OTTAWA – With more Canadians than ever connected to all manner of devices in so many ways, complaints about wireless services, Internet access and VoIP providers more than doubled in the past year, according to the 2010-2011 annual report for the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS).
The CCTS said that it received 8,007 complaints, up 114% over last year, which Commissioner Howard Maker noted was the largest year-over-year increase in complaints in the organization’s four year history.
Wireless complaints accounted for 62.3% of all complaints, up from 51.7% last year, which Maker said reflected the increasing availability of…
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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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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 – Programming from Astral Media’s multi-platform brand Disney XD will be made available on the Xbox 360 console through Xbox LIVE, the premium online entertainment service for Xbox 360, the companies announced today.
One of the first kids entertainment brands to make content available to Canadian families through Xbox LIVE, Disney XD will offer a sampling line-up that includes popular titles such as Phineas and Ferb, Kickin’ It and What’s Up, Warthogs!. Programming will be available concurrent upon launch of the service this winter.
The Astral programming deal is thought to be just the first of many to…
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