VANCOUVER – The Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C. (BBB) and Telus are teaming up to warn B.C. residents about a local telephone scam where an automated caller promises the recipient a free vacation if they dial ‘9.’
“This is a scam,” said BBB president Lynda Pasacreta in a press release. “If you receive a call from someone trying to convince you to dial ‘9’ for any reason, hang up. For that matter, any call from someone claiming you have won a prize in a contest you don’t remember entering is a scam. If it seems too good to…
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THE SMALL AND MEDIUM-sized business market has become a crowded place.
All of the big companies have said in the past months they see this market as a place to find big growth. Rogers, Bell, Shaw, Cogeco, Telus et al – all have talked about how well they hope to do in the SME space.
So is there room for small startups like Syntagma Network Services? CEO Theresa Carbonneau thinks so. The company’s small business plan offers a full suite of voice over IP-delivered services including broadband connectivity, voice services, e-mail and web hosting, exchange server hosting, virus scanning…
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DEREGULATING LOCAL PHONE in major urban centres in 2007 seems to me to be the right thing to do.
"The idea that somehow the cable guys are at a disadvantage to the telcos has not been proven so far in the entry of the cable industry in local voice," Lawson Hunter, Bell’s chief corporate officer said to me Wednesday. I agree with him. To a point.
Setting aside the unprecedented use of the provision in the Telecom Act that let’s the government issue policy directives to the CRTC (until 2006, it just hadn’t been done), it’s time to…
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LAS VEGAS – In kicking off the session this morning on IPTV, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Asia Pacific head Marcel Fenez outlined the changes in his city, Hong Kong, with the introduction of a serious IPTV player.
There are seven million people in the city and 130% wireless penetration. Broadband penetration is 60% and five years ago, cable had 100% of the video market, he said.
Three years ago, however, one of the five fixed line telcos, PCCW launched an IPTV service with 23 channels.
It now has over 700,000 customers (one of whom is Fenez) and 120 channels. "It’s the largest…
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OTTAWA – Industry Minister Maxime Bernier’s efforts to hasten deregulation of local telephone service have come under fire from Canadian consumer groups.
At a press conference Monday, the organizations charged that the minister’s proposals and policy direction to the CRTC ignore the Commission’s roadmap to competition that took into account the largely dominant position of the established local phone companies and was aimed at permitting the creation of viable competition. Some in rural communities say the directive will stifle competition in smaller markets.
The Canadian Consumer Initiative, a coalition of six consumer organizations, accused the minister of trying…
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VANCOUVER – Last week Telus began offering dedicated adult content to its wireless subscribers.
For about $3 to $4 per download, customers can access images and videos from the Telus network, using age-verification techniques. It’s believed Telus us the first wireless carrier in North America to offer such a dedicated, age-verification protected service to its customers.
Of course, customers of any carrier with a web-enabled phone can access adult web sites whenever they want, but Telus is offering a high quality experience limited to adults only. The quality of experience when surfing to adult sites with a smartphone, for…
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GATINEAU – Until the federal government makes up its mind on who it wants to lead the CRTC, vice-chair broadcasting Michel Arpin has been appointed acting chairperson, secretary general Diane Rhéaume announced today in an e-mail to staff.
"Pursuant to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Commission may authorize one of the vice-chairs to assume the duties of chairperson in the event of a vacancy in that office. Mr. Arpin will therefore serve as acting chairperson until such time as the Government of Canada names a successor for Charles Dalfen," said a release.
Dalfen’s term expired at…
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FINAL SUBMISSIONS TO THE CRTC on its conventional television policy review were due in yesterday.
Cartt.ca managed to get our hands on eight submissions (unfortunately, none of the companies serving the Francophone market responded to our e-mails), which were filed by parties Wednesday in response to what they were asked – or what others were asked – during the seven-day oral presentations that began on November 27th.
(Ed note: Thank goodness broadcasting vice-chair Michel Arpin – who looks as though he’ll be the Commission’s Interim Chair for the time being as the PMO explores more candidates to replace departing…
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VANCOUVER – Telus today announced it will provide managed communications applications for Canadian businesses, hosting several Microsoft tools on its servers to give small and medium businesses access to applications without having to manage the technology internally.
With these hosted applications, small to mid-sized Canadian companies can access Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Windows SharePoint Server from a PC or a Windows Mobile 5.0-based device.
With the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration version 3.5, Canadian businesses can take advantage of advanced tools including: * Microsoft Exchange: Helps improve email productivity and collaboration with synchronized…
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VANCOUVER – Telus TV has activated its pay-per-view service Friday, adding movies, sports and other events to its digital TV lineup.
Telus TV pay-per-view offers access to a wide variety of sporting and entertainment special events including live NHL hockey games starting at $11.95 and WWE events starting at $39.95.
Telus TV is a 100% digital television service, delivered over Telus’ DSL network, which allows subscribers to customize their entertainment experience, selecting from 200-plus digital channels. Clients can personalize their viewing with flexible channel packaging and the choice of over a dozen theme packs – like sports, news, arts,…
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