THE 2006 POLICY DIRECTIVE to the CRTC (which came under then-PM Stephen Harper and then-Industry Minister Maxime Bernier) said the Commission must regulate based on market forces to the maximum extent feasible and reinforced that facilities-based competition (Canadian-owned, built, networks) was to be the backbone of the Canadian telecom marketplace.
It said a bunch of other things, too, but didn’t mention consumers at all. However, the Conservative government of the day insisted as long as the CRTC followed its directive, that should spur competition and lower retail prices.
Last week’s Liberal government proposed…
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OTTAWA – TNW Wireless Inc. is eligible to operate as a wireless carrier in Canada and may begin offering mobile wireless services after it proves that it has complied with all applicable 9-1-1 service obligations, said the CRTC in a decision late Thursday.
The decision also means that TNW now has access to tariffed services for wholesale mobile roaming on Bell’s and Telus’ networks, something that it had asked the CRTC to help it obtain back in July 2017.
However, the decision also found that the company’s proposed iPCS (Internet personal communications system) service does not comply with the…
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OTTAWA – In something of a surprising move, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains announced Tuesday during Question Period he planned to issue a Policy direction to the CRTC requiring it to improve the affordability of Internet and cellphone services for Canadians.
If this is truly a shift away from market forces and facilities based competition (hard to tell for sure with the legalese), then this could be the most significant shift in the federal government's thinking on telecom in decades.
Even though the CRTC is independent, the government can, according to the Telecommunications Act “issue directions…
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TORONTO — More than 300 guests Thursday night helped Huawei to celebrate the company’s 10 years of Canadian operations during its fifth Canadian Partner Convention, held in Toronto.
Given the questions and negative news surrounding Huawei’s global operations lately, the company no doubt welcomed the convention guests who attended from its 100-plus partners, including carriers, channel partners, suppliers, universities, governments and local chambers of commerce.
According to a news release issued Friday afternoon, Huawei executives took the opportunity at the convention to express gratitude to all of the partners and suppliers who have helped grow the…
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GATINEAU – “Having considered the matter in depth, the CRTC finds that it is apparent that misleading or aggressive retail sales practices are present in the telecommunications service provider market in Canada.
“These practices exist in all types of sales channels, including in store, online, over the telephone, and door to door. They occur to an unacceptable degree; they are harming Canadian consumers, in particular vulnerable Canadians; and they are a serious concern for the CRTC.”
So begins the Commission’s report on the sales tactics of the Canadian telecommunications industry, released today. The Regulator hosted a contentious hearing back in…
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TORONTO – Two guys who helped Wind Mobile get off the ground and then build its follower Freedom Mobile are the latest in a line of Canadian companies hoping to shake up the wireless market here.
Algis Akstinas (left, formerly the director of marketing and commercial strategy at Freedom) and Alex Bauman (right, formerly manager, customer base management) launched dot mobile Thursday with the goal of bringing a product and the company to market in 2020.
Dot stands for “Data On Tap” and the company aims to be just that for Canadians – a spigot of cheap,…
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OTTAWA – It was billed as the first time Canada’s key broadcasting leaders would debate the “critical issues at the heart” of the current review of the federal Broadcasting and Telecommunications acts.
However, the “Beyond Disruption: Crafting a Framework for the Future of the Industry” panel at last week’s Canadian Media Producers Association Prime Time annual national conference in Ottawa was more about how a key global streaming giant is messing up the existing framework of the Canadian broadcasting system.
Bad luck for him or prescient planning by organizers situated Stéphane Cardin, Netflix’s director of public policy for Canada, in the…
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STOCKHOLM – Ericsson has closed the sale of the majority stake of its MediaKind business to private equity firm One Equity Partners, a year after it first announced the sale.
One Equity Partners is now the majority owner, with Ericsson holding 49% of the shares after the transaction on January 31, 2019.
In Canada, Bell Canada (Fibe TV), Telus (Optik), SaskTel (maxTV) all use the technology for their TV services, and Cogeco Connexion will also soon offer it to its cable customers.
“In partnering with One Equity Partners, MediaKind is established as a leading independent video technology company with strong and committed…
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GATINEAU – CRTC submissions are sometimes entertaining when issues are significant, potentially polarizing and wildly debated.
However, and as we indicated previously, this new proceeding into the establishment of an Internet Code of Conduct is mostly incremental in its scope, since a lot of issues have been dealt with in prior proceedings (and in other codes).
Maybe that’s why Bell, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services, provincial governments, unions and consumer groups have not bothered at this stage.
No reply phase is complete without an incumbent taking a swipe at the Competition Bureau, though. In this case…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has waded in to an ongoing dispute between the city of Calgary and a group of big telco carriers over a municipal rights-of-way bylaw and a proposed municipal consent and access agreement (MCAA).
The Commission said Friday that it was turning down an application by the city seeking a declaration and determination that certain telecommunications carriers may rely upon Calgary’s rights-of-way bylaw for the performance of their obligations under section 43 of the Telecommunications Act, which deals with access to infrastructure.
The decision also approved certain terms and conditions of an MCAA between Calgary and…
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