Canada’s fourth largest cellular operator by subscribers Wind Mobile has won approval from the telecoms ministry Industry Canada to transfer its unused AWS (1700MHz/2100MHz) spectrum licences in the Prairie provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan to the two regions’ respective incumbent telcos Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS Allstream) and SaskTel, which will each add the frequencies to their existing 4G LTE bandwidth. SaskTel CEO Ron Styles said in a press release: ‘Our 4G LTE network in the nine...

Quebec-based quadruple-play operator Videotron has confirmed plans to introduce broadband speeds of 1Gbps-plus on its cable network, up from its current top speed of 200Mbps. A press release said that Videotron is enabling households and businesses in the Greater Montreal area to reach ‘and even exceed’ 1Gbps, with testing of the new service ongoing in the city. Thanks to TeleGeography for the article. 

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) yesterday announced new measures in the wholesale fixed broadband market, including a ruling forcing the country’s largest internet providers to open up their high speed fibre-based access networks to smaller rivals. The regulator said the measures are to foster competition and provide Canadians with more choice and innovative services at reasonable prices. Following an extensive review, the CRTC found that: ‘the large incumb...

Bell Canada has announced it is launching 1Gbps fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services under the Gigabit Fibe banner, initially for 50,000 homes and businesses in Toronto during summer 2015, with a target of eventually delivering 1Gbps services to 1.1 million premises across the city. Bell will also launch Gigabit Fibe in selected locations in other cities in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces before the end of 2015. Services will initially offer a maximum 940Mbps speed but will rise to the p...

Canada’s two largest mobile operators by users, Rogers and Telus, have recently tabled takeover offers for financially struggling smaller cellco Mobilicity, although any potential deal is subject to federal government approval under strict wireless spectrum transfer rules aimed at preserving competition, the Financial Post reports. According to sources quoted by the paper, a group of creditors and directors of Mobilicity met over the weekend to assess offers from both national operators exceedin...

Bell Canada has begun the rollout of an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network offering mobile data download speeds of up to 220Mbps on selected CAT 6 devices including Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, Samsung Galaxy S6/Edge and HTC One M9. The following cities will be the first to receive Bell’s LTE-A services: Greater Toronto Area, Fredericton, Sydney, Charlottetown and Halifax. According to Canadian tech website MobileSyrup, Bell is providing the 220Mbps speeds via its Band 7 (2600MHz) spectrum and carrier ag...

Xplornet Communications, Canada’s leading rural high speed internet specialist, has launched its new 25Mbps LTE-based fixed-wireless broadband service in the province of Alberta, it announced on its website. Xplornet says it will continue to roll out upgraded speeds to other rural communities across Canada, aiming to make 25Mbps internet available nationwide by 2017. Last month Xplornet – which operates hybrid WiMAX/satellite and TD-LTE broadband platforms – acquired 42 blocks of 2500MHz spectru...

The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected a bid by Canada’s main mobile operators to delay the full implementation of the country’s ‘wireless code of conduct’, the Financial Post reports. The code was introduced by regulator CRTC in June 2013 to provide better consumer protection against high mobile roaming charges and wireless contract cancellation fees. A group of cellcos including the three nationwide network operators Rogers, Telus and Bell (BCE Inc) launched legal action last July after rais...

Canada’s Industry Minister James Moore yesterday (12 May 2015) announced the list of provisional licence winners in the Broadband Radio Service (BRS) spectrum auction in the 2500-2690MHz (‘2500MHz’) band. 302 of 318 licences on offer in 61 areas across Canada were awarded to nine companies, with a total value of CAD755.37 million (USD626.49 million), after eleven participants were qualified to bid in the auction which opened on 14 April. The 2500MHz band licensing was particularly aimed at provi...

Canada’s Competition Bureau has approved a transaction under which Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) and its national quadruple-play telecoms rival Rogers Communications will take 50% equity each in retailer Glentel (Canada), following the latter’s acquisition by BCE which is set for completion on 20 May. Glentel will continue to sell mobile products from both operators at its 494 retail locations across Canada (which are run under names including WirelessWave, Tbooth wireless, Wireless Etc and Targ...

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued its final decisions on wholesale wireless roaming, following a lengthy consultation period. With the regulator having found that, under current market conditions, competition in the wireless market is ‘likely not sustainable’, it will therefore regulate the wholesale roaming rates charged by the national cellular network operating companies, Rogers Communications, Bell Mobility and Telus Communications. In light of...

Canadian quadruple-play operator Rogers Communications reports that its consolidated revenue increased 5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015 to CAD3.175 billion (USD2.599 billion), reflecting revenue growth of 4% in Wireless, 1% in Cable, and 26% in Media, with stable revenue in Business Solutions. Wireless turnover increased as a result of higher network revenue from the continued movement of customers to LTE, and the adoption of higher average revenue per user (ARPU) generating ‘Share E...

Canadian regional operator SaskTel will invest CAD313 million (USD249 million) in CAPEX in Saskatchewan province in 2015, with CAD177 million dollars being allocated towards its core Saskatchewan network, while CAD45 million is earmarked for its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network (‘infiNET’) to connect 18,000 additional fibre homes in Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and Swift Current. In 2015, SaskTel will invest CAD37.8 million in wireless network enhancements, including CAD18.2 m...

Telecoms industry regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is embarking on a wide-ranging review of what exactly constitutes a ‘basic level of telecommunications services’, with a particular focus on whether high speed broadband internet should now be included in the definition. Via a two-phase public consultation in 2015, culminating in a public hearing in April 2016, the CRTC intends to examine thoroughly the issue of whether or not broadband should be c...

Rogers Communications has switched on commercial voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) services across Canada, available initially on the Android-based LG G3 Vigor smartphone, the country’s first VoLTE-enabled handset, with more VoLTE-ready devices expected this year. VoLTE allows the user to make voice/video calls over the all-IP LTE network whilst simultaneously browsing the web or streaming video at LTE speeds. In a press release, Rogers says its 4G network customers ‘will be the first in Canada to complete...

Canadian full-service telco Telus has launched ‘Business Connect’, a ‘complete integrated communications solution designed to meet the specific needs of small businesses’ offered in conjunction with cloud-based provider RingCentral, consisting of a suite of communications tools for office and mobile use. Business Connect includes local and toll-free numbers; an automated attendant and call routing; unlimited Canadian and US calling; audio and video conferencing; wireless back-up for office inter...

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ordered Northwestel – part of the Bell Canada group and the dominant operator in the Far North – to lower the rates for certain residential DSL internet services by 10%-30% by 4 May 2015. Northwestel will not be able to increase any residential internet rates until the end of 2017 at the earliest, and will need to seek the CRTC’s permission before doing so. In addition, Northwestel will no longer be allowed to charge addi...

Bell Canada yesterday announced that 120 more small communities across Quebec and Ontario have joined Bell Mobility’s 4G LTE mobile broadband network. Employing new 700MHz bandwidth (which first went commercial last April) and other spectrum assets, Bell is expanding LTE services to small towns, rural communities and remote locations in every region of Canada including the North. Bell earlier announced the launch of 4G LTE service in 52 small communities across all four provinces in Atlantic Can...

Primus Telecommunications Canada is significantly expanding its business VoIP telephony footprint with availability in new markets of all sizes across the country, it announced in a press release. As a result, Primus has quadrupled its footprint with significant increases in regions and provinces such as Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Saskatchewan in an effort to reach more than 80% of businesses across the country with its VoIP offerings. Primus – the first telco in Canada to introduce VoIP servic...

Quadruple-play operator Bell Canada’s total revenues grew 2.6% year-on-year to CAD4.940 billion (USD3.946 billion) in Q4 2014 on 2.2% higher service revenues, reflecting a strong increase in wireless (Bell Mobility) turnover and positive overall fixed network division growth. Product revenues grew 6.8% over Q4 2013, reflecting more wireless device upgrades and increased business data equipment sales, while quarterly Bell Media revenues declined 3.9% y-o-y. Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 was up 2.2% to CA...