OTTAWA – The CRTC told Canadians the rights when it comes to telephone service today.
The Commission issued a edict telling all incumbent local exchange companies (ILECs: Bell, Telus, SaskTel, etc.) that they must include this statement of consumer rights on their web sites and in their printed directories. New local competitors do not have to print the document but the Commission encouraged them to do so.
The 4,700-word Commission document "restates key consumer rights with respect to local home phone service, in a clear and comprehensible manner," says the CRTC press release.
"The CRTC has, in the past,…
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SIGNIFICANT. MARKET. POWER.
Those three words appear all through the Telecom Policy Review Report, which Cartt.ca has covered at length. According to my search of that document, the three words appear together 62 times, and a further 65 as its SMP acronym.
When reading that huge report, it’s easy to see how SMP was and is a very big deal to its authors. The Telecom Policy Review Panel was very conscious of the concept and how the companies with SMP might still have to be watched. It’s a key concept of the report.
But you wouldn’t know it from…
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TORONTO – After its launch on Verizon, Cingular and Sprint in the States, The Fight Network’s Fight Mobile service has been added to the Telus Mobility product line.
Found under the heading of world sports, Fight Mobile provides breaking news, editorials, interviews and live round-by-round updates from all major fight events, that make up the world of combatant sports; such as boxing, pro wrestling and mixed martial arts – all the same topics found on the TV channel – a category two digital specialty service.
Streaming/downloadable video and a range of personalization products rounds out the content offerings of…
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OTTAWA – With several video distributors now asking to add the satellite radio channels from XM Canada or Sirius Canada to their respective channel lineups, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters has asked the CRTC to take a close look at the applications.
Responding to a request made by Bell Canada earlier this year to add the satellite radio signals to its terrestrial TV channel lineups, the CAB said "the application focuses attention on one of the fundamental principles of the Canadian broadcasting system, i.e. the requirement for a predominance of Canadian services, and that therefore a number of matters…
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MONTREAL – The man behind most of the Clearnet and then Telus marketing of the past decade – including its signature "future friendly" animal and nature-based ads – Wade Oosterman, has been hired by Bell Canada as president of Bell Mobility and Bell Distribution Inc., as well as chief brand officer of Bell Canada.
Oosterman follows another former Telus exec, George Cope, who was hired by Bell in October of 2005 as president and COO. Ironically, Cope’s departure to Bell caused an executive shuffle at Telus which left Oosterman without a role at the western telco.
It’s…
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TORONTO – Four CHUM Ltd. channels which are thought to be tailor made for wireless viewing (i.e. – their content is already in small chunks of entertainment and information) have been added to the MobiTV Canada lineup.
Customers of Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility will now have access to MuchMusic, MuchLoud, MuchMoreRetro and Star!
MobiTV Inc. is a leader in television and digital radio services for cellular, WiFi and broadband enabled devices, however, it has reported only 500,000 customers world wide so far. The CHUM channels offer music videos and music news (the "Muches") and entertainment…
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THE TECHNOLOGY IS the easy part. Everything else is maybe just a bit frustrating.
The regulatory landscape for voice over Internet protocol, Vonage Canada’s raison d’etre, may be changing underfoot and the company has had its share of scrapes with incumbent telcos and cable companies. A particularly bitter one with Shaw Communications is still active in the courts and in front of the Commission, as we’ve reported.
Through it all, Vonage’s chief Canadian executive, president Bill Rainey, seems pretty upbeat. The former Group Telecom and Telus executive and manager is convinced he can beat the bundle being…
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TORONTO – Mobisodes from TVOntario and its French language counterpart TFO are now available to Bell Mobility, Telus, Rogers Wireless, Aliant, Sasktel and MTS cellular customers.
Thanks to a partnership with Toronto’s QuickPlay Media, a company which is quickly ascending to the leadership spot among Canadian broadcasters wanting to go wireless, kids and parents will be able to stream or download an array of kids content from TVO/TFO anytime, anywhere on their mobile phones.
The partnership provides French-speaking teens, traditionally underserved in the mobile market, the opportunity to view mobisodes of TFO’s award-winning youth magazine show, Volt, the first…
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BOSTON – The future weighed heavily on the minds of marketers at this week’s Cable Telecommunications Association for Marketing Summit held in Boston Monday to Wednesday. ********** At first glance, having the vice-president of product marketing from Neustar – a third party provider of local telephone number portability for network operators – seemed a bit of a stretch. But, said John Ticer, he’s in a unique position, having to deal with wireless, wired, VOIP and cable telephony providers and make their systems talk to one another.
Each of those networks and their companies were developed "in stovepipes" aimed at…
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IT’S EASY TO FIGURE OUT just what the American cable operators are doing when you travel to conferences Stateside.
The SCTE Cable-Tec show in Denver last month was no different. Network DVR, switched digital, VOIP, analog reclamation and MPEG4 – attendees sure were able to get a handle on what our U.S. neighbours are up to.
But what of Canadian cable plans? Why not ask Rogers Cable senior vice-president network engineering and operations (and the SCTE board’s Canadian rep) Dermot O’Carroll? All new cable concepts and new gear for Rogers passes through his office so if anyone knows where we’re at…
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