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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
Telecoms note spectrum cap kept prices reasonable
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Innovation Canada released the results of the 3.8 GHz spectrum auction Thursday, with Cogeco getting a piece as it prepares mobile wireless market entry and Quebecor capturing a slice for its western Canada push.
Telus took home the largest number of licences with 1430 for a price of $620 million to cover 33 million Canadians. Bell was next with a spend of $518 million for 939 licences with expected population coverage of 34.6 million Canadians. Rogers spent $475 million for 860 licences with expected population coverage of 35 million. Videotron…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco CEO Philippe Jette said Thursday that the company is still in commercial negotiations to access the national wireless networks to launch its first wireless business, adding it is preparing to enter that business in the United States.
The Montreal-based telecom has been trying to negotiate access for months to launch its mobile virtual network operator business. The CRTC said it expected national and regional carriers to negotiate access by August 7 or else propose arbitration at the commission.
But Jette said during the company’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings call Thursday that even if the company…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC last week informed Cogeco Communications via a letter it was closing a tariff application proposing revisions to Cogeco’s third-party internet access (TPIA) tariff, and suggested the ISP resubmit the application with additional information required under the commission’s tariff application rules.
In its Sept. 8 application to revise its TPIA tariff, Cogeco said it had started to increase the upload speed of its 360 Mbps and 1 Gbps downstream high-speed retail internet services from 30 Mbps to 100 Mbps, and this increase would be progressively rolled out throughout Cogeco’s serving…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco announced Friday that it has appointed Valery Zamuner as its senior vice president and chief corporate affairs and legal officer.
Zamuner will lead the corporate affairs and legal, regulatory and government teams and interact with external stakeholders. Her role is effective Monday.
“Valéry’s experience in leading large teams makes her the ideal candidate in helping us achieve our strategic objectives, while she will also play a key role in the priority projects that will shape the future of our company,” Philippe Jette, Cogeco’s president and CEO said in a press release.
“I am delighted to welcome Valéry to our…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco announced Thursday the appointment of Tim Dinesen to senior vice president and chief technology officer, effective September 11.
“Tim’s impressive track record, extensive experience in telecommunications, and passion for technology make him the ideal candidate for this highly strategic position at Cogeco as our business transforms and digital becomes increasingly embedded in our operations,” said Cogeco president and CEO Philippe Jette in a press release.
“In this role, he will evolve Cogeco’s technology and innovation strategy, as well as lead the deployment of emerging technologies,” Jette added. “I am very pleased that he is joining us and contributing…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – With less than a month remaining to get an agreement hammered before the CRTC-imposed deadline, Cogeco CEO Philippe Jette said the telecom is still working to get a deal done to roam on the large carriers’ wireless networks.
“We’re still determined to launch a mobile service in Canada and we are now in negotiations with the MNO,” Jette said on the company’s fiscal third-quarter conference call with analysts Friday. “For competitive reasons, we won’t go further on this call…it remains a critical element for our business case to enter for the long-term this market, so we…
Continue Reading
