This week's top tech news: Rogers buys Comwave, PS5 Slim and early Black Friday Deals

This week, Antenna is all about telco shenanigans and early Black Friday deals, with a little BlackBerry sprinkled on top for good measure.

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November 10, 2023

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Welcome back to Antenna. It has been a wild week in Canadian tech. Here's what you need to know.

The CRTC delivered a decision mandating Bell and Telus to open access to their fibre networks in Ontario and Quebec, noting that competition decreased by 47 percent in those provinces over the last two years.

Unsurprisingly, telcos weren't happy about the decision.

We also got several early Black Friday deals. The discounts are ramping up quickly!

Perhaps the most notable 'deal' was on the new PS5 Slim, with several Canadian retailers listing the console before Sony officially announced it was coming to Canada.

BlackBerry co-writer on turning the film into a series, the vampires of Waterloo

The riotous and tight two-hour BlackBerry movie became a limited three-part series on November 9th, with 14 extra minutes of footage interspersed between commercial breaks. Here's everything you need to know about turning the movie into a series for the CBC.

Read more

Rogers acquiring independent ISP Comwave

A letter sent to Comwave customers confirmed the acquisition but promised the ISP would continue operating as it always had, just with the backing of Rogers. Read more

Bell and Telus must offer competitors access to fibre-to-the-home network: CRTC

The CRTC noted in its decision that internet competition in Ontario and Quebec had fallen by 47 percent over the last two years. Read more

Telcos react to CRTC decision

Rogers’ CEO says CRTC internet decision levels ‘the playing field’

“They’re not that different than the wholesale rates that we’ve had for our network,” Tony Staffieri said during a call about the company's Q3 results. Read more

Bell cutting ‘a minimum of $500 to $600 million’ in 2024 network investments following CRTC decision

Bell said its cuts to network investments were “a direct result of the CRTC’s decision.” Read more

TekSavvy calls out CRTC for its ‘flawed’ internet decision

The ISP argues the interim wholesale rates are, in some cases, higher than retail prices Bell and Telus charge customers. Read more

Telus ‘assessing’ CRTC’s fibre internet decision, company exec tells Canadian Telecom Summit

Stephen Schmidt, the company’s vice president of telecom policy and chief regulatory counsel, was critical of the CRTC and singled the commission out for “doing things that no other regulator on earth is left doing.” Read more

It looks like Sony’s PS5 Slim is launching in Canada after all

Canadian retailers surprised everyone -- even Sony -- when they suddenly listed pre-orders for the U.S.-only PS5 Slim. Speaking of surprises, Valve just launched new OLED Steam Deck models

Black Friday deals already popping up

Sonos has shared its upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals

The promotion ends on November 27th.

Get it now

Walmart Canada’s Black Friday deals include PS5 bundle, iPhone 14 Plus

Get Modern Warfare III for free with a PS5, $0 down on multiple phones with bonus gift cards, $400 off the Apple Watch Ultra and more.

Get it now

Nintendo’s Canadian Black Friday Switch deals include Smash Bros. bundle, $30 off games

Games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Super Mario Odyssey and Nintendo Switch Sports will be discounted.

Get it now

OnePlus Black Friday sale discounts Open for $200 off

There are also deals on other OnePlus phones and accessories.

Get it now

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