Telecom news round-up [Aug 27-Sept 2]

This past week was a busy one for Canada’s telecom sector.

As an overview, here’s (almost) everything that happened over the past several days:

Business

In a continuing quarrel, Bell has asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to rescind its ruling on Vidéotron’s use of its roaming services. As a recap, Bell filed a complaint in May 2021, stating some of Vidéotron’s customers were permanently roaming on Bell’s network. The CRTC left the issue up to the two companies, stating they should “engage in good-faith negotiations.” Most recently, Bell stated the CRTC erred in its decision and should rescind it.

The Competition Tribunal has ruled Rogers’ July 8th service outage is applicable to hearings about its merger with Shaw. Rogers’ argument the outage wasn’t relevant to concerns brought on by the Competition Bureau was ultimately struck down.

One analyst also believes the merger will go well into 2023. Maher Yaghi, an analyst at Bank of Nova Scotia, says the pushback from the Competition Bureau is one reason the timeline is expanding.

The PIAC is also asking the CRTC to release more details regarding Rogers’ second disclosure of information following the outage. The company’s answers redact various details about its plan to separate its wireless and wireline networks, details PIAC says should be available to the public.

In more news relating to the Rogers outage, Pelmorex Weather Networks confirmed the service blackout didn’t interrupt the National Public Alerting System. It’s likely the service is one of the very few things the outage didn’t impact.

Rogers isn’t the only telecom company to deal with the aftermath of an outage. While not on the same scale, Northwestel’s cellular and internet customers in Iqaluit also faced a service outage earlier this month. The company explains the problem was caused by one customer’s router access. 

In a little over a year, Canadians across the country will have a new number to reach out to for mental health crises and suicide prevention support. The CRTC says residents will be able to call or text 988 for assistance.

Telus selected MATRIXX Software to develop and launch next-gen 5G services. The developments will focus on mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), fixed and cloud services.

Vancouver-based telecom giant Telus also completed the $2.3 billion acquisition of LifeWorks. The company covers the mental, physical, financial and social health of its clients. The acquisition means Telus’ health division now spans 50 million people in 160 countries.

Rogers launched its Wi-Fi modem with Wi-Fi 6E for customers in Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. The company has also made its 8Gbps Ignite Internet services available for pre-order.

Canadian telecom companies are supporting families impacted by flooding in Pakistan but waiving various fees. Rogers also announced it’s donating $50,000 towards the issue.

Government

Tallcree Tribal Government is working with the CRTC and Telus to connect its residents with wireless services for the first time. The roughly 300 households in Northern Alberta will have access when work is completed in 2024.

The Liberal government is still looking for a replacement for CRTC Chair Ian Scott. The delay means Scott, whose five-year tenure set to end Friday, will remain in the position for another four months.

Infrastructure

Bell announced plans to expand its fibre footprint in rural Manitoba, bringing a pure fibre connection with download speeds up to 1.5Gbps to 6,500 locations.

Bell also announced plans to bring its fibre internet connection to Owen Sound, Ontario. 10,000 locations will be connected by 2023. Bell made both of these announcements under its capital expenditure acceleration program.

Deals

The Pixel 6a, 6, and 6 Pro are on sale at Amazon with discounts ranging between $50 and $230.

Motorola is also offering discounts up to $200 as part of its Labout Day deals.

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