Government of Ontario introduces wireless “Bill Shock” legislation
The McGuinty Liberal government today announced that they would support legislation that would force wireless providers in the province to provide their customers a more straight forward experience when it comes to their wireless bills. The legislation essentially would force wireless contracts to be written in what is deemed as plain language, and would regulate [...]
TELUS Launches Handset Trade-in Program
If you’re like most Canadians, chances are you have a couple of old cell phones lying around the house. In fact, TELUS surveyed over 1000 Canadians in February and found that 61 percent have between 1-5 old cell phones collecting dust and unsurprisingly, the same amount would gladly trade them in if they “got something” [...]
TELUS Set to Launch LTE Service on Feb. 10th
Canadian consumers and business owners will have another LTE network choice on February 10th. TELUS plans to launch Canada’s third LTE network from Vancouver to Halifax. Other metropolitan areas receiving the new LTE service include Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, Belleville, Ottawa, Montreal, Québec City, and Yellowknife. TELUS says it will continue to [...]
Latest numbers show Canada has over 25.5 million wireless customers
The number of wireless telephone subscribers in Canada topped 25.5 million at the end of September 2011 according to numbers compiled by industry trade group, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA).
That number was up 6.2% from 24 million at the end of September 2010 and up just under 4% year to date.
Galaxy Nexus coming to most Canadian wireless companies this month
Last month if you wanted the new Galaxy Nexus smartphone, the first Android device to come with Ice Cream sandwich (ICS) natively installed, you had to buy it from Bell Mobility or Virgin Mobility.
The good news is that by the end of this month, the unlocked device should also be available from most other wireless providers in Canada including Fido, Rogers wireless, Telus, Videotron and Wind Mobile.
Complaints against Canadian wireless companies continue to climb
In its annual report released last week, Canada’s Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) is reporting an increase in telecom consumer complaints for the fourth straight year.
The commission handles a wide range of complaints about products and services offered in the telecommunications sector including: home telephone, wired and wireless internet access services, long distance telephone services wireless services, directory and operator services.
Loblaw to open 200 Mobile phone shops by end of 2012
Loblaw, Canada’s largest supermarket chain, has announced plans to to open more than 200 full-service Mobile shops within its stores by the end of 2012. The Mobile Shop is a part of PC Telecom, a division of Loblaws Inc.
The company says it has already opened shops at select Loblaw stores in Ontario and is quickly expanding into British Columbia, Alberta and Atlantic Canada. Loblaw says it expects to have nearly 100 locations up and running by the end of 2011.
Rogers starts public lobbying campaign for next year’s wireless auction
Calling federal government regulations misguided, Rogers Communications has launched a public lobbying effort advocating for what it calls a “fair and open auction” of the 700Mhz radio spectrum band Ottawa has slated for sale next year.
Rogers who, combined with Bell and Telus Mobility, has almost 94% of the wireless market, want its more than nine million mobile customers to lobby the government in order to stop the government from “setting aside” spectrum in next year’s wireless auction.
