By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco is still working toward securing a deal with the national carriers to launch its mobile virtual network operator business on their networks, the telecom’s senior vice president and chief financial officer said Friday.
“Where we are right now is we’re still in negotiations…at the same time building what is required to launch as well,” Patrice Ouimet said during the company’s fiscal second-quarter conference call with analysts. “I would say the situation is not that different from what I said last quarter. That being said, we are making progress.”
Ouimet said he couldn’t go any deeper because these are…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has ordered Cogeco on Monday to ensure TekSavvy can continue to access its facilities at two Ontario locations the cable provider said it would need to migrate to fibre by May 1.
Cogeco’s transition to fibre facilities would lock TekSavvy and its customers out of locations in Burlington and Windsor – where it uses the Montreal company’s older coax facilities – in part because the commission does not allow mandated access to cablecos’ bundled middle and last mile fibre infrastructure, the Chatham-based company argued in an application in January. TekSavvy also alleged Cogeco…
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Cogeco announced Thursday it is launching mobile services under its Breezeline brand in the United States.
The product will operate as a mobile virtual network operator, meaning it will use the networks of other carriers, and will be offered in a bundle where it has wired internet service. Breezeline has broadband services in 13 states.
“We are thrilled to announce the launch of mobile services within our Breezeline operating regions,” Frédéric Perron, president and CEO of Cogeco said in a release. “This important new service will not only help us expand our product offering, but will also allow us to better…
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The boards of directors of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. announced Monday the appointment of Frédéric Perron as president and CEO and director of both companies, effective immediately.
Perron most recently held the position of president of Cogeco Connexion, Cogeco’s Canadian broadband business. He succeeds Philippe Jetté, who is retiring but will serve as a strategic advisor to the incoming CEO and the boards of directors until Aug. 31, 2024 to facilitate a seamless transition in leadership, a press release says.
“We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Frédéric as…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telus’s proposal to ride on its competitors’ internet networks outside of its home territory would be destructive to facilities-based competition and would create an existential crisis for regional wholesalers, two prominent cable companies told the CRTC on Thursday.
Representatives from Telus said Wednesday that the Vancouver-based telecom should be able to wholesale internet capacity from competitor networks to drive diversity of choice and competition, or the regime would be “useless.” The telco also pushed back against claims that it is a national incumbent, instead saying that its preferred status would be a regional player that’s a new…
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Cogeco announced Monday its Cogeco Connexion business unit is acquiring Niagara Regional Broadband Network (NRBN) from the City of Niagara Falls and the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, who will both remain minority shareholders in the company.
The acquisition of the Niagara Region provider of fibre-based internet, telephone and television services will strengthen Cogeco’s presence in the region and allow it to support the continued growth of NRBN, a Cogeco press release says.
“We are delighted to welcome NRBN to the Cogeco family,” Philippe Jetté, president and CEO of Cogeco Communications, said in the…
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By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — Cogeco CEO Philippe Jetté doesn’t want to discuss when he expects the company will launch a wireless service.
He was pestered with questions from journalists Thursday before the company’s annual general meeting — is it a matter of weeks, months, years? — but repeatedly said that they’re working toward a launch and would announce their plans in the near future. An actual launch is unlikely in the “short term” because “some preparation work remains,” he told analysts earlier.
Jetté expressed some frustration with the length of the process, both in terms of regulatory obligations and the slow pace of…
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Toronto-based Quickplay announced Tuesday that Cogeco Media, one of Quebec’s largest radio broadcasters, has selected Quickplay’s cloud-native, open-architecture OTT platform to power its next-generation audio services.
Cogeco Media owns and operates 20 radio stations across Quebec as well as one station serving the eastern Ontario community of Hawkesbury.
Through its partnership with Quickplay, “Cogeco Media’s 5 million listeners will benefit from superior experiences including seamless access to content across devices as well as better personalization and discovery,” a Quickplay press release says.
Some of the specific benefits of Cogeco Media’s Quickplay-powered audio…
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The governments of Canada and Ontario announced last Friday they are providing more than $5.3 million in joint funding toward two broadband projects in Essex County, which Cogeco has now completed, as part of Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology Inc.’s (SWIFT) regional broadband expansion plan for Southwestern Ontario.
The two levels of government previously announced the funding over a year ago. Cogeco completed the fibre infrastructure projects in July, according to SWIFT’s approved projects webpage.
With their completion, Cogeco is now able to provide high-speed internet access to 3,587…
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Rogers announced Monday the sale of all of its shares in Cogeco to pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
The transaction, worth $829 million, will allow the cable giant to reduce its debt and exit non-core businesses as it focuses on its core competencies, including telecommunications after its acquisition of Shaw.
“This sale further demonstrates our commitment to strengthen our investment grade balance sheet and aggressively reduce our debt leverage ratio,” Tony Staffieri, Rogers president and CEO, said in a press release. “We’re tracking six months ahead on our deleveraging priorities and we’re committed to reducing our debt leverage ratio…
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