and B.C.’s Ministry of Citizens’ Services, which manages broadband in the province.
CityWest and Strathcona had chosen Baylink Networks as the prime…
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Rebuild already planned
By Amanda Oye
LYTTON, B.C. – Following record-breaking temperatures approaching 50 degrees celsius, a wildfire that began last Wednesday has wreaked havoc on Lytton, B.C., destroying much of the village, including its communication infrastructure.
“Our fibre network is totally torched,” said Daniel Mundall of Lyttonnet in an interview Monday.
As we reported in a feature story in 2018, Lyttonnet is a community cable, wireless and internet provider that spearheaded an initiative to build a community-owned fibre optic network in 2014 with the help of local volunteers. This was a significant advancement, since many in the Lytton community still relied…
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LONDON, U.K. — While rural Canadians have seen slight improvements in average mobile download speeds over the last 12 months, the gap between rural users’ download speed experience has become more prominent compared to networks in large urban centres, according to the latest analysis from analytics company Opensignal.
Generally speaking, Opensignal says rural users on Bell, Rogers and Telus’ mobile networks experience average download speeds which are less than half than those of its users in large population centres (PCs) on all three carriers.
For its analysis, Opensignal compared the mobile network experience of rural users, which make up almost 20%…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC today announced it has approved recommendations made in a report submitted in October 2020 by the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee’s (CISC) Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG), which now requires facilities-based wireless service providers to take steps to implement handset-based location technology in Canada by March 1, 2022.
With approximately 80% of 9-1-1 calls now being made on wireless devices, according to the Commission, wireless location information is critical when providing assistance to callers in emergency situations.
Advanced mobile location (AML) is a handset-based location protocol which can be used to find caller location for 9-1-1 calls made…
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