IT SEEMS AS THOUGH most people in the industry have this afternoon’s CRTC voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) decision figured out.
Cable companies and telephone companies alike believe the Commission will maintain what it already said it believes: that despite the technology delivering it, VOIP is still just local phone. And that means the incumbent telcos will remain bound by the same traditional regulations they already have to deal with, mainly tariff-filing when they wish to alter their rates, which makes them a slower-moving competitor in the marketplace.
The telcos have done their level best to try to spook…
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OTTAWA – “Why did we find that VOIP is a telephone service? Because Canadians use it as a telephone service,” CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen said today at the Commission’s headquarters upon the release of its voice over Internet decision.
The decision confirmed what the Commission had said previously: that it would continue to regulate VOIP when it is provided and used as a local telephone service.
That means incumbents like Bell and Telus will continue to have to file rate tariffs with the Commission for approval – to make sure predatory pricing below cost doesn’t happen – while the…
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OTTAWA – Did the industry have this decision pegged or what?
Mere minutes after the CRTC’s voice over IP decision was put out, the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association issued a press release declaring itself pleased by the decision, while Bell Canada wired one out which blasted the decision, saying it will appeal immediately, just like BCE CEO Michael Sabia said here last week.
“I think we’re very happy,” CCTA president Michael Hennessy told www.cartt.ca in Ottawa today upon the decision’s public release. “It’s pretty much what we expected and for the telephone companies, they’re allowed into the market, they’re…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Coalition Against Internet Child Exploitation (CCAICE) today released its seven-point National Action Plan designed to help protect children from online sexual exploitation and to assist in bringing those who victimize children to justice.
"The Action Plan is the result of unprecedented collaboration by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and industry leaders, law enforcement, government and non-governmental agencies," said Inspector Jennifer Strachan, Officer-in- Charge of the RCMP National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre. "However, to succeed we require the help and support of all Canadians to protect children online."
The members of the coalition are: Cybertip.ca RCMP and…
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TED ROGERS TURNED TO AN old friend this week to expand his telecom empire, but was a little unclear whether or not he’ll use his new hammer to nail his cable friends while building local telephony across the country.
Today, Rogers Communications announced it would purchase Call-Net Enterprises, which does business mainly under the Sprint Canada name, in a $330 million all-stock deal. Still a money-losing competitive local exchange carrier (its net loss in 2004 was $78.4 million), Call-Net did book revenues last year of over $818 million and EBITDA of $105 million.
Call-Net CEO Bill Linton is a…
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OTTAWA – This year marks the 20th anniversary of mobile telephony in Canada and it will be celebrated for a day in Ottawa at a conference entitled Mobile Telephony in Canada.
The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), in collaboration with host sponsors Bell Mobility, Motorola, Rogers Wireless and TELUS Mobility, will present the conference and party in Ottawa on June 8, 2005.
“Mobile Telephony in Canada – since 1985, it just keeps getting better” is a forum on the past, present and future of Canada’s wireless telephone industry. Bringing together Canadian wireless leaders from the last 20 years with…
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TORONTO – Sabia, Mohamed, Entwistle, Dalfen, Citron, Linton – all will be featured at the 2005 Canadian Telecom Summit.
Less than three weeks remain to register for Summit – May 30 to June 1 at the Toronto Congress Centre.
Delegates will join 500 of the most influential stakeholders in discussions of the future of telecommunications in Canada. Now in its fourth year, the 2005 Canadian Telecom Summit offers a wide range of topics being reviewed strategically by the senior leaders of the industry.
With 17 keynote speakers and more than 50 panel members, The 2005 Summit will look at…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC said Friday that Shaw Communications was not giving itself an undue preference when denying full pay-per-view service to Telus and it’s yet-to-be-launched digital television service, Telus TV.
Telus filed a complaint in November 2004 saying that Shaw Pay-Per-View was saying it would limit the movie titles made available to Telus TV – which therefore means Shaw has given its PPV and cable divisions “undue preference” and subjected Telus to an undue disadvantage, said the western telco.
Shaw, on the other hand, claimed agreements with certain U.S. movie studios prohibit it from making programming available to…
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WASHINGTON – Stressing he does not know what the CRTC’s voice over IP decision will be, Bell Canada Enterprises CEO Michael Sabia said today that if it reads the way he thinks it will, the company will immediately appeal it to the Federal Cabinet.
Speaking at a media and telecom conference this morning in Washington, Sabia said he believes the Commission will side against the incumbent telephone companies (ILECs) and maintain certain regulatory restrictions on the likes of Bell Canada and Telus when it comes to voice over Internet telephony.
The CRTC’s VOIP decision is due out sometime next…
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VANCOUVER – After four and a half years of contract negotiations with the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) and an impasse at the bargaining table, western telco Telus today announced it will stop deducting union dues from employees’ wages (1.2% of an employee’s gross pay) and cease remitting the dues to the TWU.
“This action is the latest in a series of lawful lockout measures Telus has taken to put pressure on the bargaining process and achieve a replacement collective agreement. Telus has taken this action due to the lack of any meaningful progress at the bargaining table as well…
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