Stories by Austin Blake

Rogers is shutting down the Shaw WiFi hotspot network on July 21, ending public access to thousands of hotspots across Western Canada—and Freedom Mobile customers will feel the impact. A banner on the Shaw internet Wi-Fi website reads: "Rogers WiFi Hotspots will no longer be available starting July 21.” The shutdown affects Freedom Mobile users...

Rogers has finalized a $7 billion deal with Blackstone and several major Canadian pension funds, selling a non-controlling stake in a new subsidiary that owns part of its wireless network infrastructure. The move gives Blackstone and partners—including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, PSP Investments, BCI, and IMCO—an...

Spotify says it doesn’t need to be regulated like a radio station, arguing that music streaming is already working well for Canadian artists and listeners. In a presentation to the CRTC last week, Spotify said royalties paid to Canadian artists on its platform nearly doubled between 2019 and 2024, reaching $460 million in 2024 alone—more...

Paramount+ has officially renewed Mobland for a second season (and rightfully so as expected). The crime drama, which stars Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren, has pulled in over 26 million viewers since its premiere and ranked as the second most-watched original series on the platform (Landman is first). Season 1 debuted on March...

Tesla has officially launched its long-awaited Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, marking the company’s first real-world test of its fully autonomous ride-hailing network. The pilot program kicked off Thursday afternoon in a geofenced area of South Austin, with early testers now able to summon rides using the new Robotaxi mobile app. Customers currently pay a...

Corus Entertainment says Canada’s broadcasting system is broken—and blames Rogers for making things worse. Speaking at this week's hearings with the CRTC, Corus told regulators on Friday that Rogers’ growing dominance is threatening the future of independent Canadian TV channels. The company said it’s struggling to get fair treatment from distributors like Rogers, especially after...

Apple has held internal discussions about possibly buying Perplexity AI, a fast-growing artificial intelligence startup, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The move could help Apple improve its AI capabilities and reduce its reliance on Google’s search deal, which is currently under threat from U.S. antitrust regulators. According to Bloomberg, Apple’s head of...

Quebecor is warning the federal broadcast regulator that Canada’s media system is in serious trouble—and it’s calling out the CRTC for not acting fast enough to fix it. At 'The Path Forward – Working towards a sustainable Canadian broadcasting system' hearing on June 19 in Gatineau, Quebec (hearings started yesterday), Quebecor vice-president Peggy Tabet told...

Bell is pushing the federal government to step in after the CRTC refused to change its internet-sharing rules. On Friday, the CRTC upheld a decision from last year that lets big telecom companies, like Bell, Rogers, and Telus, sell internet plans using each other's fibre networks. The goal is to increase competition and give Canadians...

Two new cellphone towers could soon improve service in parts of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where calls often drop or signals are weak. Telus plans to install one tower near the Rutherford roundabout at Linley Valley Dr., and another at the City’s public works yard on Labieux Rd. City council approved both locations...

The Canadian Telecommunications Association (CTA)—the industry group representing the likes of Bell and Rogers—wants Canadians to believe that letting these telecom giants resell internet access on competitor networks will hurt investment, stall network upgrades, and slow down rural expansion. In a recent op-ed published in The Hill Times on June 11, association president Robert Ghiz (former...

The federal government is under fire for pushing ahead with a controversial tax on big tech companies—one that business groups say will hurt Canadians more than help them. In a blunt letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, some of Canada’s largest business associations—including the Retail Council of Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce—are calling...