TIVERTON, Ont. – Former Amtelecom chief Michael Andrews will be the next president and CEO of independent telco Bruce Telecom.
Richard Martin, chairman of the Bruce board, made the announcement Tuesday. Andrews begins on September 15th.
He succeeds William Sipprell who has led a recent management transition. Sipprell will reassume his role as Chief Financial Officer. Andrews “will carry on the established direction of the firm incorporating Bruce Telecom’s mission statement into the daily operations,” says the press release.
Andrews is well known in the Canadian telecom and cable industry, having Aylmer-based independent telco and cable company Amtelecom for…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), based at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, has asked the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to open an investigation into targeted web advertising.
Using certain technologies, including deep packet inspection, Canadian ISPs can identify tendencies of its users in order to better target the web ads sent to their computer screens as they search. The idea is to deliver better, more relevant ads to consumers and deliver better, more relevant customers to advertisers.
The practice, known as behavioral targeting, is used in many jurisdictions, such as…
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A NUMBER OF PEOPLE have mentioned through 2008 that this has been an especially tumultuous year for the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, and some have questioned its vitality.
Regulatory changes, economic challenges, member company departures thanks to acquisitions, more new technology. Aren’t all of these issues conspiring to damage the CCSA and its membership? In a word: No. In a few more words: These are the very challenges the CCSA has confronted head-on since its origination. 2008 doesn’t present anything new.
Members have always come and gone. Founding member Fundy Cable is long gone, for example. However, when 500,000-plus-customer…
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OTTAWA – Finally, after nearly two months of bidding, involving 331 rounds, Canada’s auction of wireless spectrum ended today, but is merely the first wave of change that will transform the nation’s telecommunications industry.
Canadian companies bid a total of $4.25 billion for 282 wireless-airwave licenses, the proceeds are more than twice the amount analysts had expected. The 15 successful bidders of the auction that began May 27 are eligible to receive licenses after making their final payments and showing compliance with Canadian ownership and control requirements.
Rogers Communications, Canada’s largest wireless carrier, bid $999.4 million for 59 licenses, reports…
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OTTAWA – A review of broadcasting in new media is utterly unnecessary, says an unprecedented joint submission to the CRTC by Canada’s largest Internet service providers.
Friday was the deadline for submissions on PN 2008-44, which only asked for comments on what the scope of any future proceeding on Canadian broadcasting in new media might be. The Commission wants advice on what questions it might ask when it decides to undertake a review of what new media is doing to broadcasting and what Canadian regulations might have to say about it. At this point, it doesn’t want to…
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CALEDONIA, N.S. – With thanks to a provincial government program, EastLink has extended wireless Internet to additional rural areas of its home province of Nova Scotia.
Beginning today, residents and business owners in the community of Caledonia in Nova Scotia’s Queens County will have access to EastLink Rural Wireless Internet under the Government of Nova Scotia’s Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia initiative. EastLink is completing upgrade construction on four towers in the Caledonia area which will deliver Internet service to approximately 1,000 customers.
"We’re excited to launch our fixed wireless Internet service in Caledonia because we know customers in…
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OTTAWA – Despite an auspicious beginning, the Advanced Wireless Spectrum auction that began this week still has the ingredients for “both a robust auction process and a more competitive marketplace thereafter,” predicts the SeaBoard Group in a white paper released Wednesday.
The SeaBoard Group contends that Canadians have not lost the promise of more choice in cell phone providers and of lower cost services because of the seeming bidder disarray. It points out that 24 of 29 new-entrant bidders remain in the race.
The research firm predicts that Videotron and MTS Allstream, now bidding on its own, will bid…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) is charging that Bell Canada has contravened the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) by using deep-packet inspection technology (DPI) to control traffic over its Internet lines.
DPI reveals what subscribers are using their connections for, to find and limit peer-to-peer applications such as BitTorrent. Bell has said it needs to ensure traffic over its infrastructure doesn’t slow down, and DPI is aimed at optimizing its network.
CIPPIC, a University of Ottawa-based legal clinic specializing in Internet law, though noted in a May 9 letter to the Privacy…
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HALIFAX – EastLink Digital Cable customers will have seen the company’s new subscription video on demand service appear on their electronic program guides this week.
The Animé Network is the first channel available through this new EastLink service, the first channel in North America dedicated to the Japanese Animé oeuvre. Popular cartoons like Speed Racer, Robotech and Battle of the Planets are classic examples of animé titles appealing to a male-skewing audience.
"Subscription OnDemand is a new, and convenient way for customers to enjoy their digital cable service," said Ian Lezama, director of marketing at EastLink. "We continue to…
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GATINEAU – Bragg Communications, the east coast cable and telecom company that claims to be “small in a big way,” wants the CRTC to take on a similar persona, by making big steps towards a smaller regulatory burden.
In its presentation Wednesday to the CRTC’s broadcast hearings, Bragg co-CEO Dan McKeen gave his support to the Commission’s stated overall approach in its review that would see a reduction in regulations and increased reliance on market forces. However, he also sought CRTC help on behalf of small BDU’s which he suggested are occasionally bullied when they try to negotiate access to programming…
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