MONTREAL – Despite the weakened economy, Cogeco Inc. maintained a solid growth curve in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, the company reported.
Consolidated revenue at Cogeco Cable (including its territories in Quebec, Ontario and Portugal) increased by 18.9% to $299.4 million, consolidated operating income before amortization grew by 23% to reach $119.7 million, consolidated net income amounted to $23.6 million, compared to $20.4 million for the same period of the prior year, an increase of 15.7%, free cash flow reached $17.8 million, a 17.6% decrease over the prior year, and operating margin increased to 40% from 38.6%.
Revenue-generating…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Ontario Chapter of the Society of Telecommunications Engineers announced Monday that Daniel Sacolle (Cogeco Cable), Bill McMillan (TVC Inc.) and James Myles (Rogers Cable TV) have been elected by the membership to serve on the board of directors for the 2009/10 term. They assumed their roles as of January 1, 2009.
Departing the board are chapter president Laura O’Hare, and vice-president Lawrence Watson (Rogers). The two new board members (McMillan and Sacolle) plus Myles, who was re-elected, join Boris Eventov (Cogeco Cable), Rob McCann (Clearcable Networks) and Bruce Marshall (Mountain Cablevision) to form the six-member 2009…
Continue Reading
THE FINAL PUSH IS on for the inaugural SCTE Canadian Summit, to be held at the Toronto Congress Centre February 3-4.
The conference promises to be a key date in the engineering calendar for Canadian cable telecommunications engineers, technicians and vendors looking to share information and broaden their knowledge on challenges like switched digital, DOCSIS 3.0 and other myriad network issues.
While vendor tables have long been sold out, registration for the conference is still open and can be accessed by clicking here. As well, the deadline for nominations for the first-ever young Canadian Engineering Professional of the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Cogeco Data Services has signed a 10 year deal with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) worth $39 million.
The agreement calls for Cogeco Data Services to provide the TDSB with a wide area network connection to approximately 600 schools and administrative buildings serving over 300,000 students and 30,000 educators and administrators. Cogeco Data Services will “increase the reach and capabilities of the (existing) fibre backbone” by constructing additional fibre optic cable throughout the city, and providing a “substantially higher capacity connection for each location”, the press release said. CDS is the former Toronto Hydro Telecom.
"The TDSB…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Even in bad economic times, consumers will keep paying for cable, Internet and phone services, and choose to compromise in other purchase areas instead, according to Cogeco Cable’s president and CEO, Louis Audet.
“This has been our experience for the last 36 years – people tend to keep their television service (during difficult economic times),” Audet said. “And the Internet, of course, has become a necessity for households…and, of course, the phone.
“But on the other hand, what you do see is a slower rate of growth, or you might see a bit higher bad debt come…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Nominations close Wednesday, December 10th for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) brand new Young Canadian Engineering Professional of the Year Award.
The SCTE, along with Aurora Networks as the primary sponsor and Cartt.ca as the publishing partner, last month announced the development and launch of a new award that annually will recognize a young cable telecommunications engineering professional in Canada who is already making his or her mark on the industry.
The Young Canadian Engineering Professional of the Year Award will debut as part of the inaugural SCTE Canadian Summit, which is set for Tuesday…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco has added TSN2 and one of Canal Indigo channels to its HD lineup, and Teletoon Retro in SD to its digital platform in Quebec.
"By adding these three new channels to our digital and HD television line-ups, we are giving our customers the choice to watch even more of what they want," said Ron Perrotta, vice-president of marketing and strategic planning in a press release.
www.cogeco.ca
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Dave Dobbin, the former president and CEO of Toronto Hydro Telecom, now known as Cogeco Data Services after the cable company bought it for $200 million this year, has been hired by John Bitove to run DAVE, the entrepreneur’s nascent wireless company, reports the Financial Post.
Bitove’s DAVE (Data and Audio-Visual Enterprises) Wireless spent about $243 million to acquire spectrum during this summer’s auction in several areas, such as Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton and pieces of Ontario.
Click here for the full story.
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Canwest Global CEO Leonard Asper said today that the changes in the media world and the slumping overall economy means that his company has only just begun the fight for structural changes on the regulatory front.
In leading off his comments this morning in a conference call with financial analysts over his company’s quarterly results – including a billion-dollar write down – Asper sounded angry about the new policies on specialty channels and broadcast distribution undertakings released October 30th by the CRTC. Specifically, the part of the decision that denied his company’s request for a…
Continue Reading
ON THE SURFACE, the 2008 Canadian Association of Broadcasters convention went off with nary a hitch.
Speeches and panels were mostly interesting, attendance was stable compared to last year and the country’s broadcasters did their usual good job in celebrating their best and brightest while we were all entertained by various musical acts over about a 42-hour span at the Westin Hotel.
Behind the scenes though, it’s a much different story. Now, while no one would go on the record with me about any of this, it became quite clear while talking to many people on the show floor…
Continue Reading
