The federal government has responded to a question from MP Charlie Angus on privacy and security breaches by revealing that there have been thousands of breaches over the past decade. The stunning response acknowledges over 3,000 breaches that have affected over a million Canadians.
News
Rogers: We Don’t Expect an Industry Canada Decision on Shaw Spectrum Until September 2014
Rogers Communications held its quarterly results call yesterday, leading to a question on its expectation with regard to an Industry Canada decision on its proposed acquisition of spectrum from Shaw. Industry Minister Christian Paradis has signalled his concern with the proposal. Perhaps hoping for a delay in the decision, Rogers […]
The Challenge of Enforcing the Do-Not-Call List Against Foreign Telemarketers
Last October, the CRTC announced that it was taking action against two India-based companies for violating Canada’s do-not-call list. The action against Pecon Software Limited was particularly noteworthy, as the Commission ordered a stop to the violations and payment of $495,000. Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer was quoted as saying that “foreign-based telemarketers have been put on notice that they must comply with our rules when calling Canadians.”
The tough talk was welcome, but months later, the CRTC has struggled to get Pecon Software to pay up. Liberal MP Lawrence MacAulay asked the government to provide an update on the action and Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore provided the following update to the House of Commons on Friday:
Debate Over Wireless Competition in Canada Continues in the House of Commons and on the Air
The debate over the state of wireless competition in Canada continues to rage. Last week, I appeared on CBC’s The Current, as part of a 30 minute segment devoted to the wireless industry. The issue was also discussed during Question Period at the House of Commons, with Industry Minister Christian Paradis focusing on competition and consumers:
We want to enhance competition and investment in this country, and this is why we adopted this policy back in 2008 for the AWS spectrum. Let me say that the price went down by an average of 11% since then, and we will continue this way with the 700 megahertz spectrum. We launched consultation with the industry to make sure that we enhance competition and provide better choice and better rates for our consumers.
Open Media: Why High Cell Phone Bills Have Nothing to do With Canadian Geography
OpenMedia has an interesting post that takes a close look at the claim that the large Canadian geography is responsible for high cell phone prices. The post notes that coverage actually focuses on as little as 20 percent of the country.
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