By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – Canada’s big telecoms are divided on a CRTC proposal to create a framework that would establish an independent body tasked with creating and maintaining a block list of known malicious software networks, known as botnets.
A botnet is a network of malware-infected devices that are controlled from a central location and used to do things like steal data and/or send an overwhelming number of communications to a server, which causes it to fail (denial-of-service attack). The increasing number of internet-connected devices coming to market, a lot largely with flimsy security measures, are multiplying the risk of…
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Telus asks for more subsidies
By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – If the CRTC wants to encourage more investment in rural broadband and not have to shell out more subsidies, it should not impose additional regulatory obligations, such as open access to their networks, the big telecoms are arguing.
In final submissions to the CRTC’s consultation on barriers to deploying broadband in rural Canada, launched in late 2019, the big telecoms took the opportunity to reemphasize fewer regulations will mean more private investment in their networks – and then the government can save money on programs, too.
Should “the investment climate worsen due to…
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ISPs to receive funding include Videotron, Cogeco, Bell, Xplornet, Telus and Sogetel
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. — The federal government and the government of Quebec today announced the launch of the Canada-Quebec “Operation High Speed” initiative to connect almost 150,000 underserved Quebec households to high-speed Internet by September 2022.
This initiative is being made possible by a joint investment totalling $826.3 million from the government of Canada and the Quebec government. The ISPs (which are also investing some of their own money) receiving funding through the program include Videotron, Cogeco, Bell, Xplornet, Sogetel and Telus.
Here are some of the details of each ISP’s…
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MONTREAL – Bell Canada today announced it is prepared to respond quickly to service providers seeking access to its poles and other communications support structures.
“By establishing common priorities and working closely with partners like Hydro-Québec and suppliers including engineering firms specializing in aerial structures, the measures Bell is implementing have already significantly accelerated the issuance of permits for many service providers and sped up deployment of several key projects,” reads today’s press release.
“Bell has put everything in place to enable Internet service providers to connect as many Quebecers as possible to high-speed Internet as quickly as possible,” said Karine…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Rogers Communications’ proposed $26-billion purchase of Shaw Communications will reduce competition in Canada’s broadband and wireless sector at a time when the industry’s top players are enjoying record profits, and therefore needs to be opposed by the federal government, according to Windsor, Ontario Member of Parliament Brian Masse, the New Democrat critic for telecommunications.
“We need to have strong direction for the industry that buying each other out is not a solution for lowering prices, increasing access for Canadians and bringing greater accountability to consumers,” he told Cartt.ca in an interview.
The federal government should use…
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By Ken Kelley
AS CANADIANS WEARILY commemorate the first anniversary of the Covid-19 crisis, we’ve witnessed companies, schools and other services migrate to the digital world in unprecedented fashion. While the internet wouldn’t be considered a luxury by most Canadians, it is exactly that to a segment of the population facing the rising cost of home internet service while their household budgets are growing increasingly tighter.
On Tuesday, consumer group OpenMedia virtually hosted the Day of Action for Affordable Internet, bringing together more than two-dozen civil society and social justice groups, policy experts, activists and independent ISPs to highlight not…
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And what still stands in their way
By Greg O’Brien
THE PURCHASE OF SHAW by Rogers has been a steady recurrent rumour which would crop up from time to time over the past 23-plus years this reporter has been tracking the industry, meaning Monday’s $26 billion purchase deal by Rogers was a long, long time coming.
In fact, when I first spoke with former Shaw president Peter Bissonnette in late 1997 (so long ago I don’t think he had yet been appointed president), I asked him then about the rumour I heard Rogers would buy Shaw. Too soon. Much too soon,…
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REGINA — SaskTel announced today it has selected Samsung Electronics as the single vendor who will supply SaskTel with its 4G/5G radio access network (RAN) and core network.
Under the companies’ agreement, Samsung will supply all hardware, software and associated expertise to ensure the successful deployment of an end-to-end 5G solution, says the press release.
“We are pleased to select Samsung as the sole vendor for our 5G network deployment and we are confident that Samsung’s state-of-the-art 5G technology will deliver robust network capability and exceptional connectivity inherent in their 5G solutions,” said Doug Burnett, president and CEO of SaskTel, in…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Quebecor has asked the CRTC and the Competition Bureau to conduct an inquiry into whether the three largest wireless providers, Bell, Telus and Rogers, are violating the Wireless Code by how they price devices as well as the charges incurred when consumers want to terminate their contract.
Through its own investigation, Vidéotron says in a letter to the CRTC it has collected the prices of various wireless devices on the websites of the Big Three and the conditions attached to them. The conclusion is clear, says the Quebec company. Compared to the prices offered by manufacturers,…
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Lobbying, new energy board, sees province take action
By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – The Ontario government has made good on a pledge to tackle broadband roadblocks in the province by proposing in new legislation to reduce hydro pole attachment costs, a move that is receiving praise across the board and that has been many months in the making.
The legislation, called Building Broadband Faster Act, proposes timely access by telecommunications companies to infrastructure owned by utilities and municipalities, including underground facilities, and requires utilities to better prepare their poles for new wire attachments, which require weighting assessments – the cost of which…
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