Here’s a roundup of some of the most essential telecom news over the past week.
Government
Telecom company Nokia announced plans to build a 26-acre 5G research and development centre in Ottawa. The company is partnering with three levels of government (federal, provincial, and municipal) to supply $72 million for the project. Nokia is investing $340 million.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) says it might be December before it delivers a decision on Telus’ application to charge a credit card fee. The telecom company filed the application months ago, stating it would pass on credit card fees to customers who choose to pay their bills with credit. The CRTC says it needs more time to process the comments it received on the matter.
The CRTC says it’s getting closer to allowing the deployment of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which operate on top of existing networks. In a recent decision, the commission says regional providers must have invested in network infrastructure and spectrum to gain access to MVNOs. You can read more about it here.
Rounding out the CRTC-related news, TekSavvy published documents revealing more mystery meetings between CRTC chair Ian Scott and telecom execs. Read about that here.
Network performance
Ookla’s Q3 2022 market report once again crowns Telus as providing the fastest mobile service. The report found Telus offered a median download speed of 76.03Mbps and an upload speed of 9.19Mbps. In comparison, Bell provided download speeds of 73.30Mbps and Rogers 59.86Mbps.
Meanwhile, an Opensignal report highlighted that Canadian 5G is narrowing the urban-rural gap in network performance. Learn more here.
More news on Telus, a network outage in the west disrupted mobile and home services earlier this week. Impacted residents resided in B.C and Alberta. The outage was caused by a cable damaged in a motor vehicle accident.
Rogers has entered a new partnership focusing on the progression of smart mining. The telecom company has established the Rogers Technology Centre of Excellence at NORCAT’s Sudbury, Ontario, training facility. Rogers’ 5G network will help NORCAT develop and test various technologies.
Telus is the exclusive 5G provider for Project Arrow. The Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association of Canada (APMA) project focuses on a concept vehicle that’s the first electric, zero-emission vehicle designed, engineered and built in Canada. Telus’s 5G access will help with infotainment and driver assistance services.
Deals
Koodo, Fido, and Virgin have all released another $65/20GB promo plan, two weeks after removing a similar plan. More details are available here.
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