By Ahmad Hathout
MARIEVILLE, Que. – The commission for the protection of agricultural territory of Quebec ruled last week that Telus can build a new telecommunications tower in Marieville.
The Vancouver-based telecom requested commission approval for the 60-meter tower, an overhead power line and an access road in an area of approximately 4,884 square meters to maintain an optimal coverage quality.
The application faced resistance, namely from the Fédération de l’UPA de la Montérégie, an organization representing agricultural businesses. But the commission, which requires approval for development other than agriculture, said the project would not affect the crops. It cited non-agriculture developments,…
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Correction: A previous version of this article said Jamal would replace previous president and CEO Allison Lenehan. In fact, Fran Shammo will remain interim CEO.
MARKHAM – Xplore announced Tuesday that Rizwan Jamal will be the company’s next president and chief commercial officer starting May 1.
Jamal will be responsible for sales, marketing and product development and will support the company’s “strategic priorities,” a press release said.
“I am excited to be joining Xplore at this pivotal time in the Company’s history,” Jamal said in the release. “Xplore has become one of the country’s largest telecommunications providers proudly serving rural residential and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
WHITEHORSE – Telus announced Thursday that it has struck a deal in principle to transfer incumbency to Bell’s Northwestel in the region of Atlin, British Columbia to better serve the area.
There are only three communities in the far north that are served by Telus as the incumbent – Fort St. John, High Level, and Atlin. But unlike the former two, Telus does not serve Atlin with its own transport facilities. Instead, it leases a stretch of 1,300 kilometres of the transport portion from Bell subsidiary Northwestel.
“It is an island completely separated from the rest of TELUS’ ILEC…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has denied an application by Telus that challenged the CRTC’s decision not to regulate wireless access to municipal infrastructure and that forced the carriers to provide seamless roaming to other providers.
Telus argued that the two components of the CRTC’s April 2021 decision – which mandated regional carrier access to the wireless infrastructure of the large players – were made in error. The thrust of the telecom’s argument – which was backed by Rogers and Bell – was that the CRTC too narrowly defined the term “transmission…
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The regulator has been urged not to rely on carrier negotiations for roaming rates
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has dismissed an application by Globalive that sought a commission review of wholesale roaming rates in general and a roaming agreement between Rogers and Videotron in particular, citing an existing application before the regulator addressing similar issues.
Globalive filed the Part 1 application late last month, which requested the CRTC make interim the current wholesale roaming rates, require the national carriers to file updated studies supporting new rates, and to open an investigation into Rogers’s proposed roaming agreement…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Cogeco CEO Philippe Jette said Friday that wireless service providers are in a better position to focus on negotiating mobile virtual network operator deals with the conclusion of Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw.
“It provides more predictability throughout the industry now that this transaction is over and we know what to expect of it,” Jette said on the company’s second-quarter conference call Friday morning.
“I think now every player is at a better place with the conclusion of the transaction and getting ready for the next steps negotiating partnerships and rates,” he added.
Earlier this month, Rogers and Videotron Continue Reading
SAINT JOHN, NB – Jay Thomson, the head of the Canadian Communications Systems Alliance, will retire this fall, according to a release from the industry association representing over 100 independent internet, TV and telephone companies.
Thomson will depart following the association’s annual conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland, which will be held between September 11 and 13. The association has hired an Ottawa firm to search for his replacement, which includes an evaluation of internal and external candidates, the release said.
Thomson joined the association as CEO in 2017 and “over his six years at CCSA, he led a…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A six-month period of complaints collected by the watchdog Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services between August and January has revealed consumer complaints increased 12 per cent, with wireless being the most-complained about sector and Rogers taking the top spot for the first time following its major network outage last summer.
The Tuesday report tallied 13,962 issues with wireless leading the way with nearly 55 per cent of all issues at 7,616, down 0.9 per cent from the previous six-month period. Internet issues were second with 3,663, down 15.1 per cent; television issues were next with…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Two years and 16 days after Rogers and Shaw announced their intention to merge, Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne indirectly approved one of Canadian history’s largest corporate consolidations Friday by allowing for the transfer of Shaw’s Freedom wireless assets to Videotron – promised as the competitive fourth player in the telecom market.
The stipulations laid out by Champagne in a press conference on Friday are as follows: Videotron will commit to offering retail services that are “at least 20% cheaper” than from those of the major players outside its home territory, it cannot transfer Freedom spectrum licences…
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VANCOUVER – Telus announced earlier this month new features for its Optik TV product, including accessing content from multiple apps more quickly.
The product features a simplified menu to access live TV, on-demand content, recordings and search; personalized profiles for members of the home to curate their own content; the ability to search from one location content from multiple different apps, which can be downloaded from the Google Play store; unlimited content recordings using the cloud PVR; and a voice remote powered by Google Assistant.
“By simplifying how customers find, stream and interact with their favourite content, it solves common pain…
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