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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TORONTO – Telus is joining forces with Startup Canada to help make Toronto a Canadian city of choice for entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses.
The organizations launched Startup Toronto – an entrepreneur-led community that will help new businesses in the Greater Toronto Area accelerate their growth by providing access to resources, mentorship programs, education and support through a hyper-connected local and national network. Startup Toronto is the newest addition to the Startup Canada Communities network, and will, among other aims, act as a point of entry and resource directory for entrepreneurs to access Toronto's startup-support ecosystem.
Throughout the year,…
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CALGARY, MONTREAL and VANCOUVER – Canada’s communications industry is digging deep to help support relief efforts in Nepal after last Saturday’s devastating earthquake.
Shaw Communications said Tuesday that it will match employee donations to the Canadian Red Cross dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000 to help provide critical supplies and aid in rescue and recovery efforts. Aligning with the Federal Government's donation matching program, every dollar donated by Shaw employees could be matched twice, resulting in three dollars of aid to Nepal.
In addition, all Shaw Phone customers will receive complimentary long distance calling to Nepal until May 25, and Shaw TV customers have…
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GATINEAU – Earlier this month, a group of 14 broadcasters met for the first time to begin figuring out how to develop a subscription television set top box data measurement system.
In its TV Policy Review decision, the CRTC said building such a system would be a very good thing and set a deadline of April 13th for an industry-wide working group to start moving. Representatives from Bell Canada, Blue Ant Media, CBC, Cogeco, Corus, Eastlink, the Independent Broadcasters Group, MTS, Pelmorex, Quebecor, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw and Telus met on April 8th saying in its first…
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