Tag: minister champagne

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Advocacy agencies call on Minister Champagne to end Canada’s telecom monopoly

Non-profit Canadian advocacy agencies OpenMedia and Leadnow got over 28,000 petition signatures and called for an end to Canada’s telecom monopoly.

In a press release sent to MobileSyrup, OpenMedia said it and Leadnow issued a joint statement to Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) Minister François-Philippe Champagne. The statement highlights issues with Canada’s telecom monopoly and calls for guaranteed affordable, reliable high-speed internet for all Canadians.

The statement comes as a response to the July 8th Rogers outage — called ‘Red Friday’ by some — which saw the company’s wireless and wireline network collapse, taking out mobile, internet and other services for millions of Canadians for some 19 hours. Many were impacted well beyond the initial scope of the outage. Moreover, Red Friday prevented Canadians from accessing emergency and financial services.

“July’s Rogers outage must be a turning point for Canada. People from coast to coast are waking up to how rigged our telecom system has become, functioning primarily to benefit Rogers, Telus, and Bell at the expense of ordinary Canadians,” the statement reads.

OpenMedia highlighted key options for reducing the monopoly power of telecom in Canada, which include creating a national public competitor to deliver internet services, expanding support for local public ownership of community networks, structural separation of telecom companies that own wireline and wireless services, and mandating telecom network access for small companies, which would increase competition and help reduce prices.

It remains to be seen what impact, if any, this has on the government’s response to Red Friday. Champagne has already demanded the major telecom players work together to develop a fallback system for future outages, the House of Commons committee on industry (INDU) is studying the Rogers outage, and the company answered CRTC questions about what happened. However, some have criticized Rogers for promoting transparency while heavily redacting its response to the CRTC, while others believe the government’s response — such as mandating the major telecom players work together — will worsen competition issues.

You can read the full statement from OpenMedia and Leadnow here.

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Mobile Syrup

Separating wireless and wireline networks will cost Rogers $250 million, CEO reveals at committee hearing

Rogers will pay $250 million to separate its wireless and wireline networks.

CEO Tony Staffieri revealed the figure while being questioned by the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology.

MobileSyrup previously reported that the company would separate the two to prevent wireless (such as 5G and LTE) and wireline services (fibre, for example) from going down simultaneously in the event of a future outage.

“We failed to deliver on our promise to be Canada’s most reliable network,” Staffieri told the committee.

The CEO said the company has “been as transparent as we can be” when reporting on the outage. Staffieri pointed to a recent filing the company made to the CRTC, saying, “we want to share all the information on this outage.”

However, Staffieri failed to mention that the document available for public viewing was heavily redacted. Elements describing the specifics of the outage, recovery efforts, and the number of customers impacted in each province were removed.

Further illuminating the trail of disconnect, Staffieri went on to say Canadians have “alternative and they have choice,” when speaking on competition in Canada’s telecom market.

Staffieri said little regarding Rogers’ merger with Shaw, which is waiting on approval from the Competition Bureau and Innovation and Science and Economic Development Canada.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne appeared before the committee before Staffieri and was also questioned on the Shaw merger. Champagne previously stated regulators will take the outage into consideration when deciding on the merger. He offered little detail beyond this at the hearing, saying his department will examine the merger once an application is submitted.

Champagne further told the committee that he was the one to reach out to Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri and that it should have been the other way around. Champagne was in Tokyo at the time of the outage. The Minister said he contacted Rogers CEO, as well as the CEOs of Bell and Telus. He has instructed Canada’s wireless carriers to create a framework to help each other when network outages occur.

Image credit: Shutterstock

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Mobile Syrup

The ongoing ramifications of the Rogers outage

The Rogers outage on July 8th left many Canadians at a standstill. While services have resumed, Canadians and government officials aren’t ready to let Rogers slide the outage under the rug. Multiple actions against the company are pending, and the situation is far from resolved.

To help you keep track of everything happening around the outage, MobileSyrup has put together a list of key events and actions that will take place in the coming weeks and months.

The government’s study on the merger

The House of Commons committee on industry (INDU) and technology has voted to study the Rogers outage through at least two meetings before July 30th. The study will examine four things: the cause of the outage, its impact on Canadians, measures to mitigate future disruptions, and ways for companies to keep impacted Canadians notified about outages in a “timely and transparent manner.”

The committee will call witnesses from Rogers, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne. At the time of writing, the committee did not make public the dates for the two meetings.

Separating wireless and wireline traffic

MobileSyrup reported Rogers plans on separating its wireless and wireline services to prevent one outage from taking down both networks in the future. Currently, all traffic travels through the same core of Rogers’ network. It could take up to 18 months to build the necessary infrastructure, and the migration will likely take place in two years.

Rogers will likely publicly reveal details of this plan in the future.

The CRTC’s deadline

Like the INDU, Canada’s telecom watchdog is additionally questioning Rogers on why the outage happened. The CRTC gave Rogers 10 days to share details and outline measures to prevent a future outage. The letter the CRTC sent to Rogers outlining the details states they received requests to launch a public inquiry, but it doesn’t state that the CRTC is following suit. Rogers has until July 22nd to provide answers.

Class action lawsuit

Law firm LPC Avocat Inc. filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Quebec resident Arnaud Verdier on July 11th. The suit asks Rogers to pay customers impacted by the outage $400; $200 for Rogers failing to provide service and $200 for “false representations” that Rogers has the most reliable network. The lawsuit also seeks compensation for Canadians who couldn’t complete debit transactions or e-transfers. 

In the meantime, Rogers customers will receive an ounce of financial relief following the company’s decision to credit customers for five days. Notably, critics are saying the action isn’t enough. You can check out the complete list of Rogers flanker brands and resellers offering credits here.

Postponed events

The outage disrupted several different events across the country. The Weeknd had to cancel his July 8th concert at the Rogers Centre, which would have kicked off his ‘After Hours Til Dawn’ stadium tour. The artist will be back on September 22nd for a rescheduled performance, and tickets from the July 8th show will be honoured.

Rogers takeover of Shaw

Before the outage, most of the news coverage surrounding Rogers related to its merger with Shaw in one way or another. While the news cycle has shifted, Minister Champagne is reminding Canadians the two sets of news are very much related. Last week, the Minister said policymakers would be thinking of the outage when considering the takeover. “[It’s] going to be on the mind of the different people who need to make a decision,” Champagne said.

The merger still needs approval from Innovation and Science and Economic Development Canada and the Competition Bureau, which filed to block the merger in May.

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Mobile Syrup

Champagne says Rogers outage to be factor in Shaw merger decision

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Minister François-Philippe Champagne said policymakers would include Rogers’ July 8th service outage when considering the company’s proposed takeover of Shaw Communications.

As the Globe and Mail reports, Champagne told reporters at an event in Calgary on Friday that the outage will “be on the mind of the different people who need to make a decision.”

The proposed $26 billion merger would combine Canada’s two largest cable networks. However, the Competition Bureau is already trying to block the deal over concerns it will lead to poorer service and higher prices, especially for wireless customers. Rogers and Shaw have attempted to ease those concerns by striking an agreement to sell Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Quebecor, which owns Vidéotron, for $2.85 billion. Friday was the deadline for the companies to reach a definitive agreement.

Moreover, the House of Commons committee on industry and technology adopted a motion on Friday to study the July 8th Rogers outage. The committee plans to review the cause of the outage, its impact on families, consumers and businesses, and look at measures to prevent future outages and ways to provide the public with timely information about outages.

The Globe reports that there will be at least two meetings dedicated to the study before July 30th. The committee plans to invite representatives from Rogers, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and Champagne to appear.

A Rogers spokesperson told the Globe that the company will work with the committee to “provide details on the cause of the outage and the actions we are taking to enhance the reliability of each of our networks moving forward, including through formal mutual support agreements.”

For more on what caused the Rogers outage, check out MobileSyrup’s in-depth analysis here. Moreover, MobileSyrup detailed company plans revealed at an all-hands meeting Friday to separate wireless and wireline traffic to prevent future outages — you can read about that here.

Source: The Globe and Mail