However, people are starting to return to stores and advertisers are coming back
TORONTO — Rogers Communications this morning reported second quarter 2020 results which reflected a full-quarter impact of the Covid-19 economic shutdown. (Expect Bell Canada, Telus and Quebecor to report similar impacts when they file Q2 results in the coming days.)
RCI’s revenue was impacted by the pandemic across the board, decreasing overall by 17% to $3.2 billion in Q2 2020, ended June 30, compared to the second quarter of 2019. The revenue decline was largely driven by 13% and 17% decreases in wireless service and equipment revenue, respectively,…
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By Denis Carmel
JULY 15 WAS THE DEADLINE for intervenors to provide the CRTC with their final submissions in the Wireless Policy Review proceeding.
It has been a long process and it is far from over. Technically, it started with an announcement on February 28, 2019.
However, back in 2015, the CRTC was saying: “When the Commission established the current wholesale mobile wireless service regulatory framework in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-177, it determined that the framework would remain in place for a minimum of five years, to allow for the development of sustainable competition and to encourage continued innovation and investment…
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Iristel is sticking with Huawei partnership, but moving slowly on deployment
By Ahmad Hathout
MARKHAM – Independent network operator Iristel will await a decision by the federal government on whether Huawei will be allowed to participate in the country’s 5G networks and is, in the meantime, not moving off its decision to partner with the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer. However, the company said it’s handling roll-out of the equipment cautiously.
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom announced that it will ban the use of Huawei from its 5G network and carriers must remove the company’s equipment from their 5G apparatuses by 2027,…
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“Scare tactic,” says CNOC
By Linda Stuart
OTTAWA — If the CRTC mandates mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access to wireless incumbents’ networks, Canada’s gross domestic product would be reduced by an estimated $10 billion within five years, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study released today by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA).
In addition, other negative impacts on the Canadian economy would include an estimated $2.5 billion reduction in government tax revenue, approximately 94,000 jobs lost across the supply chain, and a widened digital divide between rural and urban communities in Canada, says the PwC report, which was commissioned by…
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MONTREAL — A team from Montreal’s INRS (Institut national de la recherche scientifique) has been using its unique simulator to participate in the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) evaluation of new proposed standards for 5G.
INRS presented the results of its evaluations of various candidates’ Radio Interface Technology (RIT) specifications at an ITU meeting in Geneva in February 2020. To be approved by the ITU, 5G technology standards must meet a set of criteria known as IMT-2020 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2020), and several countries and consortiums of companies are proposing RIT as a new standard for 5G.
For the past two years,…
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LONDON, U.K. — After saying in January it would allow some Huawei telecom equipment to be used in the non-core parts of the U.K.’s 5G networks, the U.K. government has announced purchases of the Chinese company’s 5G gear will be banned after December 31, says this BBC report today.
In addition, all Huawei equipment must be removed from U.K. operators’ 5G networks by 2027.
According to the BBC report, the U.K.’s Digital Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said the decision would delay the country’s 5G rollout by a year.
Meanwhile, Canadian network operators continue to wait for our federal government’s decision on whether…
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TORONTO — Rogers Communications has been ranked as the number one wireless carrier overall in Canada in a new study released today by umlaut, a global mobile network testing and benchmarking company.
This is the second year in a row Rogers has won umlaut’s proprietary “Best in Test” mobile benchmark award, this year achieving a total score of 920 points out of a maximum of 1,000 points. Bell and Telus were close behind with scores of 908 and 887, respectively. Umlaut also said Rogers provides the best network in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, says the news…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC announced Tuesday it’s extending the deadline for interventions to its review of the rate-setting methodology for wholesale telecom services.
When the wholesale rate-setting review proceeding was announced in April, the intervention deadline was set as July 23, with replies to interventions due August 24.
In an updated notice of consultation today, the Commission has revised the intervention deadline to August 13 and is suspending the deadline for replies.
This comes after Rogers and TekSavvy separately asked for extensions to the deadlines. Rogers made its request for various reasons, including competing priorities related to other regulatory proceedings,…
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TORONTO — With its manufacturing and brand licensing agreement with BlackBerry coming to an end, Chinese smartphone manufacturer TCL Communication is officially entering the Canadian market with its own TCL Mobile brand of devices in partnership with Bell, Koodo, Telus and Virgin Mobile, the manufacturer announced Tuesday.
Available July 10, the TCL 10 Pro (pictured) and TCL 10L Android smartphones provide high-resolution displays, next-generation visual technology, quad rear-camera setup and other flagship-style features at an attractive price point, says the news release.
“Following the successful global launch of the TCL 10-Series of smartphones, we are pleased to have the opportunity…
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STOCKHOLM — Ericsson announced Monday the commercial availability of its Standalone 5G New Radio (NR) software for 5G mid- and low bands, which allows communications service providers to operate 5G NR independently of 4G networks.
To date, 5G networks have been deployed in Non-standalone (NSA) mode where the underlying 4G network layer supports the necessary signalling. Standalone 5G NR removes this 4G dependency, explains the news release.
The new Ericsson software will allow service providers to add 5G NR to existing 4G sites with a simpler architecture, or deploy 5G independently in new areas such as factories, to support enterprise…
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