OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Citing the "questionable business practices" of independent cable co-op Campbell River TV Association, Shaw Communications declined earlier this year to renew the contract of its Shaw Pay-Per-View service with the small cable company.
When Shaw made it known to CRTV that the contract would not be renewed, the co-op filed a complaint with the CRTC under section 6.1(1) of the Pay Television Regulations, 1990, which prohibits a licensee from giving an undue preference to any person, including itself, or subjecting any person to an undue disadvantage.
While CRTV said the PPV or VOD options available to it…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canada’s incumbent telcos won’t be allowed to boost everyone’s rates in order to cover off and eliminate reconnection fees for customers who move, the CRTC announced today.
As we reported last summer, Bell Canada, Bell Aliant and Telus applied to the Commission to make changes to the local telephone rates for residential customers. "The companies had proposed to eliminate the connection charges for new customers and existing customers who move in exchange for approval to increase rates for all residential customers, explains the release.
In their submissions, Bell Canada and Bell Aliant proposed to increase the monthly…
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KELOWNA – CommTech Trade Show and Seminars host Janice Lee could be spotted touring the hotel property over the past couple of days, examining every spot at the Coast Capri Hotel for the expansion of next year’s conference.
A success on just about every measure (every vendor and delegate we talked to was very pleased with the show), CommTech will likely be expanding next year. This year, vendor table space sold out months in advance and the waiting list from this year means the trade show floor will be larger in 2008.
There were 42 exhibitors this year, 20…
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VANCOUVER – Higher speeds have been added to the 3-G wireless, high-speed EVDO network throughout southern Ontario, Montreal and Winnipeg, TELUS Corp. announced Thursday. The telco added faster speeds would be extended to EVDO’s other existing coverage areas, which now reach more than two-thirds of Canadians, later this year.
Speeds that are seven times faster than the existing network are possible because TELUS has upgraded in these areas to EVDO Rev A. Typical upload speeds since the upgrade are 300 to 400 kilobits per second with maximum possible upload speeds of 1.8 megabits per second. The service also offers…
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OTTAWA – Quebecor and MTS Allstream are not alone among telecom and cable firms in their desire for a wireless spectrum auction that would shackle the "big three" mobile phone companies in Canada.
Among those aligned with the Quebec and Manitoba companies that have been leading the charge to have spectrum in the auction set aside for new entrants – and who have also proposed other rules like mandated roaming and tower sharing – include: Cogeco Cable, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, Shaw Communications, EastLink, the Assembly of First Nations and Toronto Hydro Telecom, among others.
The list…
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KELOWNA – The CommTech trade show and seminars, which will begin tomorrow in Kelowna at the Coast Capri Hotel is bigger and better than last year.
Forty-three companies have pre-registered to attend, a 30% increase in companies over 2006, says organizer Janice Lee of JLL & Associates. Exhibitor space has been sold out since the winter – and that’s with 35% more vendors than last year. "We are also offering 25% more seminars this year," said Lee.
Telus, Connect Telecommunications Solutions and Power & Tel are the top sponsors of the event.
Look for reports this week from the…
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OTTAWA – The Minister of Industry will receive a blizzard of paper tomorrow as incumbent wireless operators, and those who would like to be one, submit their opinions on how the next auction of wireless spectrum should be run.
The newcomers, led jointly by Quebecor and MTS Allstream, have not backed off their rhetoric at all. They want into the fast-growing wireless market and they don’t want to pay through the nose for entry with a costly purchase of spectrum at auction.
Keying on a few lines from the 2006 Telecom Policy Review Report (the one which the…
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COUNT CANADA’S SATELLITE and cable companies (outside Quebec, anyway) as generally pleased with the Commission’s new policy on over-the-air TV broadcasters.
"We think it’s a very balanced decision and we’re happy with it," said Rogers Communications vice-chair Phil Lind.
"I think it’s overall a balanced decision," added Shaw Communications vice-president, regulatory, Ken Stein.
"They were clearly listening to everybody because they’ve come up with a balanced decision that reflects all parties representations I think," explained Bell ExpressVu president Gary Smith.
Only Telco TV’s Ann Mainville-Neeson stayed off the balance beam, saying: "Kudos to the Commission for a very…
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OTTAWA – Saying the wireless market is not competitive enough in Canada, Quebecor and MTS Allstream have joined forces to lobby both government and Canadians so that the companies are given a break in 2008’s wireless spectrum auction.
“Canada needs to permit new competitors in the wireless sector to ensure consumers are offered lower prices and advanced services which other countries already enjoy,” says a press release from the Coalition for Wireless Competition issued today.
Citing the oft-referenced but little understood Telecom Policy Review Panel report which “identified the need for a more efficient and vibrant wireless industry…
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WINNIPEG – MTS Allstream has applied to the CRTC for local telephone forbearance in Winnipeg.
MTS Allstream is the latest company to ask for residential phone service deregulation following the April 4 announcement by Canada’s Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that telecommunications companies can apply for a relaxation of regulations in communities where customers can choose between at least three service providers with their own network infrastructure, one of which can be a wireless provider, and where they meet specific Quality of Service (QoS) measures for six months.
Last month, Telus filed for forbearance in Vancouver and Edmonton, and Bell…
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