CHATHAM, Ont. — Independent ISP TekSavvy today voiced appreciation for the federal government’s launch yesterday of its $1.7-billion Universal Broadband Fund, which will provide subsidies for broadband infrastructure projects in rural and remote Canadian communities.
The company also welcomed the Canadian government’s $600-million agreement with Telesat to subsidize satellite-based Internet providers, as well as the Ontario government’s announcement last week of its plan to spend almost $1 billion over six years to improve and expand broadband and cellular access across the province.
In a press release today, TekSavvy says these historic public subsidies for rural broadband projects…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Some of the country’s largest carriers have lost an appeal challenging the process by which the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) set higher pole attachment rates they say could hamper the delivery of broadband services.
Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Cogeco, Quebecor and Bragg (Eastlink), among others, didn’t like the consultation process that saw the rate to attach their cables on structures jump from an annual rate of $22.35 per attachment set in 2005 to $43.63 across the province. They argued in the province’s divisional court in late September that the OEB had not provided them with the appropriate…
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Videotron, others, are skeptical of Bell’s commitments
By Denis Carmel
MONTREAL – On Friday, Bell Canada issued a news release announcing new measures to simplify the process for access to poles by recipients of the Québec Branché and Régions Branchées grant programs and other service providers.
This follows a process announced by the Government of Québec back in May 2020, along with the members of a working group that was tasked to accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet in rural regions through a program financed by the Government of Québec.
“To address the many technical challenges associated with the deployment of fibre…
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ESSEX COUNTY – Several small communities outside of Windsor, Ontario, will start to see better broadband next year.
Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) on Friday announced it has awarded contracts to expand broadband services to 5,173 households and businesses across 20 communities in Essex County, including Essex, Kingsville, Leamington and Lakeshore. Construction is to be fully completed by fall of 2022.
SWIFT awarded $8.5 million in federal and provincial funding to Cogeco and TekSavvy, but in total, Essex County will receive $19 million in broadband upgrades, which includes more than $10.5 million in contributions from the two ISPs for five fibre-to-the-home…
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MONTREAL – While recent news swirling around the company has been about other things, Cogeco Inc. posted good fourth quarter and year-end 2020 results as broadband demand remained high in Canada and the U.S.
For the quarter ended August 31, 2020, revenue increased by 2.2% over Q4 2019 to reach $624.2 million while adjusted EBITDA reached $300 million, an increase of 6.7%. Cogeco Inc. contains Cogeco Communications (Cogeco Connexion in Canada and Atlantic Broadband in the States) as well as the company’s Quebec radio stations.
Full year revenue came in at $2.48 billion, a 1.4% increase over 2019 and…
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TORONTO – Bell Media’s 24-hour news network CTV News Channel has launched a nationwide free preview, the broadcaster announced today.
The free preview is available through participating television service providers across the country, including but not limited to Bell, Bell Aliant, BellMTS, Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers, SaskTel, and participating members of the CCSA.
Please click here for more.
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By Greg O’Brien
TORONTO – While reminding that the Covid pandemic continues to have an impact on business – and cautioning there remains considerable uncertainty, Rogers Communications reported a solid rebound in its businesses in the third quarter of 2020, beating most of Bay Street’s estimates.
The company reported wireless total net loading of 168,000 new customers – including a 34% increase in postpaid net subscriber additions, the company said in its third quarter press release this morning. Rogers also said approximately 2.2 million total subscribers have now switched to Rogers Infinite plans, up almost 60% in 2020.
That’s important, said CEO…
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Feds say attachment costs “often prohibitively expensive”
By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – The newly-appointed board of directors of the Ontario Energy Board will oversee a review of pole attachment rates in the province, according to a mandate letter sent earlier this month, a priority assignment that is aligned with the province’s efforts to reduce equipment install costs to drive its broadband expansion goals.
Captured in just one line underneath a section on reducing regulatory burdens, the letter requires the “modernized” board to “consider pole attachment policy in the context of opportunities to better serve areas that are currently underserved.”
Ontario has the highest…
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MONTREAL –- Cogeco Communications announced this morning it will purchase rural cable/telco/ISP DeryTelecom for $405 million.
Based in Saguenay, DeryTelecom offers internet, television, and telephony services to approximately 100,000 customers in over 200 municipalities across several regions in Quebec, including Estrie, Lanaudière, Montérégie and the Laurentians. Revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020 are estimated to be $105 million and $44 million, respectively, reads the Cogeco press release.
Cartt.ca featured the company in 2017. It was established by Gilles Déry, a TV salesman, in 1954. Back then, over-the-air TV reception wasn’t very good in…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. announced today their boards of directors “have unanimously rejected the revised unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Altice USA, Inc. of New York and Rogers Communications Inc. of Toronto.”
The companies’ statement says the boards met early on Tuesday to consider the purchase offer and Louis Audet, who is the executive chair of both boards and the representative of the controlling shareholder Audet family, formally confirmed “the publicly stated unanimous position of the Audet family as set out in its press release dated October 18, 2020.
“Following separate deliberations of the independent board…
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