$10 million not enough of a deterrent, Péladeau says
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The maximum fine of $10 million for a first offence available to the CRTC to impose on violators of its rules is not enough for Bell Canada, Quebecor president and CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau said Tuesday.
“I’m sorry to say this, it’s like a drop of water in the ocean,” he said Tuesday evening in an appearance in front of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, which is studying spending on large projects. “It doesn’t amount to much for a company like them…to delay the competition, it…
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TORONTO — The federal government’s spectrum allocation policies are the focus of the latest report from the C.D. Howe Institute’s telecommunications policy working group, which says the high cost of spectrum in Canada combined with regulatory impediments will negatively impact the rollout of 5G in the country.
Citing an analysis by U.K. economist Pantelis Koutroumpis in 2020, who looked at the impact of spectrum allocation on mobile communications in Canada, spectrum prices in Canada are almost four times higher than the international average, says the telecom policy working group (which counts among its members executives from Canada’s largest telecom companies)….
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CRTC focuses on accelerating regional carrier network builds. Eyes now on Cogeco if regulatory conditions satisfy mobile entry
By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – In requiring the country’s largest telecommunications companies to negotiate access to its wireless network with regional carriers, the CRTC has signaled its desire to bolster the fourth players and help accelerate the expansion and deployment of those networks, the Commission’s head Ian Scott said Thursday.
But the Regulator will not require those regional carriers to come to commercial arrangements with smaller players on that leased capacity, with Scott only saying they are permitted to do so.
In essence, Thursday’s decision…
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INTERNET SPEED TESTING pioneer Ookla released its latest test wireline and wireless broadband speed results for a number of markets around the world, including Canada, and its fair to say just about every carrier won something.
Rogers, for example, ranked as Canada’s most consistent national wireless and broadband provider with a score of 88.7%, and had the fastest internet in Ontario and New Brunswick
Telus was the fastest mobile operator with a speed score of 87.54 and tied for first with the lowest latency at 6 ms on the wired internet side.
Freedom Mobile won the median latency crown on the wireless…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC today decided to mandate mobile virtual network operators for the Canadian wireless market – as long as companies who want to be one already own and operate network facilities and Tier 4 or higher (3, 2, 1) spectrum.
The Commission is calling it “wholesale facilities-based MVNO access service” and the decision also makes it clear this new “wholesale roaming policy applies to fifth-generation (5G) networks. This confirmation is important to help ensure that competition can continue to grow as the mobile wireless service market evolves to 5G.”
In short, that means companies with existing facilities like…
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TORONTO — Telstra Americas, which recently opened a point of presence (PoP) in downtown Toronto, announced today Kris Schaffer (above) has been named as Telstra’s Canada country lead to drive accelerated growth out of the Toronto area.
Schaffer is “an accomplished IT and telecom professional with both leadership and customer-facing roles at IBM, Bell Canada and Telus,” reads the press release announcing her hiring.
Most recently, Schaffer was business development executive at ISM Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM, where her responsibilities included helping companies with cloud-based business intelligence, advanced analytics and big data solution initiatives. Prior to ISM…
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GATINEAU — Cartt.ca readers will be glad to know the CRTC’s new wireless policies will finally be released this week, with mandated mobile virtual network operators (will they or won’t they?) undoubtedly the biggest item of interest among telecom providers, big and small.
A Commission spokesperson confirmed the policy decision will be issued at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 15 (i.e., after the stock market closes).
It’s been a long wait, seeing as the Commission first announced the wireless policy review proceeding back in February 2019, held a public hearing in February 2020 and final submissions were in July…
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QUEBEC CITY — In two separate announcements today, Cogeco Connexion and Bell Canada have been awarded more than $50 million in combined funding as part of Canada-Quebec Operation High Speed, to bring high-speed Internet services to underserved households in the Memphrémagog regional county municipality (RCM) and Bas-Saint-Laurent region, respectively.
Cogeco is receiving $22.7 million in joint funding to provide high-speed Internet access to close to 3,000 households in the Memphrémagog region by September 2022. Cogeco’s investment in the project was not announced.
Municipalities who will benefit from the Cogeco broadband project include:
Austin, Ayer’s Cliff, Bolton-Est, Eastman, Hatley, Canton de…
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VANCOUVER — Telus-owned smartphone repair chain Mobile Klinik announced today it has launched a van service to bring smartphone and tablet repair directly to customers in more than 100 communities across the country.
Telus’s acquisition of Mobile Klinik was announced in July 2020.
Through the Onsite Repair Unit service, customers can schedule appointments online or by phone, and a Mobile Klinik service van will arrive to provide contactless repair services at the location of the customer’s choice. Technicians will service common issues such as cracked screens, broken cameras, software updates and battery replacements from inside the van, outside a…
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By Greg O’Brien
TORONTO – Rogers Communications has made a number of changes at the top of its executive team, according to its corporate leadership web page.
In is David Fuller as president of Rogers Wireless and Lisa Damiani as chief legal and regulatory officer. Dean Prevost, who had been president of Rogers for Business, is now president of connected home and Rogers for Business. Lisa Durocher, who had been chief digital officer, is now executive vice-president financial and emerging services.
Out is Brent Johnston, who had been wireless president, Graeme McPhail, who was chief of legal and regulatory and Phil…
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