Telus fastest mobile operator during the quarter
SEATTLE — Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications were the fastest fixed broadband providers in Canada in the second quarter of 2021, according to Seattle-based broadband and mobile network testing company Ookla, which released its Q2 2021 Canada Market Report today.
Using Speedtest Intelligence data from the second quarter, Ookla gave Shaw and Rogers speed scores of 181.66 and 179.95, respectively, for their fixed broadband network performance. Ookla’s speed score incorporates measurements of each provider’s download and upload speeds to rank network speed performance, with 90% of the final score being attributed to download…
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Rogers, Telus and Bell have all put out new low-cost and occasional-use wireless plans in compliance with a CRTC directive to do so by today.
The directive was part of the outcome of the CRTC’s recent review of mobile wireless services and required each of the three national companies to provide customers with three new low-cost mobile plan options.
The Commission mandate says the carriers must include unlimited Canada-wide calling, unlimited text messaging, and a minimum of 3 GB of data. Fido (owned by Rogers), Koodo (owned by Telus) and Virgin (owned by Bell), are all…
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TORONTO – Stamina Group Inc. and BAI Communications today announced they are partnering to bring syndicated content from publications including View the Vibe and WanderEater magazine to BAI’s public Wi-Fi network, TCONNECT, which is available in all Toronto Transit Commission subway stations.
“Incorporating the Stamina Group’s content into the Wi-Fi login experience delivers the added value commuters expect and encourages them to dwell and interact with targeted brand messaging,” reads a press release.
Commuters will have access to a variety of content including lifestyle news, entertainment and sports.
“Stamina Group’s content is engaging, relevant and provides insightful articles that are curated for…
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By Amanda Oye
LARGE INTERNET SERVICE providers have been the recipients of the vast amount of funding from the Universal Broadband Fund that had been allocated as of June 30th, 2021.
Jay Thomson, CEO of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA), compiled publicly available data, which shows Videotron, Cogeco, Bell, Telus and Rogers have been the major winners of UBF funding (see chart below).
The data takes into account two sets of funding. The first is funding from the UBF’s Rapid Response stream and the second is from the Canada-Quebec Operation High-Speed project, which received half of its $826.3-million funding from…
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VICTORIA — Telus Health announced today it is expanding its mobile Health for Good program by partnering with Victoria Cool Aid Society to deliver services through one of its mobile health clinics to underserved and at-risk people in the Victoria area.
“The Cool Aid Mobile Health Clinic, powered by Telus Health, is a specially equipped clinic on wheels that provides trauma-informed, primary medical treatments, mental health services, addiction support as well as Covid-19 assessments and testing directly to people who need it most,” says Telus’s press release.
The mobile clinic is equipped with Telus Health’s electronic medical record (EMR) technology, Telus…
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CityWest, meanwhile, seeks to be its own last-mile provider
By Ahmad Hathout
Shaw Communications wants to, in some capacity, get involved in British Columbia’s $45.4-million Connected Coast fibre project, according to a briefing note obtained by Cartt.ca.
The company has asked the project’s main proponents, Prince Rupert’s CityWest and the Strathcona Regional District, to “partner to accelerate the delivery of service and/or as a key wholesale customer,” according to the note, written ahead of a February 3, 2021 meeting between company officials and B.C.’s Ministry of Citizens’ Services, which manages broadband in the province.
CityWest and Strathcona had chosen Baylink Networks as the prime…
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RED DEER, LETHBRIDGE and OKOTOKS, Alta. — As part of its $14.5 billion investment in infrastructure and operations across Alberta through 2024, Telus today announced it is investing $16.6 million this year to bring 5G to the communities of Red Deer, Lethbridge and Okotoks.
Telus is investing $9 million to enable Red Deer residents and businesses to access its 5G network, while investments of $5.5 million and $2.1 million will bring 5G to Lethbridge and Okotoks, respectively.
The company says 153 Alberta communities including 31 First Nations will have access to Telus’s 5G network by the end of…
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VANCOUVER — Telus International today announced it acquired Bangalore, India-based Playment, “a leader in data annotation and computer vision tools and services specialized in 2D and 3D image, video and LiDAR (light detection and ranging),” says a Telus International press release.
Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The Playment acquisition follows Telus International’s recent purchase of Lionbridge AI, and builds on the company’s expertise and experience in data annotation, “uniquely positioning Telus International to support technology and large enterprise clients developing AI-powered solutions across a variety of vertical markets,” says the release.
“As one of the key enabling technologies…
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Rebuild already planned
By Amanda Oye
LYTTON, B.C. – Following record-breaking temperatures approaching 50 degrees celsius, a wildfire that began last Wednesday has wreaked havoc on Lytton, B.C., destroying much of the village, including its communication infrastructure.
“Our fibre network is totally torched,” said Daniel Mundall of Lyttonnet in an interview Monday.
As we reported in a feature story in 2018, Lyttonnet is a community cable, wireless and internet provider that spearheaded an initiative to build a community-owned fibre optic network in 2014 with the help of local volunteers. This was a significant advancement, since many in the Lytton community still relied…
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LONDON, U.K. — While rural Canadians have seen slight improvements in average mobile download speeds over the last 12 months, the gap between rural users’ download speed experience has become more prominent compared to networks in large urban centres, according to the latest analysis from analytics company Opensignal.
Generally speaking, Opensignal says rural users on Bell, Rogers and Telus’ mobile networks experience average download speeds which are less than half than those of its users in large population centres (PCs) on all three carriers.
For its analysis, Opensignal compared the mobile network experience of rural users, which make up almost 20%…
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