OTTAWA-GATINEAU – In a decision that will may have more immediate impact on the telecom industry than last week’s voice over IP deregulation announcement by the Minister of Industry, the CRTC today approved local telephone rate ranges for incumbent telcos.
What is means is that ILECs (Bell Canada, Telus, SaskTel, MTS, Bell Aliant and the like) will now be able to submit to the Commission – confidentially – a low and high range of rates for certain services and as long as their pricing stays within that range, will not have to file for tariff approvals prior to altering…
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TORONTO – Among Canadian wireless carriers, SaskTel and Virgin Mobile have the most satisfied customers, according to a survey released today by JD Power and Associates.
Now in its second year, the Canadian Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study, which is paid for by the wireless industry, "examines attitudes of wireless customers with their service, mobile phone and retail experience," says the press release.
Rankings are provided for contract service and prepaid service providers, as well as for mobile phone providers. SaskTel Mobility ranks highest in customer satisfaction among contract service providers, while Virgin Mobile ranks highest among prepaid providers. LG…
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VANCOUVER – Syntagma Network Services, led by former Telus executive Theresa Carbonneau, last week launched on the Canadian telecom scene.
It says it has "Canada’s first independent, fully integrated telephony, IT and data service," in the press release.
"Syntagma’s innovative service allows businesses and consumers to bypass the big phone companies, allowing subscribers to get all of their phone, fax and Internet services together on one bill, at a 30% to 50% savings. Syntagma’s new service puts an end to costly user fees such as extra charges for voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding, as well as expensive long-distance charges."…
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VANCOUVER – Bell Mobility has launched a lawsuit against Telus over the latter’s recent ad campaign, saying it’s wireless plans are every bit as flexible as Telus’.
Telus launched an ad campaign this month touting its Flexible Share Plans", where more than one family member can share their wireless minutes.
Bell’s problem is the Telus line found in the ads: "only from Telus." Bell’s statement of claim decries its rival’s "exclusivity claim" as false and misleading.
"The Exclusivity Claim is calculated to give the impression, and does give the impression, that only Telus Mobility offers wireless communications services rate…
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IF CANADA’S INCUMBENT TELEPHONE companies want total deregulation quickly, they’re going to have to do it for (and to) themselves, in the marketplace.
Yesterday Industry Minister Maxime Bernier told the Economic Club of Toronto, with numerous telecom executives in the audience, that the federal government will force the CRTC to deregulate "access independent" VOIP services, no matter which company offers them or where.
The voice services offered by Primus and Vonage are prime examples. The consumer buys a special box, perhaps downloads some software and "poof", they have VOIP service in their homes –and perhaps portably, too.
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AS A BIT OF A GIMMICK, the moderator of Monday’s personal programming session on mobile video held up a recently released Palm Treo 700wx running on the Bell Mobility EVDO network.
Linked into his PVR at home in Ontario using a Slingbox and the Sling Mobile software, the Treo ably displayed the Sunday Night Football game on the device. Turning to the panel, the smart alecky moderator (that would be your humble author, actually) asked the panel, "If I can do this with a $300 Slingbox, why do I need you guys?"
Those "guys" were from Telus, Bell, The…
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VANCOUVER – Stephen Armstrong didn’t exactly have the easiest of tasks in front of him yesterday: Explain all new and developing media trends in 75 minutes.
The massive shifts in media consumption is keyed off of one major growth product: broadband. Quoting research, Armstrong said that by 2010, 422 million homes around the world will have broadband access. That works out to about 18.5% of all the world’s households, he calculated.
In Canada, 51% of us have broadband in our homes and growth continues. Plus, "it’s no longer the exclusive preserve of wireline carriers," he added, pointing to developments…
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OTTAWA – It was a figurative razor blade in the apple for Canada’s income trust conversion gang this Halloween.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a "Tax Fairness Plan for Canadians" which talks about a number of things, of course, but squarely targets the escalation in income trust conversions in Canada.
The market opening this morning might be ugly for telecom stocks, especially Bell Canada Enterprises and Telus Corp., which have announced plans to convert to an income trust. Telus shares spiked up about 20% when it made its announcement in September. The government’s move will…
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CALGARY – Thanks to the addition of 43,744 local phone customers in the fourth quarter, bringing its total to 212,707 voice subscribers, Shaw Communications today announced net income of $210.4 million in the quarter ended August 31, three times its net income of $70 million for the same quarter of 2005.
Net income for the year was $458.3 million, up from $153.2 million last year.
While digital phone subs grew pretty quickly (although a little off the pace of the third quarter), new Internet customers also grew at a good clip, adding 25,907 in the fourth quarter. Digital TV…
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WHILE THE SENIOR REGULATORY EXECUTIVES of all the nation’s telcos, cablecos and other parties met with federal MPs Thursday in Ottawa to plead their cases on telecom regulation, across the river in Gatineau, the CRTC was receiving its newest application for local forbearance – in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Saying it has already passed the threshold of local line customer losses (25%) in the Alberta oil-boom-town about 450 kms north of Edmonton – thanks to rigorous competition from Shaw Cable – Telus wants the CRTC to deregulate the market, as outlined in its April 2006 local forbearance decision.
Shaw…
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