Canada's Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications issued a joint statement yesterday disclosing that the mediation held on 4-5 July between the two telcos and the Commissioner of Competition did not result in a resolution of the Commissioner's objections to the pair's proposed merger. The statement added: 'The review process will continue as p...

Shaw Communications' business division has launched 'Fibre+ Gig 2.0', a 2Gbps internet service aimed at supporting demand from businesses of all sizes across Western Canada to connect their data-heavy applications and cloud services. Katherine Emberly, President, Business, Shaw Communications, said: 'Businesses are more connected today than ever be...

Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications have agreed to begin a mediation process with Canada's Competition Bureau to overcome the agency's opposition to the two telcos' proposed merger on anti-competition grounds. The Canadian Competition Tribunal told Reuters in a statement on Friday that the parties advised the tribunal that they wish to pa...

Canadian network operator Telus announced that it is beginning to deploy the 3500MHz 5G spectrum it won at auction last summer, naming the first deployment locations as Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton and Victoria. Telus says customers with compatible devices located in areas covered by 3500MHz spectrum will be able to take advantage of an 'Unl...

Canadian telecoms groups Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications have announced an agreement to sell Shaw's subsidiary Freedom Mobile to Quebecor on a cash-free, debt-free basis at an enterprise value of CAD2.85 billion (USD2.19 billion), subject to regulatory approval, as the pair continue to seek clearance for their own proposed merger. Rog...

Bell Canada announced this week that it is 'poised' to begin deploying the 3500MHz band spectrum it won last summer to expand and upgrade 5G services in urban and rural markets across the country. Bell says that the addition of 3500MHz frequencies to its 5G network will give customers a faster experience with peak theoretical download speeds of 'up...

Rogers Communications announced yesterday that it has started to deploy its 5G 3500MHz spectrum holdings, with the first location going live in Nanaimo, British Columbia. The company will continue its deployment across Canada, including the urban centres of Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver and multiple rural areas. More re...

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has opened its mmWave Licensing Framework Consultation, proposing to make more 5G spectrum available to develop higher quality services and innovative new applications. According to ISED, the mmWave 26GHz, 28GHz and 38GHz bands are expected to support both highly localised mobile 5G service...

Canada's federal government announced CAD55 million (USD44 million) in funding to bring high speed fixed internet to an additional 11,000 rural homes throughout New Brunswick, with the rollouts to be implemented by Rogers Communications and Xplornet. A press release from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) shows a list of 249...

Canada's Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications issued a joint statement on Monday stating that they have agreed to postpone closure of their proposed CAD26 billion (USD20 billion) merger in order to resolve objections by the Competition Bureau, which filed court applications on 9 May to prevent the consolidation of two of the country's larg...

Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Francois-Philippe Champagne, yesterday announced a new proposed policy direction in the telecoms sector which will require the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to put in place new rules to improve competition and support consumers, aimed at achieving lower pric...

Globalive Capital – chaired by Anthony Lacavera – has signed a 20-year nationwide mobile network and spectrum sharing agreement with Telus Communications, effective only in the event that Globalive is successful in its bid to buy Canada's fourth largest cellco Freedom Mobile – the company originally founded by Lacavera and currently a subsidiary of...

In a long-delayed decision, Canada's federal government has opted to ban the country's telecoms operators from using Chinese equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE to build their 5G networks, and furthermore intends to order operators to remove such equipment from their existing networks. Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science...

Canada's Federal Court has this week rejected nationwide operator Telus Communications' attempt to block Quebec-based rival Videotron's rights to 3500MHz 5G mobile licences in western provinces won at auction last year. The ruling follows the same court's refusal of a stay request from Telus and fellow nationwide player Bell Canada in October 2021,...

The Government of Quebec has allocated a portion of funding in its rural broadband connectivity programme for subsidising SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service for 10,200 'hard-to-reach' homes. A CAD9.5 million (USD7.4 million) subsidy is being offered for purchasing hardware for the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite service, currently costing...

Canada's Competition Bureau has filed court applications to prevent the proposed CAD26 billion (USD20 billion) merger of two of the country's largest fixed and mobile telecoms companies, Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, as it seeks to 'protect Canadians from higher prices, poorer service quality and fewer choices' particularly in mobi...

Canada's Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications gave a joint statement on Saturday disclosing that they were notified of the Commissioner of Competition's intention to file applications to the Competition Tribunal opposing Rogers' proposed merger with Shaw. Rogers and Shaw stated that they remain committed to the merger, while moving their d...

Bell Canada's operating revenue increased 2.5% year-on-year to CAD5.850 billion (USD4.576 billion) in Q1 2022, driven by 4.2% higher service revenue of CAD5.177 billion on strong mobile, residential internet and media division growth. Product (equipment) revenue was down 8.8% to CAD673 million, reflecting fewer new mobile device transactions and lo...

The Vancouver Sun reports that Vancouver's Aquilini family (Aquilini Investments) is interested in buying Shaw Communications' cellular network operating division Freedom Mobile, which is up for sale as Rogers Communications attempts to offload the unit to gain regulatory clearance for its proposed merger with Shaw by the end of this quarter. It wa...

Canada's Rogers Communications reported 'solid operational improvements' in its Wireless (mobile), Cable (fixed internet/pay-TV/voice) and Media divisions in Q1 2022. Total revenue improved 4% year-on-year to CAD3.619 billion (USD2.871 billion) in the three months ended 31 March 2022. Group quarterly EBITDA rose 11% y-o-y to CAD1.539 billion, with ...