By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Thursday launched a consultation into whether it should ban Rogers, Bell and Telus from using the bundled fibre networks of the large telcos in Ontario and Quebec.
The commission is asking whether it’s in the public interest to change its November 2023 decision that temporarily allowed competitors to force negotiations to access both the traffic transport and last-mile fibre facilities of Bell and Telus in those provinces.
The deadline for comment is December 12.
The consultation comes at the recommendation of federal cabinet, which expressed concern that this policy could be detrimental to smaller…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TekSavvy is the latest telecom to submit a review-and-vary application since cabinet’s recommendation to revisit a part of the CRTC’s decision on the wholesale internet framework, with the independent last week asking for clarity on access to new fibre builds inside the telcos’ footprint as well as when wholesalers will be able to access the cable companies’ last-mile fibre builds on an aggregated basis.
The CRTC made two exemptions in its August decision: that Bell and Telus will be shielded from the aggregated last-mile fibre regime for five years to allow them to recoup their…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers is asking the CRTC to consider banning itself, Bell and Telus from accessing tariffed aggregated wholesale internet for both last-mile fibre and hybrid fibre-coax (HFC) technologies.
The cable giant is also asking the commission to include a five-year moratorium on competitor access to new speeds produced by investments in cable networks and/or implement a speed cap of 1.5 Gbps on an aggregated wholesale basis (bundled middle- and last-mile).
Applying none of these suggestions would leave cable carriers shouldering the burden of the wholesale regime again, which is offside of the direction from cabinet which calls for equitable application…
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Applicants claim regulatory asymmetry between wireless and wireline policies
By Ahmad Hathout
A consortium of competitors is asking the CRTC to consider banning Rogers, Bell and Telus from accessing the wholesale internet regime regardless of technology and geography.
The regulator announced last week it is launching a public consultation, at the behest of the federal cabinet, to review whether the Big 3 should be banned from accessing at least the last-mile fibre regime – which includes the middle- and last-mile facilities of Bell and Telus in Quebec and Ontario. The concern is that smaller players would not be able…
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Telus said Tuesday that it is bringing its PureFibre internet with gigabit speeds to Ontario and Quebec.
The Vancouver-based telco said it is offering download speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps and upload speeds of 1 Gbps.
The company confirmed to Cartt that it is wholesaling the fibre using the CRTC’s aggregated last-mile fibre regime – the interim rates of which were set last month – to deliver the plans. Telus currently has its own networks in a small part of Quebec.
The plans include the latest in Wi-Fi 6 technology.
“The expansion of TELUS PureFibre in Eastern Canada gives more Canadians access to…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telus executives on Friday pointed to competitor aggression for dampening its average revenue per user (ARPU) on wireless, but the company said it is keeping firm on its retention strategy as it heads into the hottest quarter of the year.
The Vancouver-based telecom reported a mobile wireless ARPU of $58.85 in the third quarter, a decline of roughly $2 compared to the same period last year. The company that prides itself on customer loyalty and its historically low churn saw that rate of defection increase to 1.09 per cent from 1.03 over the same period.
The telco said this…
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Telco phasing out prepaid plans on Bell brand by year-end
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell executives said Thursday that approximately 106,000 subscribers are affected by a ruling by the CRTC this summer that prohibits Bell customers from using the wholesale internet regime in its operating territory.
The regulator said in the August decision that large players and their affiliates cannot lease internet capacity from others in areas where they have their own networks. To avoid service disruptions, existing customers on the third-party internet access (TPIA) regime will be able to continue to receive service but they cannot change speed plans…
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By Ahmad Hathout
On federal cabinet urging, the CRTC is “working quickly” to launch a public consultation on whether Rogers, Bell and Telus should be banned from using the aggregated last-mile fibre regime in Ontario and Quebec, the regulator said in a statement to Cartt, a move that is being welcomed by competitors.
The minister of Industry, Francois Philippe-Champagne, made the recommendation to the CRTC on Wednesday. It was a partial win for Bell, which requested in its February petition for the cabinet to rescind or vary the regulator’s decision last year that mandated competitor access to its bundled middle- and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking Canada’s major telecommunications service providers to explain how their employees are informing customers about the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), after the regulatory said it found an unsatisfactory number of survey participants even knew it existed.
The regulator commissioned a survey by Nanos Research, which found only 2 per cent of participants who had an unresolved complaint were made aware of the organization by their service provider. The research was delivered in March.
“This finding is supported by consumer feedback data in the CCTS’s annual reports from 2015 to 2023, which shows…
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Telus said Thursday that its strategic investment arm is investing in two American health technology companies.
Telus Global Ventures is participating in two new equity funding rounds from Illinois-based Homethrive and Massachusetts-based Rhino Health. Telus’s investment is expected to assist Homethrive in scaling its services, which includes care coordination, healthcare navigation and emotional support for caregivers and recipients.
“The support of TELUS Global Ventures is an exciting opportunity for us to expand our reach and deepen the impact we have on caregivers and their loved ones,” Homethrive Co-CEO David Greenberg said in a release. “Their expertise in healthcare will help us…
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