MONTRÉAL – Cogeco has wanted to move into wireless for several years now, and while progress has been made towards that goal, it has been a marathon, not a sprint.
This was clear last Friday during an annual press briefing prior to the company’s annual general meeting, when Cogeco president and CEO Philippe Jetté highlighted the continued development of the company’s mobile wireless plans as one of its achievements of the year. (While Jetté gave his speech in French, Cogeco provided an English translation.)
Jetté listed Cogeco’s acquisition of 38 new spectrum licences last July and the CRTC’s decision last…
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VANCOUVER — Telus today announced the launch of its Internet for Good for Seniors program, which provides low-income seniors in British Columbia and Alberta receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) with access to Internet service starting at $9.95 a month.
Eligible seniors can choose between two plans: Internet 25 with speeds up to 25 Mbps for $9.95 per month, or Internet 50 with speeds up to 50 Mbps for $19.95 per month. Both plans provide unlimited data.
Internet for Good for Seniors is an expansion of Telus’s Internet for Good program, which was first launched in 2016 and is currently available…
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VANCOUVER – Telus announced today its 5G network now reaches 70% of the Canadian population in 744 urban and rural communities.
This is 129 communities more than originally planned for the year, according to a press release.
The breakdown of the 744 communities includes 202 communities in British Columbia, 245 in Quebec, 151 in Alberta, 14 in Manitoba, 105 in Ontario and 27 in Atlantic Canada.
“The increased connectivity, ultrafast speeds and responsiveness of this unprecedented technology offer a leap in capabilities over 4G networks,” the release says.
“5G is unleashing human productivity and contributing to improved health and educational outcomes, supporting environmental…
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OTTAWA — Satellite operator Telesat and ENCQOR 5G, a Canada-Quebec-Ontario initiative focused on 5G technology research and innovation, announced today a new strategic partnership to accelerate the delivery of next-generation 5G networks across Canada.
“In cooperation with the ENCQOR 5G program, Telesat will conduct demonstrations, trials and pilots that will advance 5G connectivity, particularly to industries operating in rural areas,” reads a Telesat press release.
“This includes the utilization of the ENCQOR testbed, satellite assets, as well as national and international 5G infrastructures. The partnership will also allow both Telesat and ENCQOR 5G to collaborate with other industries, academia, and organizations…
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TORONTO — Telus Health announced today the launch of its new digital Virtual Pharmacy service, which the company says helps improve patients’ medication management by allowing them to set up automatic refill reminders for prescription medications that are shipped directly to their home.
In addition, the service “allows users to have unlimited one-on-one video and phone consultations with pharmacists from the comfort of their home, while also providing them with tools to keep track of their family’s medications through the service’s online dashboard,” a Telus Health press release says.
“As people’s lives continue to get busier, we need to focus on…
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GATINEAU – Total revenue for Canada’s telecommunications sector was $53.4 billion in 2020, a decrease of 1.4% compared to 2019, the CRTC says.
This is according to the telecom portion of the CRTC’s Communications Market Report (CMR; formally the Communications Monitoring Report), released last month.
The report features data from 2020, during which the Covid-19 pandemic began, non-essential travel was curtailed and many Canadians ended up working from home. During this time, there were higher volumes of wireline voice calling, significantly increased Internet data usage and decreased mobile roaming, the report explains.
The 1.4% total revenue decrease for telecommunications in 2020 is…
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TORONTO – Dave Fuller (above), president of Rogers Wireless, is leaving the company, according to the Globe and Mail.
A report today says an unnamed source told the Globe Fuller, who has been president of Rogers’ wireless division since April 2021, will be replaced by Phil Hartling, a long-time Rogers executive who was in charge of expanding Rogers rurally last year.
This follows a boardroom dispute that saw Edward Rogers, chair of the Rogers Control Trust and of the Rogers board, removing and replacing several board members, his decision to do so being upheld by the Supreme…
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OTTAWA – Fraudulent calls continue to be an issue for Canadians despite the recent implementation of measures to try to combat them.
In April of this year, the CRTC directed telecommunications service providers (TSPs) to implement STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs), which is intended to combat caller ID spoofing, by Nov. 30 as a condition of providing telecommunication services.
As of Nov. 30, TSPs are expected to “certify whether a caller’s identity can be trusted by verifying the caller ID information for Internet Protocol-based voice calls,” a CRTC press release explains. The…
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TORONTO and SAN FRANCISCO – Last week, agriculture businesses Full Harvest and Ukko Agro each announced investments by Telus Ventures.
Full Harvest, a San Francisco-based produce business-to-business marketplace that specializes in surplus and imperfect produce, announced it closed a $23 million Series B round of growth financing, which was led by Telus Ventures.
“Working with some of the largest food and beverage companies (Danone North America, Health-Ade), processors (SVZ) and growers (Tanimura & Antle, Church Brothers, Deardorff Farms), Full Harvest reduces produce sourcing headaches and food waste by moving the produce supply chain online – allowing buyers to purchase more sustainable…
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LLOYDMINSTER, Alta., SALMO, BC and GOLDEN, BC – Telus announced yesterday its 5G network is now available to those in Lloydminster, Alberta and Salmo and Golden, British Columbia.
This is part of Telus’s $14.5 billion investment in Alberta and $13 billion investment in B.C. through 2024, according to the press releases for the Lloydminster, Salmo and Golden expansions.
The press releases indicate 67% of Canadians have access to Telus’s 5G network right now and that the company is on track to provide 5G to 70% of Canadians by the end of the year.
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