April 20, 2017 by 1996-O Executive

BCE closes $3.1-billion MTS deal

BCE Inc. has closed its $3.1-billion deal to acquire Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. and says it will begin investing in networks and offering its Fibe-branded television and Internet services in the province.

The companies announced the friendly takeover last May but only received the final necessary federal approvals last month. BCE announced Friday it has completed the transaction as planned and will pick up a total of 710,000 wireless, TV and Internet customers.

Manitoba was one of the last provinces with a regional telephone company that offered competition in the wireless market to the Big Three national carriers: BCE, Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp.

Wireless prices in the province are lower than in many other parts of the country, and to win the blessing of the Competition Bureau and the federal Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, BCE agreed to transfer 24,700 of its wireless subscribers (plus cellular airwaves and retail stores) to rural Internet provider Xplornet Communications Inc., which plans to launch a new mobile business in the province.

U.S. internet service providers get green light to sell user data — but what about Canada?

ISPs here can only share your personal information with your express consent

Privacy protections designed to prevent U.S. internet service providers from sharing or selling subscribers’ personal information with third parties — without permission — were dismantled by U.S. Congress on Tuesday.

It means that information about the apps American internet subscribers use, the websites they visit, and the things they purchase online — among other things — can potentially be tracked, shared, and monetized by third parties, unless those users opt out.

You might be pleased to learn that Canada, which often follows the U.S. lead on technology issues, has taken a different approach. Here, internet service providers can only share your personal information with third parties with your express consent.

If Trump’s really for ‘the little guy,’ he won’t roll back online privacy protections, expert says

Tamir Israel, a staff lawyer at the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, says you have the privacy commissioner of Canada and the CRTC to thank.

Both organizations have released decisions in recent years that effectively limit the information internet service providers can collect and use for secondary purposes, such as marketing, without your consent………………

RPT, SPT Minutes of Settlement for availability of work

Minutes of Settlement

Whereas the Union has filed Grievance claiming the Company has developed an unreasonable and arbitrary rule concerning availability when not scheduled for work as an extension of its attendance policy, Including the requirement to carry phones and check for schedule changes when not scheduled to work;

Whereas the core of the grievance Is the fact that the Company has disciplined Regular Part Time employees (“RPT”) and Senior Part-Time employees (“SPT”) that did not show up to work on-non-guaranteed days of rest (“NGR”) pursuant to a scheduled day of rest (“DOR”);

Whereas the parties are desirous of settling this matter amicably, without any admission of liability or of wrongdoing;

THE PARTIES AGREE AS FOLLOWS: