115.jpg OpenMedia.ca lauds Vancouver plan, stating that a strategy is crucial for a vibrant digital future April 16, 2013 – As Canadians wait with increasingly less patience for Industry Canada’s long-promised digital strategy, it appears that one city is taking matters into its own hands. From their mountainous British Columbia
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OpenMedia.ca: OpenMedia.ca talks to CBC’s The Current about our broken cell phone market
Check it out as Lindsey talks on CBC Radio: The Current about our broken cell phone market and some measures that must be taken in order to increase choice for Canadians. “When we’re looking at a situation where the wireless market becomes less affordable and less accessible, we’re looking at
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Progress In Canada’s High Internet Pricing — Indie ISPs lowering rates
Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians, it looks like independent ISPs like Teksavvy, Distributel, Acanac, and Start are finally gaining the ability to do what Canadians need them to do: provide independent affordable Internet services, and in so doing provide a check on Big Telecom price-gouging. For example,
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: USTR takes aim at Canadians’ Internet use as it pushes the TPP forward
The U.S. Trade Representative, which has been pushing forward the contentious Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, has just released a report that criticizes certain laws and policies of countries involved in the TPP – including Canada’s broadcast, telecom, privacy, and intellectual property (copyright) rules. read more
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Pressure from Canadians is starting to have an effect: Paradis signals discomfort with the Shaw-Rogers backroom deal
Today, on a call with reporters, Industry Minister Christian Paradis signalled that he may take a stand to ensure we don’t see even less choice in Canada’s already uncompetitive and dysfunctional cell phone market. Earlier this year Shaw announced that it would attempt to sell quality spectrum—a key resource for
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Canada’s cell phone market in trouble as independent providers prepare to be absorbed by the Big Three
231.jpg April 12, 2013 – Telus, one of Canada’s “Big Three” cell phone companies, is in talks to purchase Mobilicity, one of Canada’s few independent cell phone providers, in a move that OpenMedia.ca is saying will stifle choice in Canada’s already-broken wireless market. Mobilicity is one of only three carriers
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Price-Gouged Canadian Dad Turns Advocate, Creates Toolkit to Help Citizens Push Back Against Cell Phone Companies
CPHSReport_Share-Fist_130306.png After incurring $22K charge, BC’s Matt Buie is working to ensure others don’t live out his cell phone horror story March 22, 2013 – Matt Buie, a Financial Planner and father living in Burnaby, BC, was recently stunned by a $22,000 roaming charge on his cell phone account incurred
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Time for an Upgrade: Demanding Choice in Canada’s Cell Phone Market
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Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Study Finds Cell Phone Customer Mistreatment Rampant
CPHSReport_Cover-Square.png Crowdsourced report puts the lived realities of Canadian cell phone users on display March 7, 2013 – A study released today by non-profit organization OpenMedia.ca shows a majority of Canadian respondents report being forced into accepting poor—often disrespectful—service. The group identifies the lack of choice in the cell phone
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Telecom Giant Bell Re-Attempts Takeover of Astral Media Assets
openmedia_logo.jpg Bell refuses to listen to public opinion and continues to consolidate control over Canadian communications rather than compete March 6, 2013 – The CRTC has called a public hearing in response to Bell—Canada’s largest telecom and media conglomerate—once again attempting to take over Astral Media. The CRTC denied Bell’s
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Grassroots Group OpenMedia.ca Hopeful Pro-Privacy MP Borg’s Online Privacy Bill Will Lead to Important Safeguards
SOS_100xx100.png OpenMedia.ca says new NDP bill is a stepping stone in protecting Canadians’ online privacy rights February 27, 2013 – Grassroots pro-Internet organization OpenMedia.ca is hopeful that NDP MP Charmaine Borg’s private member’s bill will act as a stepping stone towards protecting Canadians’ online privacy from government authorities. OpenMedia.ca is
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: OpenMedia.ca pleased as CRTC take steps to ease Big Telecom’s grip on affordable Internet options
UBB_Meter_101101.png CRTC responds to Canadians after big telecom companies attempt a “backdoor price hike” using their control of digital infrastructure February 21, 2013 – The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) released a decision today that could bring more affordable choices to Canada’s Internet service market. The decision responds to
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Lindsey wraps up the CRTC hearing on rules to protect cell phone users
It’s the end of a week of CRTC hearings, where a draft code of conduct to protect cell phone users was broken down, debated, and negotiated. Up for discussion were contract length, automatic renewals, notifications of overages, caps on fees, device unlocking, and much much more. In case you missed
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Media Advisory: Historic Hearing on Cell Phone Service Closes with Big Telecom Digging in Heels; OpenMedia.ca Available for Comment
HorrorStory_100x100-1_121016.jpg Public interest group faced off against Big Three at week-long CRTC hearing WHO: Lindsey Pinto, Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca WHAT: Canadians are hopeful that a CRTC hearing this week will lead to the development of a Code of Conduct that ensures better deals for cell phones. Public interest and consumer
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Reporting back from the CRTC’s hearing on a wireless code of conduct: Days 1 and 2
On Monday the CRTC, Canada’s telecom authority, kicked off a week-long hearing that could change the future of cell phone service in Canada. Their plan is to develop a national Code of Conduct to protect cell phone users—a demographic that includes nearly 80 percent of Canadian households. Canadians have been
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Media Advisory: Government suggests controversial online spying Bill C-30 may be in the works; OpenMedia.ca available for comment
OM_bigbox_300x250.png WHAT: During an interview with CBC News Network host Evan Solomon, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson suggested that the government is working on a revised version to the controversial online spying legislation Bill C-30. When pressed on the online spying plan Nicholson said, “We’re looking at all aspects of that
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: You could be part of it
You have a chance to join tens of thousands of other Canadians in a critical moment in telecom history—but we have to act quickly! You may have noticed OpenMedia commenting in the news1 about how Canada’s largest mobile provider, Rogers, has found a way to obtain key public assets that
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Your voices shaped the digital policy platform of Liberal leadership candidate Joyce Murray
A few weeks ago I got an email from Liberal MP Joyce Murray’s office, asking the OpenMedia.ca Team to give input into the digital policy part of her platform, as she runs for party leadership. As part of our work making Canadian voices heard, we’re always more than happy to
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: OpenMedia.ca says “backroom deal” will stifle choice in Canadian cell phone market
Squeeze_DemandChoice_200x200_130122.jpg Rogers accused of taking over public assets intended for wireless startup companies January 28, 2013 – Grassroots group OpenMedia.ca is warning that a “backroom deal” between telecom conglomerates Shaw Communications Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. will lead to less choice—and higher prices—for Canadians’ mobile Internet and phone service. The
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Demand Choie
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