OTTAWA – Add Telus to the list of telco’s appealing to the Federal government over CRTC decisions.
The B.C.-based telco filed a petition to the Governor in Council late last week over Telecom Decision CRTC 2008-117 and calling for the rescission of Telecom Order CRTC 2009-111, expressing many of the same concerns as BCE.
Citing its capital program for 2009 which planned to invest $2.05 billion dollars in its networks, Telus’ petition said that rather than encourage investment risks in the current economy, “the CRTC has declared that we will be required to share this new investment…
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TORONTO – Globalive Wireless Management Corp. has “officially” received its wireless spectrum licenses from Industry Canada.
The wireless newcomer, which offers the Yak long distance product, VOIP and third-party ISP services, purchased its spectrum at last May’s advanced wireless services spectrum auction for $442 million.
But its licenses were awarded on a provisional basis, after wireless incumbents Rogers Communications and Telus complained that the company’s ownership structure violated the Canadian legislation which says telecom companies must be majority-owned by Canadians. (Parent company Globalive Communications is co-owned by Orascom, a global wireless player based in Egypt with over 77…
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OTTAWA – BCE has asked the federal cabinet to overturn a CRTC decision, saying investment in next-generation communications networks should be encouraged “as a matter of policy”.
At issue is the Commission’s Telecom Decision 2008-117 from December 11, 2008, and its companion order, Telecom Order 2009-111 from March 3, 2009, requiring incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) “to provide speeds for wholesale asymmetric digital subscriber line services that match the speeds made available to their retail Internet service customers”, if a competitor requests it.
The CRTC application was filed by Cybersurf Corporation in June 2008, and was…
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GATINEAU – With the CRTC panel sounding increasingly like an ISP levy-for-broadband-Cancon is under serious consideration, leave it to Telus’ Michael Hennessy to bring peals of laughter into the hearing room as the final presenter at the CRTC’s hearing into new media and broadcasting.
The past three weeks have seen interveners and the commissioners themselves asking repeatedly, among many other things, whether or not ISPs are in some way, akin to BDUs. Because if they are, maybe they can be taxed like BDUs and contribute some kind of percentage of revenue towards the production of Canadian-made online content (ACTRA…
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THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE of wireless walled garden (as referenced in Tuesday morning’s story “Closed wireless networks face broadcasters’ wrath”) was to control the experience because a lack of common interfaces made the internet experience a mess.
While carriers looked at content as an opportunity, it generally is more of a headache to try to manage. We are moving rapidly to the same Internet experience on mobile as wireline. That means an open platform.
However we reserve the right to have our own portal, and like the wireline world you can choose your home pages.
Pelmorex suggested that its content could…
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After seeing a fourfold increase in phone and email scams in recent weeks, Telus issued a public service announcement encouraging its customers to “just hang up when scammers call”.
The common thread in each scam, the announcement said, is that fraud artists try to trick customers out of personal information – such as addresses, birthdates, account numbers, passwords and credit card numbers, by posing as a legitimate caller.
Providing that kind of information could lead to identity theft or other fraud, and Telus suggested hanging up when scammers call. Legitimate telemarketers always know your name and always provide a…
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MARKHAM – The 39 member companies of the Canadian Independent Telecommunications Association (those stubborn, often innovative, mostly rural, holdout telcos who never ever sold to Bell or Telus or another bigger outfit) are gathering this week in Markham for their annual general meeting and showcase and seminar program.
Some members have launched IPTV, all offer Internet service, some have wireless, some are big into business services – and all face similar challenges as compared to the big traditional telcos. A number of member companies are city-owned or are co-operatives.
Seminar topics on Monday covered bandwidth requirements, whether fibre to…
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SEATTLE, WA – NetMotion Wireless has received a Canadian patent for its mobile virtual private network software Mobility XE.
Mobility XE is utilized by more than 1,400 business and agencies worldwide to provide secure wireless connections to applications across wireless coverage gaps and data networks. Telus Mobility offers NetMotion software in Canada by monthly subscription through its business sales channels.
"In today’s economic environment, companies and agencies are relying heavily on our software to increase the productivity and efficiency of their mobile workers," said Pam Cory, NetMotion’s vice president of marketing, in the announcement. "We’re pleased to have this Canadian patent added…
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MONTREAL – Bell Canada is buying national consumer electronics retailer The Source, the companies announced Monday.
While the purchase price was not released, Bell said it would be "materially less" than the $335 million paid for the chain by Circuit City in 2004. (The Source was once Radio Shack in Canada but was forced to drop the name in a branding dispute prior to its sale to the now-bankrupt Circuit City.)
The 750 Source stores will offer the full array of Bell consumer services – including Bell home phone products, Bell Mobility, Solo Mobile, potentially Virgin Mobile wireless products and services, Bell…
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VANCOUVER – Telus Corporation reported a 6% growth in revenue to $9.65 billion, and a 5% growth in EBITDA for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.
Revenue for its fourth quarter was $2.45 billion, an increase of 5% from a year ago, driven primarily by a 7% growth in wireless revenue and 13% growth in wireline data revenue. Net income for the quarter was $285 million, and consolidated EBITDA decreased by $16 million, due to increased investments in operating efficiency initiatives that resulted in restructuring costs increasing by $32 million, the company’s press release detailed.
"The very fact we are…
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