Tag: shaw

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Mobile Syrup

Shaw launches new internet tier for businesses

Shaw has launched a new internet tier to provide businesses with access to 2Gbps.

The Fibre+ Gig 2.0 will give Western Canadian businesses of any size access to the speed and bandwidth needed to power applications and cloud services. Shaw says the service is ideal for companies functioning in multiple locations using various connected technology services simultaneously, such as Wi-Fi and point-of-sale systems.

“Businesses are more connected today than ever before, and with more technology powering their front and backend operations, they need access to fast and reliable internet services that can keep pace with their needs,” Katherine Emberly, Shaw’s business division president, said.

New business internet customers can access the unlimited data tier for $195 a month. New SmartWi-Fi customers will pay $205 a month. Both plans are available for a three-year term.

More information is available on business.shaw.ca

Source: Shaw

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Mobile Syrup

Québecor wins the Freedom Mobile jackpot

Montreal, QC, Canada – September 4, 2021: Quebecor headquarters in Montreal, QC, Canada. Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company.

Freedom Mobile has found a new home under the Québecor banner.

Rogers and Shaw struck a deal with the Montreal-based telecom giant for $2.85 billion in a bid to get their merger approved by regulatory bodies. The move cements the company as the fourth largest telecom provider in the country. Québecor’s subsidiary Vidéotron already serves the Quebec area.

“This is a turning point for the Canadian wireless market,” Pierre Karl Péladeau, Québecor’s president and CEO, said.

“[Vidéotron] is the strong fourth player who, coupled with Freedom’s solid footprint in Ontario and Western Canada, can deliver concrete benefits for all Canadians.”

Québecor is the only company Rogers and Shaw confirmed the sale of Freedom Mobile too. Numerous other buyers were on the table, including Xplornet and Globalive. Xplornet was the first company Rogers seemed to take an interest in, while Québecor appeared to be discluded from initial discussions.

The Rogers-Shaw takeover is valued at $26 billion and is under scrutiny from the Competition Bureau, which has raised concerns the merger will reduce wireless competition. Both telecom providers have asked the Competition Tribunal to dismiss the order blocking the merger. 

The sale of Freedom Mobile to Québecor is also subject to similar regulatory approval.

The Globe and Mail further reports the Freedom sale provides more benefits to Rogers than simply gaining regulatory approval. The telecom giant is poised to add 450,000 new wireless customers to its client base.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Rogers, Globe and Mail

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Mobile Syrup

Globalive takes its offer to buy Freedom Mobile to Shaw

Globalive has taken its offer to purchase Freedom Mobile to Shaw, The Globe and Mail reports.

The company, chaired by Wind Mobile founder Anthony Lacavera, presented a $3.75 billion offer to Shaw directly. Wind Mobile was sold to Shaw in 2016 and rebranded to Freedom Mobile.

According to The Globe and Mail, the offer is the same one Globalive made to Rogers in May and frustration from the process led Globalive to take the offer directly to Shaw.

Rogers is selling Freedom Mobile to appease competition concerns and gain approval for the $26 billion takeover of Shaw.

“We have made our offer for Freedom Mobile to Shaw directly because Rogers has continued to decline to engage with us despite the strength of our $3.75B offer,” Lacavera tweeted Friday.

“Why? Simply because Rogers does not want there to be more competition in wireless services.”

A Shaw spokesperson told The Globe and Mail it’s not in a position to look into the offer, as its deal with Rogers prohibits it.

Rogers has been in talks with various companies to buy Freedom, including Xplornet and Vidéotron.

Source: The Globe and Mail

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Mobile Syrup

CRTC chair says focus on meeting will Bell executive ‘misplaced’

Ian Scott said the attention his 2019 meeting with Bell executive Mirko Bibic recieved is “misplaced.”

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications (CRTC) chair made the comments as part of a keynote interview with National Post reporter Anja Karadeglija at the International Institute of Communications annual conference.

“It’s unfortunate that so much is attached to the title of the chair — I don’t make decisions for the Commission,” Cartt.ca quoted Scott as saying.

He said roughly 80 people advise on situations relating to telecommunications, “so the focus is a bit misplaced.”

The 2019 meeting took place after the CRTC announced internet rates were too high and telecom companies had to lower them. The CRTC reversed the decision on May 27th, 2021, after the leading telecom companies filed appeals.

Scott chalked the change up to a mistake. “Now, why did we reverse course? To put it simply, we got the initial decision wrong,” Scott told the parliamentary committee of industry and technology in February. “We couldn’t move ahead with rates that we knew were erroneous.”

The Ethics Commissioner will investigate several allegations internet service provider TekSavvy filed, including meeting with litigants from Bell, Rogers, and Shaw with a file on wholesale internet rates was open. The infamous meeting with Bibic is also included.

Source: Cartt.ca

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Mobile Syrup

Canada’s Competition bureau plans to oppose Rogers’ $26-billion takeover of Shaw

Canada’s Commissioner of Competition is reportedly planning to oppose the $26-billion takeover of Shaw by Rogers at the Competition Tribunal. The two telecom companies have come together to make a joint statement on the matter.

The application from the Commissioner of Competition, Matthew Boswell. The two companies are planning to oppose it, following notification of Boswell’s intention to file the application late this week. The application seeks to block the proposed merger of Rogers and Shaw, homogenizing two of Canada’s largest cable networking companies.

Rogers and Shaw, along with the Shaw family trust, agree to extend the merger deadline. The deadline is now set for July 31st rather than June 13th.

Rogers and Shaw remain committed to the transaction, which is in the best interests of Canada and Canadians because of the significant long-term benefits it will bring for consumers, businesses and the economy,” the joint statement reads. “The companies have offered to address concerns regarding the possible impact of the transaction on Canada’s competitive wireless market by proposing the full divesture of Shaw’s wireless business, Freedom Mobile.”

Freedom has roughly two million wireless customers across Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. It is credited with driving down cellphone bills throughout previous years. A number of firms and entities have also expressed interest in the acquisition. This includes Globalive Capital’s Anthony Lacavera, who offered Rogers $3.75-billion for Freedom. Lacavera is also said to have called the sales process a “non-competitive sham.”

In March, Boswell is said to have received a letter from Lacavera, accusing Rogers of running a “closed and secretive sales process.”

As part of a press release from Rogers and Shaw, the two detail benefits of the $26 billion deal. A $2.5 billion investment is being made to build 5G networking in Western Canada until 2027. $1 billion is also being invested in the networking of rural and Indigenous communities.

Image credit:

Source: The Globe and Mail

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Mobile Syrup

Large telecom companies want the CRTC to find another way to pay for next-generation 9-1-1

Telecom companies associated with the roll-out of next-generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) services are asking the commission not to use money dedicated to other telecommunications services as a funding source, according to reporting from Cartt.ca.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has been working to figure out how to fund NG9-1-1 for some time, which comes with a $55 million price tag.

As the publication reports, telecom companies will pass the cost of the service to customers. But the cost larger telecom companies will be passing on is a lot less than the smaller companies.

The CRTC wants to use the National Contribution Fund (NCF) to alleviate cost concerns and asked companies to provide feedback. The money in the fund comes from service providers and partially pays for video relay services for customers with speech and hearing impediments.

Large telcos

In a submission, Telus said the CRTC should not access the funding through the NCF. In a second submission, the company said the commission should reclassify smaller operators as originating network providers (ONPs). Doing so will eliminate the current problem as they won’t have the tasks, and costs, associated with being an NG9-1-1 service provider.

SaskTel also advised against the CRTC dipping into the NCF as doing so could lead to problems given the lack of guidelines and oversight. However, the company said if the CRTC uses the NCF, the money should specifically be used to address “the large costs of subscribers experienced by very small providers.”

Bell proposed an option to have the NCF cover some costs of the service managed by the smaller players, and the rest come from customers.

Shaw and Rogers both stated the NCF shouldn’t be used to fund the process as it could complicate the situation. Québecor also voiced against the funding option.

The smaller players

As Cartt.ca reports, the Public Interest Advocacy Center (PIAC) said the NG9-1-1 networks should receive full funding from the NCF.

Partially funding the program would be “complicating the overall funding process but could also lead to significant cost disparities with respect to the remaining costs in different regions, resulting in end-users residing in remote and/or rural regions paying much more for the same service.”

Via: Cartt.ca

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Mobile Syrup

Telus offered Canadians the fastest mobile speeds this past quarter: report

Telus continues its mobile lead in Canada by being ranked the fastest mobile operator during the year’s first quarter.

Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence reported the provider offered download speeds of 94.48Mbps. The Vancouver-based phone provider has ranked first in every quarter of Ookla’s Speedtest since Q3 2020.

Bell offered the second fastest mobile download speeds with 86.06Mbps, and Rogers was third with 71.70Mbps. This is the same order of scores the big three reported in Ookla’s last quarterly mobile report.

Fido offered speeds of 66.85Mbps, Vidéotron 58.82Mbps, and Freedom Mobile 43.83Mbps.

Despite Freedom Mobile offering the slowest speeds among the top six, it topped the list for providing the lowest latency at 18ms. The brand has been offering the lowest latency since Q4 2020. This is the first time Freedom has lowered the latency since Q2 2021.

 

Vidéotron offered the highest consistency score at 92.2 percent. The score measures the consistent quality of service with at least 5Mbps download speeds and 1Mbps minimum upload speed.

Telus also ranked first on 5G performance with a median download speed of 162.47Mbps. This is the first time Telus has reported the highest score in this category. Since Ookla started tracking it in Q2 2021, it was a title Bell consistently held.

On specific devices, the Galaxy S22 Ultra was rated as the fastest phone this quarter, beating out the iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13, and iPhone 13 Pro.

Fixed service

Like Telus, Shaw continued to hold onto its position as providing the fastest fixed broadband services this quarter with download speeds of 213.47 Mbps. The company has held the position since Q1 2021.

Bell offered the lowest latency at 5ms, and Rogers had the best consistency score with 89.8 percent.

Rogers ranked as the fastest provider for fixed services in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario. Shaw was the quickest provider in B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Bell was the fastest provider in Nova Scotia and Quebec.

Source: Speedtest

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Mobile Syrup

Shaw releases second quarter results

In what’s likely one of its last quarterly reports as an independent operator, Shaw Communications reports a mix of decreases in its second quarterly report of the year.

Shaw added 16,900 new wireless customers to its network, but post-paid net additions decreased.

The company attributes this to a number of factors, including increased competition during the holiday season, limited supplies, and adjustments to its plans.

Q2 2022 covers the quarter that ended on February 28th.

More to come.

Source: Shaw Communications 

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Mobile Syrup

Shaw pledges to plant real trees for every virtually planted one this month

Calgary-based telecom Shaw is once again running an initiative that calls on gamers to plant virtual trees for Earth Month.

As was the case last year, throughout the month of April, gamers are encouraged to plant a tree in any game and share a screenshot of their work on social media using the hashtag #ShawTreeSweep.

Shaw pledges to then match each virtual tree with a real one, with an ultimate goal of 20,000 planted trees. The company says more than 9,000 real trees were planted during last year’s campaign.

To help promote the cause, Shaw has also partnered with streamers MDee14, TY_digital and Kate, who will be planting trees in Animal Crossing, Minecraft and Stardew Valley.

Earth Day falls on April 22nd — more information on related environmental efforts in Canada can be found here.

Image credit: Nintendo

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Mobile Syrup

Eligible low-income families and seniors can soon access internet for $20/month

Internet connection with IP routing background

The Government of Canada is partnering with 14 internet service providers (ISPs) to bring $20 a month internet to low-income families and seniors.

The partnership is through the government’s Connecting Families initiative. According to the government’s website, ISPs participate in the program “voluntarily and without and without government subsidy.”

Access Communications, Bell, CCAP, Cogeco, Hay Communications, Mornington, Novus, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw, Tbaytel, Telus, Vidéotron, and Westman Communications are participating in the program.

“Many low-income Canadians are still facing barriers that prevent their full participation in the economy,” François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said.

“By working closely with internet service providers across the country, we are increasing accessibility and providing all Canadians with affordable and reliable internet.”

This announcement is the second phase of the Connecting Families initiative.

Families receiving the Canada Child Benefit and Guaranteed Income Supplement are eligible for the program. The program includes 50Mbps download speeds and 200GB of data usage each month. If 50Mbps is not available, it will consist of the fastest download speed in the region.

The first version of the plan, Connecting Families 1.0, which offered a $10 internet plan, is still available.

Eligible families should keep an eye on their mailboxes. They’ll receive a letter from the government with an access code needed to sign up for the program.

The offering is part of the government’s plan to ensure 98 percent of Canadians have high-speed internet access by 2026. The government has also made significant investments in the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) to achieve this goal. A map of all UBF funded projects can be viewed here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada