OTTAWA – Given the timelines involved in relation to other proceedings already under way, one wonders why the CRTC is even bothering with its latest telecom public notice.
On Thursday, the Commission called for comments on Bell Canada’s application on introducing Bell Digital Voice (PN #2005-9). Thing is, it’s already been approved and there are much bigger fish to fry – some of which are already frying.
Bell Digital Voice is the VOIP (voice over IP) service the company launched in Quebec months prior to the CRTC’s May 12 decision on the matter which said, in part, that…
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BURNABY, B.C. – Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union have received a letter from Minister of Labour and Housing Joe Fontana offering mediation for their long-running dispute.
"We are encouraged by this move by the government," said Telecommunications Workers Union president Bruce Bell in a press release.
"According to the Minister, under the terms of this initiative both parties will have a role in selecting someone with real expertise to listen to our issues. This person will also have the Minister’s ear. That’s invaluable," added Bell. "In addition, both sides will be able to shape the process and to…
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CALGARY and VANCOUVER – Telus announced today the extension of its long-standing partnerships with the NHL’s Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks with a pair of five-year, multi-million-dollar sponsorship deals.
Telus also announced a marketing deal with the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen as well.
In addition to advertising at the respective arenas (The Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary and GM Place in Vancouver) Telus will be the teams’ exclusive telecommunications sponsor, will support several charitable causes driven by the hockey teams and will work with the teams to use telecommunications technology to bring the game to fans in innovative ways…
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VANCOUVER – The Supreme Court of Canada last week rejected Telus’s bid to appeal the decision that gave the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) scope over new employees acquired from the company’s $6 billion purchase of Clearnet in 2000.
"We’re extremely pleased about this decision," said Bruce Bell, the president of Telecommunications Workers Union, in a release. "Telus has been in denial for years that the Clearnet employees belong in the TWU and now they’ve exhausted their legal angles. They did everything they could to avoid giving us contact information for these employees, who are now part of Telus Mobility,…
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BURNABY, B.C. – The Telecommunications Workers Union has added another step to its battle with Telus.
“In response to the company’s refusal to bargain, the union is upping the ante,” says the press release. Two weeks ago, as reported by www.cartt.ca, TWU initiated an overtime ban as well as a ban on relieving management. Effective today, Wednesday, June 29, it is instructing those of its members who take their company vehicles home after work to return them to Telus by the end of their shift on Thursday, June 30th.
Union president Bruce Bell explained the reasons for its concern:…
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THE VOIP REVOLUTION could end with a single phone call.
No, not by a call from the CRTC deregulating the incumbent telcos, but by one dropped 9-1-1 call.
I’ve often wondered why, since the launch of VOIP, the newcomers came to market without 9-1-1 service. When Primus and Vonage and others began, buried in their marketing materials in teeny type, were notes mentioning their service can’t offer some of the basics people have come to expect, like, oh, 9-1-1.
While they’ve since moved to offer the emergency calling feature, I thought its absence was unconscionable at launch.
Personally, if I’m…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s wireless service providers will introduce inter-carrier multimedia message services (MMS) to wireless phone customers across the country on July 1.
This is the broadest initiative of its kind in North America, says the the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). The move will enable customers with MMS-capable mobile phones, regardless of the customer’s wireless service provider, to instantly send and receive messages with rich content to and from the MMS-capable phones of friends, family and colleagues.
MMS, commonly referred to as picture messaging or video messaging, extends text messaging to include photos, video clips, graphics, audio clips…
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BURNABY, B.C. – Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union met briefly today for further negotiations, but union president Bruce Bell expressed disappointment at the results of the meeting in a press release.
"We put a detailed counter-proposal on the table last week to get Telus to engage in substantive negotiations," Bell said. "Despite that, Telus walked away from the bargaining table."
"It was evident they were only interested in forcing us to put their offer to our members for a vote," he continued. "The union is ready and willing to bargain with Telus. But the company must address our…
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VANCOUVER – Telus today announced the re-naming of a building to honor its chairman Brian Canfield.
Currently the chair of the company’s board of directors, Canfield joined BC Tel as an apprentice installer in 1956 and progressed through the ranks before becoming president and COO in 1989. In 1990, he became president and CEO and in 1993 he was chairman and CEO.
Following his retirement in 1997, Canfield retained the position of chairman of BC Tel and following the merger with Alberta’s Telus, he became chairman of the newly formed Telus Corporation. Canfield also served as interim president and…
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VANCOUVER – It took two days for Telus to reject the latest Telecommunications Workers Union’s (TWU) proposal, after it took the union two months to respond to the last Telus offer.
Telus said this afternoon the TWU’s proposal is “entirely devoid of any meaningful movement toward a resolution of this matter and even widens the gap in a number of key areas,” says the Telus press release.
The company went on to say that, “for four and a half years, the TWU has refused to accept what is obvious to Telus, its employees, its customers and its shareholders: the…
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