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...

In a notice on its website Canadian full-service telecoms operator Telus discloses that from 30 March 2015 it will automatically charge residential fixed internet customers who exceed their monthly internet data allowance. From that date, a standard additional 50GB data ‘bucket’ will be automatically billed to the user if exceeding their threshold, with the first bucket costing CAD5 (USD3.99) and each subsequent bucket charged at CAD10, up to a maximum monthly cost of CAD75. Canadian press noted...

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...

Telecoms ministry Industry Canada has published the full list of ten applicants for the upcoming auction of spectrum licences for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-3) in the bands 1755-1780MHz and 2155-2180MHz, namely: Rogers Communications, Telus Communications, Bell Mobility, Wind Mobile, Videotron, Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless (Mobilicity), Bragg Communications (Eastlink), MTS, Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel) and TBayTel. Publication of the list of qualified bidders is...

Saskatchewan full-service operator SaskTel shut down its legacy Wireless Broadband Internet (WBBI) service on 30 January 2015 after successfully migrating customers to its new High Speed Fusion Internet service based on fixed-wireless TD-LTE technology, it reported on its website. In addition to completing existing WBBI customer migrations, SaskTel said it also commercially launched High Speed Fusion Internet services for new subscribers at 38 wireless tower locations around the province, and pl...

Indebted Canadian cellco Mobilicity has secured the necessary CAD62 million (USD50 million) funding from debtholders to place a deposit by the end-January deadline for entering the upcoming AWS-3 wireless spectrum auction scheduled for 3 March. The Globe & Mail reports that Mobilicity placed an application before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to approve the ‘second debtor-in-possession (DIP)’ financing arrangement, structured off an earlier CAD30 million DIP financing arrangement the...

Financially-stricken Canadian cellco Mobilicity has confirmed that it is still searching for funding to meet the deposit deadline of 30 January in order to participate in the upcoming AWS-3 mobile frequency auction in March, a report from Ernst & Young disclosed on Friday. Mobilicity, which is under court protection from its creditors, needs to secure a CAD62 million (USD50 million) refundable deposit by the end of the month to bid in the auction of unallocated 3G/4G spectrum in the regions ...

Industry Canada has approved a localised transfer of spectrum licences held by Inukshuk to the wireless broadband joint venture’s equal partners Bell Mobility and Rogers, reports Cartt.ca. Two Broadband Radio Service (BRS) spectrum licences in the Lower St. Lawrence and Gaspsie areas, valid until 31 March 2021, are being transferred to Bell and Rogers, which previously jointly operated a national WiMAX-type wireless broadband network via Inukshuk but have more recently been re-using the venture’...

Fiscal 2015 first-quarter revenue at cableco Cogeco’s Canadian division increased by 1.8% year-on-year to reach CAD315.2 million (USD263.5 million) in the three months ended 30 November 2014, attributable to a rate increase implemented in April 2014 in Quebec and Ontario, alongside customer base growth. Operating expenses in the quarter remained virtually level y-o-y at CAD155.4 million, as additional marketing initiatives related to the launch of TiVo digital advanced TV services in early Novem...

Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) has agreed a CAD594 million (USD520 million) cash-and-stock deal to buy independent cellphone retailer Glentel, the Globe & Mail reports. The deal will give Bell ownership of Glentel’s roughly 500 own-brand retail locations in Canada, as well as kiosks at Target Canada and Costco under the names ‘Wirelesswave’, ‘Tbooth wireless’ and ‘Wireless etc’. BCE previously bought another phone retail chain, The Source, with around 750 locations, in 2009. The Source now ex...

Canada’s fourth largest cellular operator by subscribers Wind Mobile has added a third domestic network roaming partner, Telus, to add to its existing partners Rogers and Bell, raising its combined on-net and roaming coverage footprint to 97% of the population, reports MobileSyrup. The company indicated that its roaming (‘WIND Away’) network coverage has expanded by 14% across the country and 40% in Telus’ home province of British Columbia via the deal. Earlier this year Canada’s telecoms regula...

Indebted Canadian cellco Mobilicity has received its eighth court-sanctioned extension to its creditor protection, from 1 December 2014 until 30 January 2015, while it continues to seek a buyer for its business, the Globe & Mail reports. In its latest court filing Mobilicity reported 154,900 active subscribers at 31 October, down by 1,400 since August, Canadian website MobileSyrup noted, as the struggling operator continues to compete via discount offers and promotions. The court document al...