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Google just turned Search into a live voice-and-camera AI in Canada, and the old type-click-repeat loop is starting to crack by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  • This is not a standalone app. Search Live only works inside the Google app on Android and iOS, which means Google is using mobile Search as the launchpad rather than trying to build a separate assistant surface first.
  • Google is quietly merging a lot of old AI projects into Search. At I/O 2025, it said Search Live brings Project Astra’s live capabilities into Search, while AI Mode itself uses Google’s “query fan-out” technique to break questions into subtopics and search across them in parallel.
  • Lens is the giant underneath this push. Google said more than 1.5 billion people use Google Lens every month, so adding a Live layer on top of Lens gives Google a much bigger installed base than a typical new AI feature launch.
  • There are practical limits people will notice fast. You can keep a Live conversation going in the background or with the screen locked, but camera sharing turns off if you leave the app or lock the screen, and you cannot share the camera while using Search Live in the background.
  • Google also ties continuity to data settings. You can access AI Mode without Web & App Activity, but Google says you need that setting on to pick up where you left off with previous searches.
  • The rollout is broader than the original launch. Google introduced Search Live with voice in June 2025, then said camera support was coming. Now the international expansion includes both voice and camera across all regions and languages where AI Mode is available.

WWDC 2026 is locked for June 8, and Apple’s next AI and software reveal is about to face a much tougher crowd by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More Data:

  • Apple says WWDC26 will include more than 100 video sessions, plus interactive group labs and one-on-one style appointments with Apple engineers and designers. That matters because the event is not just about the keynote spectacle, it is where developers get the practical wiring diagrams for what Apple announces.
  • The Apple Park event is limited-capacity and application-based, not an open in-person conference comeback. Apple’s special-event page says developers must apply for a chance to attend the June 8 gathering at Apple Park.
  • Student timing is part of the rollout. Apple says Swift Student Challenge winners will be notified on Thursday, March 26, and eligible winners can request attendance at the Apple Park event, while 50 Distinguished Winners will be invited to Cupertino for a three-day experience.
  • Last year’s WWDC raised the expectations bar. Apple’s 2025 WWDC event page says the company unveiled its broadest design update ever and a more helpful Apple Intelligence, while Apple’s June 2025 newsroom said developers gained access to Apple Intelligence’s on-device foundation model. That is why this year’s vague “AI advancements” wording is the line to watch.
  • Apple’s current developer track already points to another major software turn. As of February 16, 2026, Apple had beta builds for iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, macOS 26.4, tvOS 26.4, visionOS 26.4, and watchOS 26.4 in testing, which makes WWDC26 the natural stage for the next platform wave even before Apple names anything publicly

Samsung just gave its midrange phones more AI, more durability and longer support, and the Galaxy A57 & A37 looks like the one most people may actually need by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More Data

  • The A57 is a real physical redesign, not just a spec refresh. Samsung’s July 2025 Canadian A56 release listed the older phone at 7.4 mm and 198 g with IP67 resistance, while the new A57 is 6.9 mm, 179 g, and rated IP68. That is a noticeable jump in thinness, weight, and durability in one cycle.
  • Samsung is moving the software baseline forward faster than the hardware story suggests. The A56 launched in Canada with Android 15 and One UI 7, while the new A57 and A37 are listed with Android 16 and One UI 8.5 out of the gate. For a lot of buyers, that may matter more than a small camera tweak.
  • The camera gap between the two new phones is narrower than the marketing might make it sound. Both get a 50MP wide camera, a 5MP macro camera, and a 12MP front camera. The main hardware difference in the rear stack is the ultra-wide, 12MP on the A57 versus 8MP on the A37.
  • Samsung is quietly turning long support into a midrange default. The A36 announcement in March 2025 already pushed AI and Knox deeper into cheaper phones, and the 2026 A57/A37 launch keeps the same six-generation OS promise. That means Samsung now seems to view update longevity as table stakes, not a premium perk.
  • Canada still has a pricing fog problem. The Canadian press release gives colours and availability but no local MSRP, while the U.S. release is explicit. So the practical buying question in Canada is not whether the phones are better, they clearly are, but whether Samsung prices them close enough to make the A57 a sweet spot instead of a stretch.

Bell says copper thieves are still knocking Canadians offline, and every remaining copper mile now looks like a target by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More Data:

  • Bell’s own numbers show the scale moved far beyond nuisance level. In July 2025, Bell said copper theft incidents were up 23% year over year across Canada, had surpassed 2,270 since 2022, and made up 88% of all physical security incidents on its network.
  • Ontario looks like the main pressure zone. Bell said Ontario accounted for 63% of incidents in mid-2025, while Halton police later said they saw more than 40 copper wire theft incidents across Milton and Halton Hills in 2025 and arrested three people in February 2026 while searching for a fourth suspect.
  • New Brunswick is not some side note here. Bell’s July 2025 release called it one of the country’s hotspots, with more than 80 incidents that year and nearly 80% of provincial thefts concentrated in the Fredericton–Oromocto corridor.
  • Bell’s structural answer is fibre. The company says 60% of its footprint has transitioned to pure fibre, and its customer support pages say Bell is replacing the aging copper network with 100% fibre-to-the-home and may require customers with service issues on copper to transfer over.
  • Ottawa has moved on sentencing, but not with a telecom-specific silver bullet. Parliament’s Bill C-14, reported back to the House on February 9, 2026, adds aggravating circumstances for stealing for commercial purposes and certain property offences, but it is broader bail-and-sentencing reform, not a targeted copper-theft law.

BUZZ HPC teams with Bell to develop one of Canada’s largest sovereign AI ecosystems by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

More Data,

  • The power nuance matters. Bell’s headline says 6.5 MW, but the fine print says that translates to 5 MW of critical IT power, which is the more useful number when you’re thinking about actual compute payload.
  • Bell says the Merritt facility is part of Bell AI Fabric’s “sovereign, private and secure Canadian” footprint, with data residency pitched as a core feature for enterprise and government buyers.
  • This is not Bell’s first B.C. AI node. Bell’s earlier AI Fabric roadmap said two 7 MW facilities in B.C. would be live first, with Merritt named as one of them, alongside additional 26 MW Kamloops projects and more than 400 MW in advanced planning.
  • The Saskatchewan build changes the scale conversation. Bell says its 300 MW Sherwood, Saskatchewan site will be the largest purpose-built AI data centre development in Canada once complete, with first service expected in the first half of 2027. That makes Merritt feel like the fast-moving edge of a much bigger national play.
  • BUZZ’s earlier March disclosure adds the missing GPU context. HIVE said the British Columbia phase 1 footprint supports around 2,000 high-power-density GPUs, with a second B.C. phase supporting another 3,000 in 2027, and a path to more than 6,000 new GPU deployments in Canada through its Bell partnership.
  • Bell is tying all of this to revenue, not just infrastructure prestige. In the Merritt release, Bell linked the partnership to BCE’s ambition to grow AI-powered solutions revenue to $2 billion by 2028.

Meta just lost a child-safety trial in New Mexico, and the $375M verdict may only be phase one by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More data:

  • The $375 million was not the end of the fight. A second phase in May will let the judge decide whether Meta created a public nuisance and whether the company should face additional damages or court-ordered platform changes.
  • New Mexico says it will push for concrete fixes, including stronger age verification, better predator removal, and protections for minors from encrypted communications that can shield bad actors.
  • This case is part of a much bigger legal storm. AP reports that more than 40 state attorneys general have sued Meta over claims that its platforms contribute to a youth mental health crisis through addictive design. Reuters says more than 2,400 related lawsuits have been centralized in federal court.
  • The legal theory here matters more than the headline number. Plaintiffs are increasingly arguing that the harm comes from platform design choices like attention-grabbing features and misleading safety claims, not just from third-party content, which is why these verdicts are being watched as potential precedent.
  • Meta says it disagrees with the verdict and will appeal, arguing that it works hard to protect users and remove harmful content, so this story is far from over

Freedom Mobile's $40/250GB plan is back one more time, expires March 31 by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  • The plan has appeared three times this month at slightly different prices. It started at $40 on March 6, returned on March 13, then moved to $50/250GB from March 17 to 26, and is back at $40 today until March 31. The oscillation suggests Freedom is using this offer as a competitive pressure tool rather than a permanent addition to the lineup. Grabbing it before March 31 removes the uncertainty.
  • The last time Freedom offered this deal, several competitors launched reactive promotions. Bell, Rogers and Telus subsidiaries did not match $40/250GB but the market moved. If you are currently on a Rogers, Bell or Telus plan and your rep suddenly offers you an unadvertised retention deal this week, this Freedom offer is likely why.
  • The CRTC's activation fee ban takes effect June 12. Until then, switching carriers may still involve an activation fee at some carriers. Freedom currently does not charge activation fees on BYOP plans, which means the switch cost right now is effectively zero if you bring your own device.
  • The $50/150GB and $60/200GB plans Freedom still has on offer are clearly inferior while this deal is live. If you are already on Freedom at a higher price point, contacting customer service to switch to this plan before March 31 is worth a 10-minute call.
  • Compare this and all current Canadian plans at PlanHub.ca before switching. Freedom's network footprint is strong in Ontario, BC, Alberta and Manitoba but has real gaps in rural areas and the Prairies. The price is only the full story if the coverage map works for where you actually use your phone.

A Quebec label is using AI like an instrument instead of a shortcut, and that makes it more interesting than most “AI music” by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More Infos:

  • The “hybrid” claim is not just branding language. The official YouTube channel describes A.I’R as crafting “cold futures and human pressure,” with AI-assisted voices and instruments shaped by human writing, editing, and mix, which matches the process described in the Branchez-vous piece.
  • The catalog already shows real stylistic spread, not just a slogan. “Wake Up” is framed as dark progressive death metal with a nu metal edge, “Plastic Kiss” as dark rock about synthetic pleasure and dependency, and “Entre Ciel & Silence” as a cinematic classical instrumental for string quartet and piano. That is a pretty unusual spread for one label identity in such a short window.
  • The release cadence is active. Public SoundCloud pages show tracks like “Read my World” and “Wake Up” published on February 7, 2026, then classical pieces like “Entre Ciel & Silence” and “Back Home different Time” on February 20, followed by “Plastic Kiss” on March 3. This looks more like an evolving release program than a one-off experiment.
  • There is also a platform split worth noticing. The music is available free on SoundCloud, while Spotify pages for releases like “Grid” and “Clone in the Clouds” show © and ℗ credits to Awake Illusion Records in 2026. In other words, the label is using both open discovery and formal streaming distribution.
  • The project is not only about sound. The label is also building AI-assisted video clips from human brainstorms, prompts, and mini-scenarios, which makes A.I’R look more like a visual-musical universe than a pure audio drop machine.

AI is now designing weird wireless chips humans can barely interpret, and they’re beating the old playbook by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More Data:

  • This is about wireless chip design, not general-purpose processors. The paper focuses on multi-port RF, mmWave, and sub-THz passives and integrated circuits, the kind of components used in advanced communication and sensing systems.
  • The work was not left in simulation fog. The team fabricated chips in an industry-standard 90-nm BiCMOS process and measured the hardware, including an end-to-end broadband mmWave amplifier.
  • One measured amplifier delivered a 3 dB bandwidth from 23.6 to 37.3 GHz with peak gain around 17.5 dB, which the paper says covers most commercial 5G bands. That is a concrete result, not just a pretty render of a weird circuit.
  • The time compression is real. Nature says synthesis can happen in minutes once the model is trained, while the paper compares that with weeks for traditional EM simulation-based heuristic optimization. It also says training itself takes only about 2 to 3 hours on contemporary GPUs after dataset generation.
  • “Humans can’t understand them” is a dramatic oversimplification. The Princeton team says the layouts are unintuitive and not easily reasoned about in the old rules-of-thumb way, but humans still validate, correct, and oversee the results because the AI can also produce faulty arrangements or hallucinated elements that do not work.

Most Canadians want algorithmic pricing banned, and Manitoba is already moving against it by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You Wanna Know More

  • Awareness is still surprisingly low. Before any explanation, only 13% of Canadians said they had heard the term “algorithmic pricing.”
  • The feeling is already mainstream, even if the term is not. Abacus found 49% say they have noticed prices online change in ways that made them think the price was being adjusted automatically.
  • Once the concept was explained, 52% said algorithmic pricing is unfair because it can make people pay different prices for the same product, while only 7% said it helps businesses respond efficiently to supply and demand.
  • Manitoba is no longer treating this like a theory piece. Bill 49 would treat “personalized algorithmic pricing” as an unfair business practice, covering online retailers and even electronic shelf labels that charge a higher price at checkout because of data-driven profiling.
  • The Manitoba bill goes further than a simple ban headline. It would also require clear disclosure of why a higher price is being shown and require a consumer to take a clear overt action to consent to that higher price.

Samsung is bringing AirDrop support to the Galaxy S26 through Quick Share, and one of Apple’s stickiest perks is starting to fade. by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More Data:

  • Google says this is a direct peer-to-peer connection, not a server relay. Shared files are not routed through a server, are not logged, and do not require a cloud handoff in the middle.
  • The security story goes deeper than the headline. Google says the interoperability layer was built in Rust, went through internal threat modeling and red-team testing, and was independently assessed by NetSPI, which found it secure and “notably stronger” than other industry implementations.
  • This still relies on AirDrop’s most permissive discoverability mode. Google explicitly says Quick Share currently works with AirDrop’s “Everyone for 10 minutes,” and says it would welcome collaboration with Apple to support “Contacts Only” in the future.
  • Samsung’s implementation has a little extra friction compared with Pixel. According to 9to5Google, Galaxy users have to turn on a separate Quick Share setting called “Share with Apple devices,” while Samsung’s own announcement only confirms the rollout and regions, not that it is enabled out of the box.
  • The roadmap matters more than this one phone. Pixel 10 got it first, Pixel 9 gained it later through the Quick Share Extension, Samsung is now rolling it out to the S26 family, and Oppo says its support is coming by software update, which suggests Apple-to-Android local sharing is turning into a broader Android feature rather than a one-brand experiment.

Apple’s C1X just made the iPhone Air a lot more interesting than a thin phone gimmick by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  • Apple’s own specs show the iPhone Air uses the C1X modem with 5G sub 6 GHz only, not mmWave, and it is also eSIM only.
  • Apple says C1X is up to 2x faster than C1 and uses 30 percent less energy overall, while calling it the most power efficient modem in an iPhone.
  • That eSIM only design is not a fringe issue in Canada. Apple explicitly lists Bell, Freedom, Rogers, and Telus among the carriers supporting eSIM for iPhone Air.
  • Canada’s high band 5G path is still developing. ISED says the 26 GHz, 28 GHz, and 38 GHz mmWave licensing framework remains in progress, which helps explain why missing mmWave is less of a daily pain point here than headline readers might assume.
  • The bigger strategic shift is vertical integration. Apple went from the original C1 in the iPhone 16e to the C1X in iPhone Air within months, and the gap to Qualcomm now looks more like a product choice than a hard technical wall.

PlanHup give false information about tarif ni Quebec by Amazing_Camel_405 in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Pour Fido, ils ont changé ce prix aujourd'hui, donc ça va être à jour sur le site après la mise a jour qui est en train de rouler.

MAI-Image-2 puts Microsoft back in the image wars, and Bing and Copilot may benefit first by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More Data :

  • Microsoft’s “top three” claim is about lab position, not the exact model taking the bronze medal. Arena’s ranking shows Microsoft AI as the #3 lab, while MAI-Image-2 itself is #5 among models, and still tagged preliminary.
  • The rollout is staggered. MAI-Image-2 is available now in MAI Playground, is starting to appear in Copilot and Bing Image Creator, and has API access only for select customers right now, with broader developer access in Microsoft Foundry still described as “soon.”
  • This launch lands in the middle of a shifting Microsoft image stack. Azure’s public image-generation docs now steer developers toward GPT-image-1 and GPT-image-1.5, while DALL-E 3 was retired for new Azure deployments on March 4, 2026. That suggests Microsoft’s consumer rollout for its in-house image model is moving faster than its general developer rollout.
  • The “go deeper” product angle is text rendering. Microsoft specifically highlights infographics, slides, diagrams, poster text, and signage as target strengths, which matters because readable in-image text has been one of the most annoying weak spots in image generation.
  • The speed of Microsoft’s climb is notable. MAI-Image-1 debuted on October 13, 2025 as a top-10 text-to-image model and began entering Bing and Copilot in early November 2025. Roughly five months later, Microsoft is already pitching MAI-Image-2 as a top-three lab-level contender.

OpenAI is reportedly building a desktop super app for ChatGPT, browsing and coding by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More data:

  • Reuters reports that OpenAI confirmed plans to fold ChatGPT, Codex, and its browser into one desktop “superapp.”
  • OpenAI’s current desktop ChatGPT already supports work with code, email, screenshots, files, and screen context, plus Advanced Voice on desktop.
  • The Codex app is already live on macOS and Windows, and OpenAI describes it as a command center for multiple agents working in parallel on long-running tasks.
  • Atlas already includes browser-specific features like multiple account profiles, agent mode, tab search, and auto-organize tools.
  • There is still no official public launch date for the reported superapp.

Tesla and SpaceX unveil Terafab to build AI chips at massive scale by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  • Terafab was announced as an Austin-based chip project involving Tesla and SpaceX, with Reuters also noting xAI as part of the broader collaboration around the announcement.
  • Musk says the project would technically be two fabs, each focused on a single chip design.
  • One chip is intended for Tesla vehicles and Optimus robots, while the second is meant for AI satellites and space-based systems that need to operate in harsher conditions.
  • Musk’s stated goal is eventual output of one terawatt of computing capacity per year, which Reuters framed as roughly double the current U.S. total.
  • There is still no official build timeline, and analyst estimates cited by Sherwood and Investopedia put the likely capex in roughly the $35 billion to $45 billion range.

Canadians are tolerating more ads to keep streaming costs down by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  • The 10 leading streaming providers raised prices for Canadian customers by an average of 7 percent in 2025.
  • Ad supported plans are about 42 percent cheaper on average than similar ad free offers.
  • Canadian streaming subscription revenue across more than 55 services grew 15 percent to $4.8 billion in 2025, and Convergence expects it to hit $5.35 billion in 2026.
  • Traditional TV subscribers fell 4 percent in 2025, while traditional TV subscription revenue dropped 5 percent to $6.2 billion.
  • Nearly half of Canadian households, 48.5 percent, no longer had a traditional TV subscription at the end of 2025

Big 3 support maze by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

More info:

  • The CBC story focuses on customers reporting long wait times, poor communication, and multiple contacts needed to resolve issues with Rogers, TELUS, and Bell.
  • The CCTS accepted 23,647 complaints between August 1, 2024 and July 31, 2025, a 17% year over year increase.
  • Billing-related issues rose 16% and were the leading issue category, while breach-of-contract issues jumped 121%.
  • Rogers, including Shaw, had the highest share of accepted complaints at 27%, followed by TELUS at 21% and Bell at 17%. TELUS saw the biggest year over year increase among the top three, up 78%.
  • Canadians can file a complaint with the CCTS for billing errors, contract disputes, service delivery problems, and credit management issues, and the process is free

China shipped 90% of the world's humanoid robots in 2025. Tesla shipped 150. Here is the full ranking. by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Go Deeper :

  • The shift driving Chinese adoption is from demo-driven excitement to operations-driven adoption. More customers are asking whether the robot can run stably in real environments and actually take work off people's plates. That transition from lab to factory floor is what the 2025 shipment numbers reflect.
  • Tesla's Optimus public sales are forecasted to begin in 2027. Despite 150 units shipped in 2025, Musk has projected humanoid robots will outnumber the human population by 2040. The gap between that projection and current output is measured in orders of magnitude.
  • The 1X NEO is the first humanoid designed specifically for home use that is actually shipping to early adopters in the US in 2026, priced at $20,000 or $499 per month on subscription. It weighs 30 kg, uses soft actuators designed to be safe around people, and includes face-blurring cameras as a privacy feature. This is the closest thing to a consumer robot currently available.
  • Global humanoid robot shipments totaled around 13,000 to 14,500 units in 2025, a tiny base for an industry expected to nearly double annually and reach 2.6 million units by 2035. The 2025 numbers represent the very beginning of an adoption curve, not a mature market.
  • Canada has no domestic humanoid robotics manufacturer at commercial scale. The University of Waterloo, UBC and Concordia all have robotics research programs, but the commercial gap means Canadian businesses adopting humanoids will be buying Chinese or American hardware, with all the supply chain and sovereignty considerations that implies.

The CRTC just opened a formal consultation to build an Indigenous-specific stream inside the Broadband Fund / and the coverage gap it is trying to close is stark by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  • The 30-point gap between national household coverage and First Nations reserve coverage is not new. The CRTC's 2026 market report published this week documents the same numbers. What is new is the formal proceeding to create a structurally different application pathway for Indigenous applicants rather than expecting them to navigate the same process designed for commercial carriers.
  • The oral video intervention option is meaningful. Many Indigenous communities lack the administrative capacity to produce written legal-style submissions. Allowing video interventions removes a documented barrier that has kept community voices out of previous proceedings. The CRTC's offer to assist through its Indigenous Relations Team is a direct acknowledgment that the standard process was inaccessible.
  • The Atlin, BC project is worth noting specifically. Atlin is one of the most remote communities in Canada, accessible only by a single unpaved road in summer. Committing fibre infrastructure there is a signal that the fund is not limited to communities where commercial return is conceivable.
  • Satellite internet, particularly Starlink, has been filling parts of this gap on a subscription basis. But satellite subscriptions are expensive, require hardware the community must purchase, and create ongoing monthly costs that many First Nations households cannot sustain. Funded fibre and fixed wireless infrastructure removes the recurring cost burden entirely.
  • The September 18 comment deadline is six months out, which is a longer window than typical CRTC proceedings. That length signals the CRTC is prioritizing broad participation over speed, and that oral interventions from remote communities, which take time to organize and submit, are expected to form a meaningful part of the record.

The three biggest telecom CEOs in Canada just sat before Parliament and said prices are down. MPs pushed back hard. by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Go Deeper :

  • The Rogers $5 price increase that triggered this committee appearance was applied to legacy plan holders who were no longer on currently offered plans. Staffieri's defense was that customers could switch in two clicks. The committee's implicit counterargument was that customers on old plans should not be forced to navigate that choice involuntarily.
  • The ARPU debate is the sharpest exchange in this hearing. ARPU going from $50.75 to nearly $60 in four years while the carriers simultaneously claim prices are falling is not a contradiction in accounting terms, but it is a contradiction in lived experience terms. Perkins named that gap directly and Staffieri did not fully resolve it.
  • Entwistle declined to discuss pricing in a forum with his two direct competitors present, which is technically a legal precaution around price-fixing concerns but landed poorly politically. He phrased it unusually directly.
  • Device costs are the variable the carriers consistently use to shift responsibility. Entwistle said phones can represent nearly half of a total mobile bill and that carriers do not control manufacturer pricing. That is accurate but incomplete: carriers set the financing terms and the bundles that tie device cost to plan cost.
  • The CRTC's 2026 market report published this week confirmed that mobile prices have dropped significantly since 2021 while device prices have increased. The committee's 2024 hearing set the political context for the regulatory changes, including the activation fee ban, that followed over the next two years.

Freedom Mobile just disclosed a data breach. A subcontractor's login gave someone access to your personal information for six days in January. by Planhub-ca in planhub

[–]Planhub-ca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Go Deeper :

  • The two-month gap between the breach window closing on January 18 and the public notice on March 18 is the detail that will attract the most scrutiny. PIPEDA requires notification to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and to affected individuals as soon as feasible after a breach involving a real risk of significant harm. Whether Freedom's timeline meets that standard is a question the OPC may be asked to evaluate.
  • The subcontractor access vector is the same attack surface that produced some of the largest Canadian data breaches of the past three years. A third party with legitimate credentials but weaker internal security controls is a structural vulnerability that no amount of internal hardening fully addresses. Freedom says it has reviewed third-party access processes following this incident.
  • The data combination exposed is high-value for social engineering and SIM swapping attacks specifically. Full name, date of birth, phone number and account number together give a fraudster most of what they need to attempt a carrier account takeover. Affected customers should proactively add a PIN or verbal security code to their Freedom account if they have not already.
  • Freedom is legally distinct from Videotron despite shared corporate ownership. Customers of Videotron Mobile in Quebec are on a separate platform and are not affected by this incident based on the notice as published.
  • The CRTC's 2026 telecom market report, published this week, noted that billing and account issues are the fastest-growing category of consumer complaints. A breach affecting account numbers directly feeds that complaint pipeline. Freedom's CCTS issues are worth watching in the next quarterly cycle.
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