The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) released Thursday its 2024 mid-year report, which shows a 43 per cent increase in the number of complaints from telecom and TV customers in Canada between Aug. 1, 2023 and Jan. 31, 2024, compared to figures in the CCTS’s mid-year report a year ago.
For the six-month period, the CCTS accepted 10,663 customer complaints, compared to 7,451 complaints at last year’s midpoint, the new report says. Of the complaints received during the report’s timeframe, 9,272 were concluded, having raised 19,879 issues.
Wireless service issues remain the leading…
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Quebecor said it will rethink pricing strategy as a result
By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor will need to accept Telus’s rate to connect to its wireless network, the CRTC ruled Monday, eliciting a scathing response from the Montreal company that included a promise to reconsider its low-cost pricing and suspend the launch of certain plans in Manitoba.
Telus and Quebecor could not come to an agreement on the price-per-gigabyte component of that access, so they each presented their respective prices and asked the CRTC to make that determination via final offer arbitration.
While it said both offers would allow Quebecor’s mobile virtual network…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell will argue before the Federal Court of Appeal that the CRTC was not right to rely on the government’s policy direction to order telcos to provide interim access to their bundled transport and last mile fibre facilities because it is inherently contradicted by the Telecommunications Act.
Section 10 of the 2023 policy direction to the CRTC requires the commission to mandate the provision of an aggregated wholesale high-speed access service. At the same time, section 8 of the Telecommunications Act provides the government with the ability to order the regulator to make decisions of “general application on…
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Telus has launched an initiative that will see the telecom plant a tree for every new or certified pre-owned Android device purchased.
The Buy One, Plant One initiative, which will run from April 18 to May 16, will apply to Android devices purchased by either new or returning retail or business customers. It is available as a promotion at Telus and Koodo stores, online or through customer service representatives.
Telus said it aims to plant up to 50,000 trees, but will plant an additional tree for every pre-owned device traded in.
“This latest offer further highlights TELUS as a leader in sustainability…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telus is proposing an additional recurring charge for the implementation of a new feature for its next-generation 911 system that will allow smartphones to provide more accurate location information to emergency dispatchers.
The Emergency Location Service (ELS) is a Google location service that allows Android-based devices – relying heavily on Wi-Fi sensors, but also using GPS and cell towers – to provide enhanced location data directly from the device to the public safety answering point (PSAP) where 911 calls are received. The result, it is said, is accuracy, speed and reliability of location information for emergency calls.
The ELS…
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Telus announced Wednesday it is committing $135 million in Calgary this year to expand and improve its infrastructure, operations and services in the city.
The investment will focus on building next-generation networks, fueling innovation and sustainability, and driving economic growth, according to a Telus press release.
“We live in a digital world, and this investment continues TELUS’ legacy of making vital contributions to advance the economic strength and social vitality of Calgary and the province of Alberta,” Navin Arora, executive vice president of Telus and president of Telus Business Solutions, Telus Health,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco is still working toward securing a deal with the national carriers to launch its mobile virtual network operator business on their networks, the telecom’s senior vice president and chief financial officer said Friday.
“Where we are right now is we’re still in negotiations…at the same time building what is required to launch as well,” Patrice Ouimet said during the company’s fiscal second-quarter conference call with analysts. “I would say the situation is not that different from what I said last quarter. That being said, we are making progress.”
Ouimet said he couldn’t go any deeper because these are…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking for comments by Friday on a request by a consortium of internet service providers urging the regulator to rule on the eligibility of the big three telecoms to lease bundled access to middle and last mile fibre facilities both under the interim, and any future permanent, mandated regime.
The consortium – which is made up of Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, TekSavvy, and the indie rep the Competitive Network Operators of Canada – filed a request dated March 28 to the CRTC asking for a final ruling before May 7 on whether Bell, Rogers, Telus and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers wants the CRTC to limit the time telcos reserve space to attach wireless equipment on their own poles, according to a submission to the regulator.
The ask comes in response to a consultation launched by the commission inquiring, among other items, about whether it has jurisdiction over wireless attachments on telco-owned or controlled structures. The CRTC holds the preliminary view that it has concurrent jurisdiction over those structures with the department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), which has domain over towers and siting.
Beside recommending that the CRTC confirm that jurisdiction – which…
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As people gathered in large groups Monday for the total solar eclipse visible in parts of southern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, the country’s major wireless carriers ensured eclipse seekers and locals stayed connected and able to share the experience with family and friends as wireless network traffic spiked in some areas.
Rogers says it saw record-breaking amounts of traffic in communities along the eclipse’s path of totality. In Niagara Falls, which had one of the biggest influxes of eclipse watchers, Rogers saw network traffic increase by six times during the time of totality. In Kingston, network usage increased by…
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