Bell says it will withdraw court app challenging lack of action on rate-setting before new attach rules
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Tuesday made interim the current wholesale rates competitors pay to attach to the poles owned by Bell and Telus, paving the way for the setting of final rates that will apply retroactively.
The decision, effective today, locks in Bell’s current charges of $1.04 per pole per month in Ontario and Quebec and Telus’s going rate of $1.61 to do so in British Columbia and Alberta as the commission evaluates the telcos’ request to bump up those aging rates.
More importantly…
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Telus and Rogers have reached a distribution agreement for the latter’s new Food Network, HGTV, Discovery, Investigation Discovery, Bravo and Magnolia channels.
Telus announced Wednesday its Optik TV customers are now getting an exclusive free preview of Rogers’s premium lifestyle and entertainment channels until April 14.
Starting April 11, Optik TV customers will be able to add the individual channels to their existing plan for $5 each or choose from two theme packs: Food & Home for $10 per month, which includes Food Network, Magnolia Network and HGTV; or Discovery & Reality, also $10 per month, which includes Bravo, Discovery and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has ordered Telus on Wednesday to provide additional monetary compensation to customers in certain remote British Columbia regions who will lose access to landline service dependent on spectrum licenses the telco will lose next month.
The Vancouver-based telecom, which is the dominant provider in the affected region, has been relying on the 3.5 GHz spectrum to provide landline services to 115 customers in the Alexis Creek, North Kamloops, and the Tahsis exchanges. But the telco, which was granted two extensions on the use of the licenses, will lose access to them next month when Industry Canada…
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Telus and the Calgary Airport Authority announced Wednesday a 10-year, multi-million-dollar partnership that will transform YYC Calgary International Airport into the first airport in Canada to be equipped with a 5G private wireless network.
“This ultra-fast, low-latency network will deliver consistent, enterprise-grade connectivity throughout the airport campus,” a Telus press release says, adding this first-of-its-kind deployment in a Canadian airport will enhance passenger experiences and streamline airport operations while preparing for future tech innovations.
“At YYC, we’re focused on the future of travel,” said Megan Gupton, chief information officer at the Calgary Airport Authority, in the press release….
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United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 1944, which represents approximately 4,000 members at Telus, said Wednesday the Vancouver-based telecom’s latest round of voluntary severance packages (VSPs) is part of an ongoing practice that raises concerns about the integrity of Canada’s telecommunications system.
USW Local 1944 said in a press release Telus last week issued 545 VSPs to local members, impacting workers in various “critical departments”, including outside plant construction, cable repair, network operations, and engineering.
“This follows a trend of similar packages offered over the past two years significantly reducing its Canadian workforce,” the USW release said. “The recent…
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The CRTC said it will not alter the Feb. 13 implementation deadline for Telus, Bell and SaskTel to provide competitors with workable access to their fibre networks in a decision last week that rejected Telus’s October 2024 request for a four-month extension to the implementation date in British Columbia and Alberta.
In arguing for the extension, Telus had said its systems would not be fully automated by Feb. 13 and using manual order processing created the potential for processing errors, which could have adverse effects on wholesale customers and their end users.
The telecom regulator…
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Broadpeak, a France-based provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for pay-TV operators and other content providers, announced last week Telus is using Broadpeak’s Origin Packager solution to simplify video streaming and cut costs.
“Running on Google Cloud Platform, Broadpeak’s high-performance origin packager reduces TELUS’ infrastructure costs while enabling the operator to provide a superior quality of experience to subscribers,” a Broadpeak press release says.
Origin Packager features a high-performance and scalable just-in-time packaging engine allowing content libraries storage in only one format for reduced storage capacity, the release explains. “It packages and encrypts live…
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Telus quietly purchased the residential internet customers of wholesaler City Wide Communications through its subsidiary Altima last summer, the Vancouver-based telecom confirmed.
“As a new entrant in the region, Altima is offering customers the added benefits of greater access to a wide range of products, including mobility, home automation, security, health, and entertainment,” a Telus spokesperson told Cartt. “It is business as usual at City Wide, which continues to operate as a company serving their business customers.”
City Wide, which also offers television and landline services, is based in Nova Scotia.
Telus, which purchased Altima in 2022 and more…
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Telus announced Tuesday anime fans can now get the Crunchyroll streaming service as a standalone subscription with eligible Telus services.
And for those customers who add Crunchyroll together with Telus’s Stream+ streaming bundle, Telus is currently offering a 10-per-cent discount on their monthly Crunchyroll subscription.
Telus customers can subscribe to the Crunchyroll Mega Fan plan for $12.49/month, or for $11.24/month with the 10-per-cent Stream+ discount.
“With Crunchyroll, subscribers can dive into a world of anime, featuring over 1,000 shows and more than 200 East Asian dramas — all ad-free,” said an emailed announcement from Telus.
Crunchyroll offers new episodes shortly…
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Company struggled with debt to town
By Ahmad Hathout
O-Net, a prominent community gigabit telecom in Olds, Alberta, was acquired by Telus in November after it struggled to pay back a loan it owed the town.
“We’re excited to welcome O-NET to the TELUS family,” a Telus spokesperson told Cartt in a statement. “This acquisition expands our TELUS PureFibre network to Olds, bringing our world-leading PureFibre technology to more residents in Alberta. O-NET customers can also now enjoy greater access to a suite of integrated product offerings, including mobility, home automation, security, health, and entertainment.”
The Vancouver-based telecom said all O-NET team members…
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