Ad spend down 60%, says broadcast association
By Ahmad Hathout
VICTORIA – A little over a month after a radio station in Kelowna went off the air due to pandemic-related advertising declines, the head of the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters (BCAB) sent a letter in May to the premier with a plea.
Pointing to relief measures introduced by the Quebec and federal governments, which include the waiving of licensing fees and consistent ad buys on local stations, Rob Bye requested a virtual meeting to discuss possible options.
“We’ve got positive verbal responses,” he said in an interview with Cartt.ca on Wednesday, adding…
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GATINEAU — As the CRTC continues a Review and Vary of its August 2019 order which slashed the wholesale rates third-party Internet access (TPIA) companies pay to the incumbent network owners, the Commission announced today it is approving a stay of the order’s implementation while it completes its review.
The stay was requested by Bell Canada and cable companies Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron when those incumbents requested in December 2019 that the Commission review and vary its Telecom Order 2019-288 decision.
The Commission’s announcement today comes after the Federal Court of Appeal on September 10 dismissed the…
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LONDON — Rural broadband funding organization SWIFT (Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology) announced Friday it has now officially issued approximately $197 million in requests for proposals (RFPs) to expand broadband access throughout southwestern Ontario.
Now in the third phase of its broadband expansion plan, SWIFT says it is on track to close all phase three RFPs before the end of 2020 and intends to award 90% of the project’s contracts by the end of 2020 and 100% by January 2021, says its press release.
To view SWIFT’s full tendering schedule, including procurement values, closing dates and RFP status updates, please Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Despite the demand it and others made to the CRTC for revised tariffs filed since the incumbent carriers lost their court case, no new revised tariff pages have yet been filed with the Commission by the network owners and until they are, independent ISP TekSavvy will stop paying its wholesale fees to Rogers and Bell.
On September 11th, TekSavvy, Distributel and the Competitive Network Operators of Canada each filed applications with the CRTC demanding the incumbent telco and cable carriers file new tariff pages as ordered by the Commission in its August 2019 decision setting new wholesale…
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MONTREAL – On Friday, Rogers Communications announced it would spend big in Quebec, if it can buy Cogeco’s Canadian assets, primarily its networks in Ontario and Quebec.
It made a number of expensive promises, as we reported here, including investing $3 billion on wired and new 5% networks, adding thousands of jobs, and keeping Cogeco’s brand and head office alive in Quebec.
In a statement issued that day, Cogeco said Rogers doesn’t need to own it in order to invest well in the province.
“Rogers may continue making all the investments it wishes in Quebec but it doesn’t need Cogeco to…
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MONTREAL – Rogers Communications this morning said it will invest $3 billion to “honour Cogeco’s legacy” by expanding rural connectivity, accelerating 5G coverage to 95% of Quebecers and creating hundreds of highly skilled jobs with new tech innovation hub, if it is able to purchase Cogeco’s Canadian assets.
“Rogers is deeply committed to the future ofa innovation and the knowledge economy in Quebec. We would be honoured to help enhance the customer experience and bring new investments including 5G that will fundamentally reshape the economic landscape of Quebec,” said Joe Natale, president and CEO of Rogers, in a press release…
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MONTREAL — Cogeco Communications today announced more than 3,700 homes and businesses in several Quebec communities will soon be able to access high-speed Internet services from Cogeco Connexion thanks to a $3.2-million investment by the company.
The network expansion includes municipalities across the Laurentides, Haut-St-François, Appalaches, Etchemins and Drummond.
The investment is part of Cogeco’s four-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in the operation and expansion of its advanced Canadian broadband network, says the company’s news release.
Almost 300 homes and businesses in the village of Weir, in the municipality of Montcalm, will soon have access to Cogeco’s services, says…
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By Denis Carmel
MONTREAL – In its fight against Altice and Rogers, who unsuccessfully launched an unsolicited takeover bid, Cogeco has earned some local support has in response to this attempted takeover.
For example, Marianne Meed Ward, mayor of Burlington (home of the company’s biggest office), wrote in a public statement last week: “As one of Burlington’s largest employers, Cogeco is a key member of our business community and has been a valued contributor to our local economy and connectivity for more than 30 years.”
“I spoke with executive chairman of the board, Louis Audet… who reiterated to me that Cogeco…
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By Ahmad Hathout
VANCOUVER – A British Columbia court has dismissed an injunction application filed by Telus over Shaw’s promotion of its new Fibre+ internet product launched earlier this year.
In a September 11 ruling made public this week, the B.C. Supreme Court said it is unconvinced by Telus’ argument that the average customer would care about the differences between Shaw’s hybrid fibre-coaxial cable network and Telus’ fibre to the home technology when deciding on a broadband provider.
Telus asked the court in June to force Shaw to stop using “Fibre+” for its highest internet speeds until a final determination is made…
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Cogeco decries “bad faith tactics”
MONTREAL and TORONTO — The latest maneuverings in the now open battle between Rogers and Cogeco — as the former persists in its efforts to take over the latter — were made public by Cogeco Wednesday.
After Rogers sent a letter Tuesday to Cogeco board member Louis Audet (president of Gestion Audem, the Audet family holding company and Cogeco’s controlling shareholder) suggesting Audet had behaved in an “unacceptable manner” after Altice USA and Rogers presented their joint proposal to buy the company on September 1, Cogeco published the Rogers letter on its website and issued…
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