OTTAWA – With re-comments re-due today on the CRTC’s reconsideration of its 2005 decision on voice over IP telephony regulation, three of the four largest Canadian MSOs came down on the side of the Commission in a joint submission filed this afternoon.
Last month, the Federal Cabinet told the CRTC it had to re-think the decision it made on VOIP telephony and have a decision – again – within 120 days of the May 7th announcement. The cabinet edict was in response to appeals filed by all but one of Canada’s incumbent telephone companies.
Cogeco Cable, Quebecor Media’s…
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TORONTO – The most influential leaders of the Canadian and international communications industry will gather in Toronto from June 12-14 at The 2006 Canadian Telecom Summit.
The event will present a complete picture of current and expected trends and developments in the market with keynoters such as BCE CEO Michael Sabia, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, Videotron CEO Robert Depatie, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier and CRTC chair Charles Dalfen, not to mention a large slate of U.S. and international speakers.
The depth and breadth of topics covered and issues debated will appeal to any and all who work in the…
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PARIS – Alcatel and Microsoft Corp. announced this week they will use server systems technology from both HP and IBM to deliver solutions for carrier-class triple play/Internet protocol television (IPTV) deployments.
This announcement, combined with the existing OEM agreements between Alcatel the two server companies, solidifies IBM and HP as key members of the joint Alcatel-Microsoft IPTV ecosystem. As a result, Alcatel and Microsoft will work together with HP and IBM to deliver these advanced systems to carriers deploying triple play service offerings.
In Canada, Telus and Bell Canada, as well as Aliant, are either rolling out – or…
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KELOWNA – It’s hot here in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. And we don’t just mean the weather.
While it was sunny and 32-degrees Celsius Wednesday in this town of 105,000, inside the Coast Capri Hotel was a hot new technical trade show. More than 170 attendees enjoyed the air conditioning – not to mention the 38 vendor tables and six hours of training at the CommTech Trade Show and Training Seminars.
Six more hours of training and vendor tables are on tap for Thursday, too. (Tune in to cartt.ca for seminar coverage later this week.)
This was…
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KELOWNA – A dozen informative seminars dotted the schedule of the CommTech trade show, held over two days here at the Coast Capri Hotel.
Below are notes from two of the 12 training seminars, which talked about subjects such as reducing locate costs, network synchronization, fusion splicing techniques, air-blown fibre, safety, Ethernet troubleshooting, IPTV testing, WiFi, OTDR testing and third party VOIP providers.
This morning, delegates were treated to an hour with Telus regulatory vice-president Willie Grieve, who expounded on where he believes the regulatory system is headed (and maybe should be headed).
He pointed to the crowd of…
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OTTAWA – Striking while the reconsideration iron is hot, Canada’s incumbent telcos have asked the federal cabinet to refer another telecom decision back to the CRTC for a re-think.
As they said they would, Aliant, Telus, SaskTel and Bell Canada today launched their appeal of the Commission’s April 6th local forbearance decision, "and to do so in light of the recommendations of the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel, which filed its report in March.
The companies filed the petition on May 12th, a year to the day that the CRTC’s 2005 decision on VOIP came out – which…
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SAN ANTONIO – U.S. telco AT&T and wireless video provider MobiTV announced an agreement this week to deliver mobile television content across AT&T’s nationwide Wi-Fi network.
The service will enable AT&T customers to view live television on their laptops or other devices while connected to one of AT&T’s Wi-Fi hot spots.
The MobiTV service on AT&T (formerly SBC) includes 15 channels spanning national news, sports, entertainment and full-length music videos from top artists. The deal helps further enhance one of the nation’s largest Wi-Fi networks by offering differentiated broadband-enabled content that consumers are increasingly demanding, say the two companies….
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today announced a public proceeding which will establish the new price cap regime for 2007.
The new price cap framework covers telecom pricing in all ILEC territories – Aliant, Bell Canada, Telus, MTS, and Sasktel.
The Commission designed the price cap regime to achieve the following objectives
* To render reliable and affordable services of high quality, accessible to both urban and rural area customers
* To balance the interests of the three main stakeholders in telecommunications markets, i.e., customers, competitors and incumbent telephone companies
* To foster facilities-based competition in Canadian telecommunications markets
*…
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OTTAWA – Wireless growth fed Canadian telecom companies through 2005, especially since mobile users are much better spenders than wired accounts, says a report put out today by Statistics Canada.
Two events stood out in the telecommunications services industry in 2005, says the release, the number of wireless subscribers passed the 16 million mark and the number of conventional residential telephone lines dipped below 12 million.
The wireless industry (with providers like Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility, Telus, MTS, Sasktel, Aliant and Virgin Mobile) recruited more than 650,000 new customers in the last quarter of 2005, bringing the total number…
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OTTAWA – The new Federal Cabinet wants the CRTC to revisit last year’s voice over Internet protocol decision.
As reported on numerous occasions by www.cartt.ca, the CRTC decided last year to maintain its position that voice, even delivered via IP, is still telephone service. What that meant was that incumbent telcos still faced some regulatory shackles (like having to file for tariffs) while newcomers, such as cable operators or VOIP providers like Vonage would have a freer hand.
Canada’s ILECs – most of them anyway – appealed the decision.
In governmentspeak: "The Governor in Council (GIC) has referred…
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