OTTAWA – “It’s a great day for broadband in rural Canada without a doubt.” That was Chris Johnston, executive VP of marketing at Xplornet Communications Inc., in an interview with Cartt.ca on Tuesday after the company won 42 licences in Industry Canada’s 2500 MHz spectrum auction.
With 25 MHz in 42 markets across the country, the broadband communications company will use the spectrum to rollout a near national fixed wireless LTE network, capable of providing rural Canadians with download speeds of 25 Mbps, the ability to stream HD, and all other manner of things consumers can…
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TORONTO – MTS has become the latest telco to offer their customers the option to pay for purchases with a tap of their mobile device.
According to EnStream, a mobile commerce joint venture company owned by Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus, mobile payments are now supported by Bell, Rogers, Telus, MTS and SaskTel, who collectively provide service to over 94% of Canada's wireless subscribers. EnStream's platform acts as a hub, connecting multiple Canadian banks and mobile network operators, while securely delivering the credit, debit and pre-paid cards offered by financial institutions to wireless handsets, all while preserving each bank's direct relationship…
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OTTAWA – Wind Mobile’s hopes of securing spectrum in the 2500 MHz band to add to its meager holdings have been dashed, while Telus Corp. was able to secure 40 MHz of the valuable bandwidth in all regions of the country, according to results of the Industry Canada spectrum auction released on Tuesday.
The auction, which had officially ended on May 5, netted federal government coffers more than $755 million. There were 11 companies to begin the auction with nine of them winning licences. Of the 318 licences available, 302 of them were sold. In addition to Wind,…
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GATINEAU – The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) is again fighting wholesale service rates of the established telecom and cable companies. The group of independent ISPs is now telling the CRTC that it must make interim all usage sensitive rates from these companies until more fulsome analyses are done.
Bell Aliant, Bell Canada, Cogeco Cable, Rogers Communications, SaskTel, Shaw Cablesystems, Telus Communications, and Vidéotron are all party to the application.
In an application filed on April 29, CNOC argues that evidence has now come to light that demonstrates existing usage sensitive rates are too high. It points to a recent…
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TORONTO and OTTAWA – Telus announced more details surrounding its planned investments in Ontario, which will include $101 million in the Greater Toronto Area and $18 million in Ottawa this year.
The funds will allow Telus to continue to upgrade its wireless towers across Ontario to 4G LTE; commence planning for how to best leverage its newly purchased AWS-3 spectrum to add wireless capacity; continue to deploy 700MHz spectrum for use in rural and urban areas; enhance the role of Telus Health; and, foster new Internet of Things solutions for businesses.
Telus said last month that it will invest $2.1 billion in…
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VANCOUVER – Led by growth in both wireless and wireline, Telus saw profits jump more than 10% for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015.
Consolidated operating revenue increased 4.6% to $3.03 billion, while net income grew 10.1% year-over-year to $415 million. Adjusted net income increased by 11.5% to $427 million. Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 5.4% to $1.14 billion, though EBITDA excluding restructuring and other like costs increased by 6.2% to $1.2 billion.
Telus said that consolidated revenue growth was generated primarily by higher data revenue in both wireless and wireline operations, in addition to…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor CEO Pierre Dion says the company is keeping its options open about the idea of becoming a national wireless player after this week’s CRTC decision on wholesale roaming.
In a press conference after the company’s annual general meeting in Montreal on Thursday, Dion said “we will continue to use a very, very disciplined process” in evaluating whether to make use of its spectrum licenses in English Canada to expand its wireless services to other provinces, or come to agreements with other players.
He said “we think that the CRTC is taking a step in the right direction” with…
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GATINEAU – New wireless entrants got their wish. The CRTC has concluded that Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications and Telus Corp. “have the ability and incentive” to impose wholesale roaming terms, conditions and rates that wouldn’t “prevail in a competitive market” and therefore will regulate their wholesale roaming rates.
Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-177, released on Tuesday, only covers GSM-based networks (which is the tech most run on now).
Even though wholesale roaming caps as established by the federal government in Section 27.1 of the Telecommunications Act last June offered some relief to the new entrants, “the interests of users are not…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will release its hotly anticipated decision on wholesale mobile wireless services late Tuesday.
The Commission will stage a media “lock-up” from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET on May 5 to provide a technical briefing to explain the different elements of the decision. The decision itself will be released at 4:00 PM, followed by a short statement by chairman Jean-Pierre Blais.
With the CRTC's sharp consumer focus, most are expecting the decision will see the allowable rates come down, which will bode well for Wind Mobile (and less so for the big three of Telus, Rogers and…
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BAIE-COMEAU, MONT-JOLI and AMQUI, QC – Telus this week unveiled more details surrounding its planned investments in Quebec, which will include $5.4 million in Baie-Comeau, $2.3 million in Mont-Joli and $2.1 million in Amqui.
The funds will enable thousands of homes and businesses to connect directly to Telus’ fibre optic network while simultaneously enhancing wireless speeds, coverage and capacity, the company said. The investments will also allow for faster Internet speeds, new TV content, packages and applications for its Optik TV service, connect business locations and industrial parks to the network helping to further stimulate economic growth, plus grow the…
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