GATINEAU – The chairmanship of the CRTC is often said to be a thankless job, so, many of the leading regulatory folks in Canadian telecom set about to change that this week, getting together to thank outgoing CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein for his yeoman’s work these past five years.
When he came on board as chair in 2007, von Finckenstein promised an open, accountable and transparent Commission. With dozens of public proceedings and many new ways to include the public in the debate launched under his watch, we got that in spades under von Finckenstein, who oversaw his final…
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GATINEAU – Some consensus around a Rogers Communications proposal for IP to IP connection emerged during the first day of rebuttals Monday at the CRTC’s interconnection hearing.
Rogers decided that it would be easier to live with the status quo in IP interconnection and pay for the costs of converting IP traffic to TDM (time-division multiplexing) to terminate voice calls on ILECs network as long as ILECs would negotiate IP interconnection where they offer it to either a subsidiary, a division or an unaffiliated carrier. Last week, Rogers requested the commission require the ILECs to pay…
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WINNIPEG – Residents of Manitoba are encouraged to begin using 10-digit dialing for all wireline and wireless calls starting December 1st, in preparation for the mandatory switch over which begins on July 29, 2012.
The Telecommunications Alliance, whose members in Manitoba include MTS, Rogers, Telus, Bell and Westman Communications Group, said Tuesday that the province’s telecommunications service providers will all be able to support 10-digit dialed calls starting early next month.
"10-digit local dialing and the addition of a new area code are forward-looking measures that will help the entire communications industry meet the continually growing demand for new services. A…
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WHILE HIS NAME MAY have been on every submission to the CRTC over the last four-plus years, few, if any know what Robert Morin thinks of Canadian cultural and telecom policy. That’s because he won’t say. It’s beyond his role.
He likens his now-former job as secretary-general of the CRTC (he retired this month) to that of a plumber, where it’s been his duty to make sure the plumbing, or the nuts and bolts of the Commission, work seamlessly and efficiently while policy and other national matters are developed and problems solved all around him. Basically, the type of house…
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GATINEAU – Mandating Internet Protocol interconnection for voice services is unnecessary because doing so will not bring any additional benefits to consumers, three of the country’s incumbent telcos told the CRTC during its first day of hearings into the interconnection regime.
In its opening remarks, Bell Canada said that “no regulatory intervention is required to push the market towards IP interconnection” and that “the market will naturally drive this migration without any need for regulatory intervention,” explained Jonathan Daniels, VP of regulatory law at Bell.
He acknowledged that the company’s network is capable of providing IP voice to most of its…
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TORONTO – Canadian telephone companies long sought a way to deliver a TV experience to their customers.
Bell Canada opted early on for a satellite solution, having come to realize during many technical trials during the 1990s that delivering a quality TV experience on par with what cable could offer was still years away.
Other Canadian telcos continued to test the delivery of digital television signals using various technological options through the 1990s and early 2000s. Cost, inefficient compression technology, and the physical limitations of the telco plant all held back viable solutions to the telephone company’s missing link when it…
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OTTAWA – The real battle of the CRTC’s interconnection hearing that starts next week is going to be over whether the new entrant wireless service providers and long distance carriers are able to connect to incumbent and competitor networks at lower costs. In its consultation document, the Commission has asked the telecommunications industry if it would benefit from a consolidated interconnection regime rather than the current situation with three separate regimes: one for each the competitive local exchange carriers, wireless service providers and long distance or toll traffic carriers. Under the current rules, CLECs are…
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SHENZHEN, China – Canada’s Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, Ed Fast, spent Thanksgiving weekend touring Huawei’s global headquarters in Shenzhen, in part to recognize the company’s commitment to Canada over the past few years.
The world’s second largest telecom provider now employs approximately 400 people in Canada, and has committed $67 million over the next five years to further develop its R&D facility in Kanata, Ontario. Since opening in 2010, the R&D facility has grown to 120 researchers and engineers, with plans to double in size by the end of 2012.
“The…
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TORONTO – Touting it as Canada's first online microvolunteering community, Telus’ low-price brand Koodo Wednesday launched Koodonation.com.
“Koodo’s mission in business has always been to redefine mobility; today Koodo is proud to support a social change movement that is redefining volunteering across Canada,” reads the company’s press release.
An entirely not-for-profit, grassroots community, supported and powered by Koodo, koodonation.com allows consumers and Canadian charities to work together where a huge percentage of Canadians spend their time – online — with the concept of microvolunteering.
“Microvolunteering is volunteerism built for the social media generation, and gives web-savvy Canadians the…
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TORONTO – Telus has once again pledged its support to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation via its annual ‘Go Pink’ campaign which seeks to raise money to fund breast cancer fellowships for research into the early detection and treatment of the disease.
Telus will contribute $25 to the Foundation for every pink BlackBerry Curve 9360 smart phone sold, and an additional $5 for each purchase of select pink phone accessories. Canadians may also visit Telus’ Facebook page to create their own ‘pink network’ – an on-line, shareable photo gallery – and Telus will contribute an additional $1 for every new photo gallery created.
"Each…
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