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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Cogeco, meanwhile, awaits CRTC’s new wireless policies
By Greg O’Brien
TORONTO – Rogers Communications CEO Joe Natale on Tuesday explained a little more about why his company is pursuing the purchase of Cogeco Cable so hard (and why he’s not intending to back off), while a senior executive of its intended target insisted that pursuit will be fruitless.
“The bid is really about answering some basic questions as we look at our investment into the future,” Natale told BMO telecom and media analyst Tim Casey at the bank’s annual Media and Telecom conference, held virtually. The $10.3 billion bid for the company,…
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By Greg O’Brien
MONTREAL – Cogeco Connexion has begun rolling out its new IPTV platform, branded Epico, to select customers in its cable regions. Company CFO Patrice Ouimet mentioned the recently begun rollout at the 21st annual BMO Media and Telecom Conference on Tuesday.
The company is taking a go-slow approach with the launch of the new service, as mention of it can’t yet be found on the Cogeco website. After successful trials with employees and their families, the company has only started connecting select customers during the past two weeks, said Ouimet.
He did not mention retail prices or a timeline…
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MONTREAL — More than 4,600 homes and businesses in eastern and southwestern Ontario will soon be able to access high-speed Internet services from Cogeco Connexion as a result of a $7-million investment announced today by Cogeco Communications.
“Thanks to this investment, 1,000 homes and businesses will be connected in southwestern Ontario to serve the communities of Amherst Pointe and Willow Beach in Amherstburg, and Cedarhurst Park and Cedar Island in Kingsville (near Windsor). In addition, 3,600 homes and businesses in Vankleek HIll, L’Original and Chute-a-Blondeau in the Hawkesbury area (east of Ottawa) will be able to benefit from our network…
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Incumbents have already asked the CRTC for a stay of the rates
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a lengthy, thorough decision, the Federal Court of Appeal on Thursday said the CRTC’s August 2019 decision setting final wholesale rates for aggregated wholesale high-speed access services, and hundreds of millions in retroactive payments, was just fine.
The decision goes through the history of wholesale rate setting, which actually dates back to 1979. The Court outlines the details of decision CRTC 2019-288 referencing productivity factors, upstream traffic growth rates, attribution of segmentation costs, speed-banding, unrecovered costs, working fill factors (WFF), coaxial cable…
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Adds there will be further pursuit of Cogeco
By Ken Kelley
NEW YORK – Following last week’s big news which saw Altice USA and Rogers team up to try and buy Cogeco (a deal which was utterly and repeatedly rejected by Louis Audet, its controlling shareholder), it was little surprise the topic was first on the agenda when Rogers executives Joe Natale and Tony Staffieri spoke Wednesday at Bank of America Securities’ virtual 2020 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference.
“We have immense respect for Mr. Audet and his family, and for the legacy of the company,” said Rogers CEO Natale. “At…
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