QUEBEC CITY – A $19.8-million joint investment from the federal and provincial government as part of Canada-Quebec Operation High Speed will help deliver broadband to more than 1,600 households in the Mauricie region.
The residents there will have access to Cogeco high-speed Internet services by September 2022.
The investments announced will accelerate the deployment of reliable, high-performing infrastructure in the following municipalities:
Des Chenaux RCM: Batiscan, Champlain, Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan, Saint-Luc-de-Vincennes, Saint-Maurice, Saint-Narcisse, Saint-Prosper-de-Champlain, Saint-Stanislas.
Maskinongé RCM: Saint-Boniface, Yamachiche
Mékinac RCM: Grandes-Piles, Hérouxville, Lac-aux-Sables, Lac-Normand, Saint-Adelphe, Sainte-Thècle, Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac, Saint-Tite, Saint-Séverin, Trois-Rives
Shawinigan Territory: Shawinigan
“Over the next few months, Cogeco will take an…
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GATINEAU – Today, the CRTC denied an application brought by large facilities-based ISPs to review and vary telecom regulatory policy 2019-269, specifically, the application of the Internet Code.
“The applicants (Bell, Rogers, Telus and others) submitted the Commission erred in its determination to apply the Internet Code to only the 10 largest facilities-based ISPs at this time; however, the Commission finds that the applicants have failed to demonstrate that there is substantial doubt as to the correctness of that determination,” reads today’s decision.
“As stated in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2019-269, the Commission expects that all Internet service providers will…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Between losing a fourth wireless player in a merger and difficulty negotiating with big telecoms on leasing wireless network capacity, smaller carriers and their representatives told members of the industry committee Tuesday that the one-two punch of divesting Freedom Mobile in a Rogers-Shaw combination and mandating wireless negotiations with service-based operators could spell the last vestige of hope for a competitive telecom environment.
Appearing before the committee studying the Rogers-Shaw merger proposal, Matt Stein, who is head of the Competitive Network Operators of Canada, an industry group representing smaller internet service providers (as well as president…
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OTTAWA — Ericsson announced today it has established the Ericsson Open Lab, a new space located in Ottawa, to enable collaboration and innovation with its Cloud RAN customers and ecosystem partners to drive virtualized 5G radio access network (RAN) technologies.
Ericsson Open Lab (above) is co-located with the company’s Cloud RAN expertise at Ericsson’s R&D site in Ottawa, and is also accessible virtually to customers globally.
The launch of Open Lab follows Ericsson’s announcement of its Cloud RAN product portfolio development. It will enable further development of Ericsson Cloud RAN solutions on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, says the company’s press release….
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OTTAWA — The number of Canadian consumer complaints to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) increased by 6% during the six-month period from August 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the CCTS’s 2020-21 mid-year report, released this morning.
During the six months ended January 31, the CCTS accepted 9,121 complaints from Canadian telecom and TV customers and resolved 88% of all complaints. There were 28 confirmed Wireless Code breaches, five Television Service Provider Code breaches, four Internet Code breaches and one Deposit and Disconnection Code breach.
The CCTS…
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Briefing note pointed to Premier Legault’s promise of 50/10 for all by end of 2022
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The federal portion of the $826.3 million investment announced this week to connect 150,000 households in Quebec by September 2022 is coming from the $1.75-billion Universal Broadband Fund, Innovation Canada confirmed, less than 10 days after the final deadline for applications closed.
This would make Tuesday’s announcement the first award from the UBF’s core program, as its “rapid” stream for projects completed by November has already disbursed funds. The massive $826.3-million operation will be evenly split between Quebec’s new Operation…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Independent internet service provider TekSavvy said this week a lower court made an error when, for the first time, it ordered Canada’s ISPs to block the websites of an alleged copyright infringer.
That’s because the Federal Court, in ordering the blocking of websites associated with alleged IPTV infringer GoldTV, leaned too much toward the rights of the copyright holders at the possible expense of free expression and the impact it could have on legitimate content, it alleged in a two-day hearing at the Federal Court of Appeal this week.
TekSavvy is challenging the first site-blocking order…
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TORONTO — In its third report, released today, the C.D. Howe Institute’s new telecommunications policy working group — which includes executives from Bell, Rogers, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and Shaw, among others — says cellular phone services have seen a 25% price drop over the past five years, which they say meets Ottawa’s mandated wireless rate cut.
That means, the group says, it’s time to shift the focus of telecom policy debates to other issues, such as the modernization of the CRTC and rate-setting challenges for mandated access.
Citing data from Statistics Canada’s consumer price index, the telecom group says cellular services…
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LONDON, U.K. — While the 4G networks of Canada’s Big Three national operators are among the fastest in the world, their 5G network performance trails operators in other countries, primarily due to spectrum delays faced in Canada, according to a new report from U.K.-based mobile analytics company Opensignal, released Wednesday.
To conduct its research, Opensignal analyzed the current real-world 5G experience of its app users on Canada’s three largest mobile operators — Bell, Rogers and Telus — in terms of average download and upload speeds and their experience when streaming mobile video and compared it to the average 5G experience…
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By Ken Kelley
MONTREAL – Not that we expected otherwise, but there was no dodging the Rogers-Shaw elephant in the room when Cogeco president and CEO Philippe Jetté spoke during the Desjardins’ Group annual Industrials, TMT & Consumer virtual conference Tuesday.
In fact the session’s moderator, analyst Jerome Debreuil, ripped off the band-aid straight away, asking Jetté if he expected Cogeco would be interested in bidding on any wireless assets Rogers may be forced to divest as part of the tie-up.
“There’s a great deal of uncertainty as far as we’re concerned, as to whether the deal will be approved and…
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