By Ahmad Hathout
On federal cabinet urging, the CRTC is “working quickly” to launch a public consultation on whether Rogers, Bell and Telus should be banned from using the aggregated last-mile fibre regime in Ontario and Quebec, the regulator said in a statement to Cartt, a move that is being welcomed by competitors.
The minister of Industry, Francois Philippe-Champagne, made the recommendation to the CRTC on Wednesday. It was a partial win for Bell, which requested in its February petition for the cabinet to rescind or vary the regulator’s decision last year that mandated competitor access to its bundled middle- and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking Canada’s major telecommunications service providers to explain how their employees are informing customers about the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), after the regulatory said it found an unsatisfactory number of survey participants even knew it existed.
The regulator commissioned a survey by Nanos Research, which found only 2 per cent of participants who had an unresolved complaint were made aware of the organization by their service provider. The research was delivered in March.
“This finding is supported by consumer feedback data in the CCTS’s annual reports from 2015 to 2023, which shows…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers said Thursday it has entered into an agreement to sell to a “leading global financial investor” a minority equity stake in a newly formed subsidiary that will include parts of its wireless traffic transport network from one region of the country.
The minority stakeholder will get paid periodic distributions based on the net income made by that subsidiary. Wholesale fees to use the network will maintain it, while consumer use of the network, which Rogers CFO Glenn Brandt said is in the range of 40 to 50 per cent growth per year, will ensure distribution stability.
The investment,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Carriers will have to come to an agreement over the wholesale rate charged for domestic roaming, with the CRTC only acting as the decider of last resort, the regulator announced Monday.
The announcement means the CRTC is moving away from what is called “Phase II” costing methodology, which involves the national carriers submitting cost studies, typically for a five-year forward-looking period, so all regional competitors are paying the same rate.
This time, the commission is choosing to go the commercial negotiation route guided by rate benchmarks it will publish on an annual basis, which it said will include weighted…
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By Connie Thiessen
Anthem Sports & Entertainment has reached an agreement to acquire Hollywood Suite, the owner and operator of four linear TV channels and accompanying digital on-demand service, pending CRTC approval.
Launched in 2011, Hollywood Suite is the largest pure-play movie service in Canada, with its film-focused 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s channels available in over 10 million homes via Rogers, Bell, Telus, Amazon Prime Video, Cogeco, Eastlink, and Freedom Mobile, among other cable providers.
Anthem – which has offices and studios in Toronto, Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, New York, and Cleveland – says Hollywood Suite’s ability to satisfy both traditional linear viewers and on-demand focused digital…
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The Ontario government announced Monday an investment of $34 million to bring high-speed internet to 3,000 homes and businesses in 14 communities and four First Nation communities across southwestern Ontario.
The money will pass through the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) project.
Recipients of the funding include Cogeco, which will cover Chatham-Kent, Essex County, Lambton County, the Township of Walpole, and Wellington County, and TekSavvy, which will cover its hometown Chatham-Kent and Delaware Nation at Moraviantown.
Other recipients include Execulink, which will cover Elgin County, Lambton County, Middlesex County, Oneida First Nation, and Oxford County; Beyond Air and BrookeTel, which will both…
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Cogeco announced Tuesday the hiring of a chief commercial officer, who started last week Monday.
Mike Henry is responsible for “leading the sales and marketing, digital, brand, product and community relations teams” of both of Cogeco’s telecom business across both Canada and the United States.
“Henry brings 30 years of leadership experience from the financial sector, where he has led pivotal transformations and overseen value creation, while keeping customer experience at the forefront of the organizations he has served,” a Tuesday press release said. “Henry most recently held the position of Executive Vice-President, Consumer Banking, Digital and Strategy at Home Trust….
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By Connie Thiessen
Cogeco has reportedly withdrawn its offer of employment to Montreal radio veteran Martin Spalding, who was to assume the helm of Cogeco Media as its president.
His appointment was announced to employees on Wednesday, however La Presse now reports that in a subsequent follow-up memo on Friday, Cogeco President Frédéric Perron relayed to staff that the former Bell Media and Astral Radio veteran would not be joining the company after all.
Spalding was to set to take over from Caroline Paquet, who had held the role since July 2021. The former longtime Quebecor executive parted ways with Cogeco earlier in the week.
Spalding had been working in Montreal media for most of…
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By Connie Thiessen
Martin Spalding has been named the new president of Cogeco Media.
Spalding succeeds Caroline Paquet, who had held the role since July 2021. Paquet came into the job after almost two decades with Quebecor, with her most recent title there being vice president of marketing and content at Vidéotron.
A former Bell and Astral executive, Spalding has been in the Montreal market for more than 30 years. Up until 2021, he served as Bell Media’s regional vice president and general manager of local radio and television for eight years, overseeing 10 general managers in the day-to-day operations of…
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As Cogeco continues preparations to launch wireless services in Ontario and Quebec, the Montreal-based cable company announced Monday strategic partnerships with an undisclosed national wireless network operator and Eastlink to facilitate the development of Cogeco’s wireless service in Canada.
Cogeco has signed a five-year mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement with the national wireless network operator, giving Cogeco access to its wireless network. The agreement prevents Cogeco from disclosing the name of this network partner, said a Cogeco spokesperson when contacted via email by Cartt.
In addition, Cogeco has entered into a separate five-year agreement with Eastlink for the…
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