OTTAWA – Telus and Cogeco are arguing in court that the standstill rule that has effectively forced Quebecor to deliver its TVA Sports signal to Bell customers is a completely valid way for the CRTC to enforce the status quo in the public interest, contrary to the claims of the two principal players in this legal battle.
The role of the CRTC under section 10 of the Broadcasting Act is to ensure consumers don’t become “collateral damage when either attempts to leverage its market position in an anti-competitive fashion to extract unfair benefits from its counterparty,” Telus said in…
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VANCOUVER — Telus announced Monday it has invested $2 million to build two new cell sites in Gold River and Tahsis, bringing wireless voice and Internet services to these west coast Vancouver Island communities for the first time.
In addition to this investment, Telus is collaborating with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation to upgrade wireless services in the community of Tsaxana later this year, says the news release.
Last week Telus announced it had achieved the milestone of bringing wireless connectivity to every community in British Columbia with a population of 1,000 people or more.
Telus said it is committed to…
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Renews call to remove foreign ownership restrictions
By Greg O’Brien
GATINEAU – It’s been 18 years since Darren Entwistle, president and CEO of Telus, has personally appeared in front of the CRTC at a formal hearing. So why come to one?
“I’m frustrated,” he said to a small group of people in the hearing room in Gatineau a few minutes before he sat down for his four-plus-hour turn in front of the Commission as it examines wireless policy in Canada.
How frustrated? Enough to reduce network investments by $1 billion with a corresponding loss of 5,000 jobs, apparently.
While the entire Telus presentation was…
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VANCOUVER — Telus announced Wednesday it is selling 25 million common shares to a syndicate of underwriters in a deal valued at $1.3 billion (C$52.00 per share).
The group of underwriters is led by RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities, together with CIBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets and Scotiabank as joint bookrunners.
Telus says in its news release that it intends to use the net proceeds from the equity offering for general corporate purposes including funding growth opportunities, capital expenditures and debt reduction.
Completion of the offering is subject to customary conditions and the receipt of all necessary stock exchange…
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BELCARRA, B.C. – Telus announced today it is investing more than $500,000 to connect more than 90% of homes and businesses in the village of Belcarra directly to its fibre optic network.
Construction on the PureFibre network is already underway, and the company anticipates the majority of homes and businesses will be connected by the end of the year. Belcarra is a part of Metro Vancouver, but is somewhat isolated as it is located on Indian Arm, a side inlet of the Burrard Inlet, northwest of Port Moody.
“We are delighted with Telus’ investment in our village to provide residents with…
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VANCOUVER – On Thursday Telus reported solid gains in the fourth quarter of 2019, as it announced customer growth of 176,000 net additions, which included wireless net additions of 130,000 and wireline customer additions of 46,000.
The wireline additions broke down as 28,000 Internet, 15,000 TV and 15,000 security net new clients, combined with residential voice line losses of 12,000.
The company added 713,000 net customers in all of 2019, up 21% over 2018.
For the quarter, consolidated operating revenue of $3.9 billion increased by 2.5% over the same period in 2018, driven by growth in wireless network revenue and wireline data…
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Critics say that claim is misguided
VANCOUVER – Telus’s claim that it has reached, on one of its wireless plans, a 25% reduction in price, as promised to Canadians by the Liberal government, is wrong, according to critics, because the intent was always for a further reduction in prices from December 2019.
This month, Telus created a page on its website advertising that its Peace of Mind plan for a family of four, with 10 GB of data each, with an annual cost of $2,880 meets and beats the Liberal government’s annual goal of reducing wireless prices by 25% –…
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OTTAWA and VANCOUVER — As today is Safer Internet Day, MediaSmarts and Telus Wise have teamed up to launch a series of videos and resources aimed at stopping young people from sharing intimate images of others without their consent.
The “There’s No Excuse” campaign includes a series of four short videos aimed at young people ages 14 and up. The videos were created in response to a national survey conducted in 2018 by MediaSmarts, which found 30% of youth ages 16 to 20 had shared an intimate image of someone with others, according to the news release. In addition,…
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VANCOUVER — Telus International has finalized its $1.3 billion acquisition of Competence Call Center (CCC), which was announced in December. CCC is now wholly owned by Telus International.
According to the news release issued by Telus today, the merger adds significant scale, growth and diversity to Telus International and helps to expand its European presence, operations and client base. The merged company has an expanded portfolio of customer experience, digital transformation, content moderation, IT lifecycle, advisory and digital consulting, risk management, and back-office support that will enable new go-to-market opportunities and drive growth, the release says.
As previously announced…
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OTTAWA — Somebody owes Telus some money. Maybe it’s Rogers and Bell. Or it could be the consumer groups l’Union des consommateurs and (to a lesser extent) the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). Either way, Telus should be getting back about $1,700 as a result of a decision rendered Wednesday by the CRTC.
Back in May 2019, after the Commission denied PIAC’s request for clarification on the device unlocking rules set out in the Wireless Code, the CRTC did approve an application by l’Union and a separate application by PIAC for the awarding of costs related…
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