GATINEAU – "The Commission is of the preliminary view that certain device financing plans may create a new barrier for customers to take advantage of competitive offers in the market.
“In particular, customers, who may benefit in the immediate term from lower monthly costs related to their devices, appear to be asked to accept terms and conditions that may require them to stay with their current WSP after the end of their wireless service plan commitment period or be charged for the remainder of the cost of the device,” reads the notice from the CRTC when it opened a Continue Reading
Shaw CEO also warns regulators not to change things now
CALGARY – After showing strong wireless subscriber additions of more than 266,000 customers in fiscal 2019 and bringing in $1 billion in annual wireless revenue for the first time, Shaw Communications executives didn’t hold back their opinions during the year-end conference call with financial analysts.
CEO Brad Shaw, said the company spent the fiscal year (ended August 31) focused on adding broadband and wireless customers, expanding its wireless network in the west by rolling out its 700 MHz spectrum – all the while managing a large…
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There’s pain now, but “simplicity dividend” will pay off for Rogers, CEO promises
TORONTO – This summer, Rogers Communications was the first to take the leap into lower wireless prices and modern device financing plans, each with the goal of making things easier and cheaper for both the company and its customers.
The new plans, starting at $75/month for unlimited data (albeit slowed after 10GB) sent the wireless market (and the Regulator) into a bit of a tizzy in the summer as all of the…
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GATINEAU – The Telecommunications Act allows the CRTC to order “telecommunications facilities to be provided, constructed, installed, altered, moved, operated, used, repaired or maintained on any property.”
Furthermore, “No Canadian carrier or distribution undertaking shall construct a transmission line on, over, under or along a highway or other public place without the consent of the municipality or other public authority having jurisdiction over the highway or other public place.”
In that context, the Commission has had to resolve conflicts that arose over the years between some municipalities and carriers. The general rule is a municipality is compensated for its costs incurred…
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Competition Bureau has its worries, too
GATINEAU – In the summer Rogers Wireless introduced 36-month device financing plans into the Canadian wireless marketplace.
The service providers which introduced these new plans (Telus quickly followed suit, and then Bell and Ice Wireless had begun or where about to launch three-year device plans) were hailed by some as increasing smartphone affordability and generally being pro-consumer. Others hailed in the opposite direction.
On August 2nd, as we reported, the CRTC sent a letter to providers to cease that practice and then on August 30th, Continue Reading
GATINEAU – As part of the unrelenting effort by Canada and other jurisdictions to put an end to fraud and scam calls, last December, the CRTC launched a proceeding that would see the Implementation of universal network-level blocking of calls with blatantly illegitimate caller identification.
The deadline for telcos to have that in place, if they don’t already, is December 19th.
This summer, however, Bell suggested going even further and, as Cartt.ca reported, applied for Commission approval for a pilot project which would use artificial intelligence to build on universal network blocking tools to stop certain verified fraudulent and…
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OTTAWA – A collective of Canadian startups will try to attract global attention next week as they exhibit new, innovative applications at Mobile World Congress 2019 Los Angeles.
The four companies were selected to participate in the L-Spark Secure IoT Accelerator Program earlier this year and are now ready to demonstrate their work. Applications created by the four Canadian companies were built on a new hardware and software platform that follows global IoT security guidelines recently developed by the GSMA, reads the L-Spark press release.
“Telus is committed to supporting industry initiatives that address ever-evolving cybersecurity threats by leveraging ‘secure…
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TORONTO – After 14 years leading provincial public broadcaster TV Ontario, Lisa De Wilde (right) announced today she will depart at the end of October, the end of her current contract term.
De Wilde is the second senior Ontario public broadcast executive to depart, following TFO’s Glenn O’Farrell, who left his job as CEO in August. Both are long-time Liberal supporters, so it’s perhaps no surprise they decided to leave at this point in time. De Wilde was also rumoured earlier this year to be in the running to take over as head of the National…
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Telus and B.C. government team up
VANCOUVER – Port Clements, B.C., a village of fewer than 300 on the shores of the Masset Inlet of Graham Island, now has 4G LTE wireless service.
In March, Telus finished a $500,000 cell tower to bring wireless service to the community for the very first time and now residents and visitors have access to 4G LTE.
“Hearing from local residents about how this new connectivity has changed their lives for the better has been incredible,” said Roberta Squire, Telus general manager for Northern B.C., in a company press release.
The new site is located at…
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LONDON – Global mobile measurement company Opensignal released a report this morning showing Canada appears to be ahead many other countries when it comes to delivering wireless services beyond major population centres.
With rural connectivity front and centre in the federal election campaign (not to mention pricing of wireless services in Canada), the results of Opensignal’s analysis “showed Canadians do get what they pay for – speeds and availability which exceed or rival the overall figures of developed countries,” reads its release.
That said, the report acknowledges rural dwellers often pay higher monthly costs for connectivity, and…
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