The IT Nerd

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. today announced an agreement with Ciena to utilize its best-in-class optical solutions as the ISP completes its long-haul transport network between Toronto and Windsor.  TekSavvy’s 600km fibre ring includes 18 new and established points of presence in major markets throughout Southwestern Ontario. 

This agreement will support TekSavvy’s ongoing investments in its LTE and FTTH facilities, as well as its deployment of disaggregated wholesale services across the region. The announcement forms part of TekSavvy’s ambitious 5-year investment plan aimed at improving access to, and competitive choice for, high-speed broadband services. With earmarked capital investment totaling over $250 million, including over $100 million for network infrastructure, TekSavvy intends to connect over 60,000 residences and businesses and to bring competitive choice for fibre internet service to communities in the region. TekSavvy will deploy Ciena’s optical solutions during the first 6 months of 2021. 

TekSavvy is deploying Ciena’s coherent optical flexible grid solution. The solution uses the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform powered by WaveLogic coherent optics that can scale to 400G and beyond.  This will enable TekSavvy’s network to scale for high bandwidth applications using minimal hardware, driving improved network economics.

Ciena’s Manage, Control and Plan domain controller will provide end-to-end lifecycle operations that will unify network and service management and online network planning through software-defined control.  

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. today announces the broad availability of their MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) network service. By deploying enterprise-grade appliances at the edges of an enterprise network MPLS directs data packets along a pre-determined predictable path increasing network efficiency, reliability and reducing latency.

Routing branch office or retail location traffic along a predictable path can be vitally important for time-sensitive applications like VOIP, video conferencing and e-commerce. Unlike the sometimes-circuitous journey that a package of goods may take, MPLS packets flow to their destination with certainty. TekSavvy MPLS provides a more secure transport medium than the Internet, with privacy as a hallmark quality of its design.

Customer MPLS networks and hardware are continuously managed and maintained by TekSavvy’s 24/7 Technical Assistance Centre. Networks can easily be configured and scaled by the TekSavvy team, regardless of the type of traffic that they carry. TekSavvy experts assist partners to prioritize network traffic to ensure the best performance of business-critical applications and time-sensitive data.

TekSavvy’s MPLS service effectively separates corporate data traffic from the public internet and from many of the threats that live there. With a private network built specifically for them, each partner’s enterprise data is more secure and better insulated from incursions. 

TekSavvy continues to produce efficient and configurable solutions for businesses so that customers can focus on what makes their business unique. 

Nearly 18 months ago the CRTC decided that Internet prices for millions of Canadian’s should be more affordable. Canada’s Big Telcos have used every tactic at their disposal to block that decision and keep prices high. Over 150,000 Canadians spoke up via a campaign started by Teksavvy to tell the government that Canadians deserve better. The fight for competitive choice is not over and the CRTC is reviewing their decision and deciding the future of internet prices NOW.

Teksavvy is asking Canadians to go to this page to be sure their voice is heard. That way it sends a message to the government and CRTC to uphold their decision.

TekSavvy has announced the broad availability of their Managed Wi-Fi and Managed Security services. Combining robust security appliances and the 24/7 monitoring capabilities of their Technical Assistance Centre (TAC), TekSavvy takes the headache out of deploying crucial Internet connectivity and security solutions.

Managed Wi-Fi provides safe, secure Wi-Fi access that can be deployed across a campus, an office, a café, or a Bed and Breakfast. TekSavvy technicians install business grade hardware to suit the client and the environment. Wi-Fi networks are continuously monitored, while security updates are safely managed by TekSavvy’s 24/7 Technical Assistance Centre. Internet access can be controlled based on site, protocol, or content category. Stakeholders can rest easy knowing the TAC team will be alerted to online threats or system issues whenever they may occur.

TekSavvy Managed Security protects networks at their edge, continuously scanning for vulnerabilities and intrusion attempts. Real-time traffic analysis detects malware and other threats notifying TekSavvy’s TAC technicians to triage and remediate vulnerabilities. Virtual Private Networking (VPN) connecting employees to the office, or branches to each other, secures and protects data from attacks outside your business. Integrated identity-based filtering provides the flexibility to manage access for those that need it and limit access where required. 

TekSavvy provides the technology behind Managed Security and Managed Wi-Fi to enable our partners to focus on their company and their customers.

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has announced the broad availability of their Business Remote Worker solutions. Combining robust security appliances, software clients and the 24/7 monitoring capabilities of their Technical Assistance Centre (TAC), TekSavvy takes the headache out of deploying more secure Internet connectivity with distributed and remote workforces.

Home offices, mobile offices and branch offices are all points where enhanced data security is a high priority. Utilizing a mix of Virtual Private Network (VPN) soft clients and on-premises gated-access end-point connections, our solutions are customizable and scalable to fit a wide variety of company needs and budgets. Drop-in, preconfigured, enterprise grade appliances can provide secure endpoint protection and access control. Connect to corporate WAN or Cloud applications with peace of mind wherever internet access is available.

Remote Worker Solutions from TekSavvy have been built to enable their partners to focus on their customers and protecting investments in their business. 

TekSavvy Solutions Inc. today voiced its dismay and disappointment in a recent decision by the federal Cabinet concerning the wholesale rates charged by large carriers (such as Bell Canada and Rogers) to smaller ISPs, such as TekSavvy. 

In a statement, the federal Cabinet effectively directed the CRTC to increase wholesale rates— above the rates independently set by the CRTC in 2019, after a lengthy proceeding. The CRTC’s 2019 rate decision confirmed that the large carriers overstated their costs of providing wholesale access to their networks, corrected their rates based on evidence of their costs and ordered the large carriers to repay amounts they overcharged ISPs over the 3 year process. The CRTC previously condemned the large carriers’ rate-fixing conduct as “very disturbing” because it would drive smaller ISPs out of business and deny Canadians choice for internet services.  

However, the large carriers petitioned Cabinet to overturn the CRTC’s decision and impose higher rates. Over 150,000 Canadians voiced their support for the CRTC’s decision and urged Cabinet to support lower Internet and cell phone bills. In addition, TekSavvy filed a formal Complaint with the Competition Bureau, detailing how large carriers deviated from CRTC-costing rules to grossly inflate wholesale rates for competitors, while at the same time offering retail prices below the wholesale costs they had inflated. TekSavvy submitted that Cabinet should order an investigation into this anti-competitive conduct because it inflates retail prices for Internet services, costing millions of Canadian consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Ultimately, in announcing Cabinet’s verdict on the petitions, Cabinet caved to pressure from the large carriers, who threatened to hold back investments in rural Canada unless they were protected from competition. The decision is a reversal from Cabinet’s previous direction that the CRTC place affordability, competition and consumer interests at the forefront of its regulatory proceedings. 

Having gone five years without cost certainty, paying inflated interim rates and facing brazen anticompetitive conduct in a climate of extreme regulatory uncertainty, TekSavvy is left with no choice but to interpret this announcement as an expectation from the government that retail prices should be raised.

TekSavvy Solutions Inc., is requesting the CRTC take immediate action to ensure the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who use independent Internet service providers (ISPs) continue to be able to access these services during the COVID-19 crisis.

Never have so many Canadians relied on their internet service as they find themselves working and studying from home during this unprecedented situation. Under the current wholesale rate structure, independent ISPs are forced to pay inflated fees to the big Canadian telecoms. On Thursday, April 9, Calgary-Nose Hill MP and shadow Minister for Industry and Economic Development, the Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, called on the government to act (Rempel Garner Announcement) to safeguard competitive internet access for Canadians. Her statement calls for urgent action to address the precarious conditions that put the independent ISPs at risk at a time when Canadians most need these services.

Further, TekSavvy has asked the CRTC to investigate unilateral changes that the big Canadian carriers are making to regulated processes for ordering, service installations and repairs. Without oversight by the CRTC, the big incumbent carriers may bestow undue commercial advantages to their retail services through the uneven application of stricter COVID-19 procedures.

TekSavvy has always supported fair prices for Canadians. Now, as Canadians live through these extraordinary times, TekSavvy is asking the government and the CRTC to ensure that fairness and stability are maintained through this health crisis. To do this, the government and the CRTC must enact emergency provisions to put in place the final rates from the CRTC’s August 2019 decision on an urgent basis while ongoing appeals processes play out, ensuring independent ISP’s continue to deliver service to Canadians from coast to coast.

TekSavvy has put out a statement regarding billing for overages on capped packages. Marc Gaudrault, TekSavvy’s CEO had this to say:

As Canadians will work from home and families stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, TekSavvy is suspending billing for overages for current TekSavvy customers on capped packages, effective immediately until April 5, 2020. This change has been automatically implemented and customers are not required to take any action. We hope that this will help TekSavvy customers during this public health situation.

TekSavvy and its affiliate cable company Hastings Cable Vision Limited, announced the launch of its IPTV service, TekSavvy TV, in selected regions throughout the province of Quebec today. TekSavvy TV will offer customers Cloud PVR service, access to selected programming GO apps, video on demand, and over 150 HD channels of sports, movies, series, and kids programming including video-on-demand content from select television channels.
Eligible TekSavvy customers in Quebec who wish to order can sign up through the MyAccount portal at myaccount.teksavvy.com. TekSavvy TV is currently available as an app on select Apple TV, Android TV, and Amazon Fire TV devices. Customers can start with TekSavvy TV Basic at $20.00 per month and then choose additional theme packages and/or select channels for an incremental monthly fee gaining them access to more live sports, premium series, and blockbuster movies. TekSavvy TV requires a TekSavvy residential Internet subscription with a minimum download speed of 15 Mbps.

TekSavvy today announced the launch of its cable internet services in select regions of New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

This expansion of services into New Brunswick and Newfoundland includes the communities of Fredericton, Moncton, Corner Brook, Gander St. John’s NF, Saint John NB and many others. Consumers can go to www.teksavvy.com, enter their address and see what internet packages they can order.

With the launch of cable internet service, TekSavvy allows consumers to connect to higher download speeds at fair prices without long-term commitments. TekSavvy cable internet service starts at $53.95 per month with speeds of 75 Mbps and 150 Mbps with unlimited monthly usage.

New Brunswick availability: Bathurst, Campbellton, Chamcook, Edmundston, Fredericton, Miramichi, Moncton, Pokemouche, Saint John and Woodstock.

Newfoundland availability: Corner Brook, Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor, Notre Dame and St. John’s.

To learn more about TekSavvy and to see what internet packages consumers qualify for, please visit www.teksavvy.com.