MONTREAL – Bell Canada Enterprises today posted robust second quarter results across its divisions for the period ended June 30th.
“We significantly increased net new subscribers to our wireless, retail Internet and IPTV services, achieved our fourth consecutive quarter of growth in business markets, and again led the Canadian media industry in audience expansion and programming innovation,” said president and CEO George Cope in the company’s press release.
"Adjusted EBITDA increased an exceptional 6.8% in Q2 – our 55th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth – and together with ongoing operational and capital efficiency drove a strong 10% increase in free cash…
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TORONTO – Ken Stein, former senior vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Shaw Communications, died last week of cancer. He was 76.
After a career as a senior public servant, where he worked closely with former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney as deputy secretary to the federal cabinet for a stretch, Stein was hired in 1991 as president of the former Canadian Cable Television Association. He then joined Shaw in 1995 and remained a key builder of the company until his retirement in 2011.
He also served on the board of the Shaw Rocket Fund and was the long-time chairman of…
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Back-to-school promo offers the latest phones, Big Gig Unlimited, starting at $50/month
CALGARY – Shaw Communications’ Freedom Mobile has dropped wireless pricing again by reducing the cost of wireless for Canadians with its Big Gig Unlimited plans and Absolute Zero promotions.
Both are featured in a new national advertising campaign marking the return of the notorious “Monolithic Wireless” and highlighting “unfair treatment of Canadian wireless customers,” reads the Freedom press release.
Top-end handsets such as the latest iPhones can be had for a $75/month Big Gig plan for 10GB of unlimited data (slowed after the monthly benchmark is reached), with no extra…
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TORONTO – Members of the Canadian creative industry members will shadow MPs and potential MPs this fall, asking federal election candidates to answer questions on the future of Canada’s $9 billion market in screen-based production.
Cast, crew and creators are banding together for what is being called the “Just Ask” campaign (“Je m’implique” in French), where three groups are calling on its members to pledge to attend at least one election-related event this fall and ask at least one question on key issues facing the industry.
The campaign includes the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the…
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Bell looks to burnish money-losing network
MONTREAL – Bell Media today announced it will purchase the conventional TV network V and its related digital assets, including the ad-supported VOD service Noovo.ca, from Groupe V Média.
The deal, which would bring Bell its first French-language TV network, is pending CRTC and Competition Bureau approval (We’re expecting vigorous opposition from Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau when the application to the Commission is made public). Those with good memories will recall V used to be TQS and was co-owned by Cogeco and CTVglobemedia. It’s current owner purchased the station in 2008, when it was…
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OTTAWA – Huawei Canada today announced it will partner with Iristel and its ICE Wireless division to help the company connect 70 more rural and remote communities by 2025, including 20 communities in the Arctic and 50 communities in Northeastern Quebec, with more planned in areas of Newfoundland & Labrador in the near future.
"We strongly believe everyone should be connected to 4G LTE, no matter where they live in Canada – even in areas where high-speed service may not be economically viable," said Eric Li, president of Huawei Canada, in a press release.
For those following the Huawei story this…
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GATINEAU – On Tuesday, the CRTC sent a letter to all parties to its ongoing review of the wireless industry asking what they think of newly announced device financing plans.
Over the past two weeks, both Rogers and Telus have decided to separate the cost of the device from the costs of the service on their bills, to consumers who want that, allowing them to pay for new handsets separately. While Telus has limited such contracts to 24 months, Rogers is now letting customers pay for devices over 36 months, if they like.
“The Wireless Code (the Code) is…
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Von Finckenstein rebuts Menzies
IN THE JULY 3 EDITION of the Report on Business, former vice-chair of telecom Peter Menzies wrote he believes Ottawa has given the CRTC conflicting directives which will result in a tough road for the current Commission chair, Ian Scott.
I see the issue differently. The federal government has actually issued two helpful directives.
First, the previous government under former Industry Minister Maxime Bernier issued a directive in 2006 putting the emphasis on competition and directing the CRTC, when regulating, to maximize competition in the telecom sector. Now, under ISED Minister Navdeep Bains, today’s…
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OTTAWA – Almost no one goes “off the grid” anymore and most watch TV and surf at the same time.
That’s just a couple of the intersting findings from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s annual look at the state of the nation’s internet—Canada’s Internet Factbook 2019. The survey of more than 2,000 Canadians found that 85% had not gone “off-the-grid” (spent more than one-week offline) in the last year, and only one in five had even disconnected for eight consecutive hours.
The report’s other key findings include:
Boomers and seniors have embraced smartphones. Those 55+ who browse the web using mobile devices…
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ECG, TLN, urge the federal government to intervene
OTTAWA – A total of four companies which had hoped to win a coveted must-carry licence for a national, multi-ethnic, multi-language TV channel have now asked the federal Cabinet to set aside the CRTC’s decision to grant the license to Rogers Communications, which says the vertically integrated company gets to hang onto OMNI for an additional three years.
On Monday, both Ethnic Channels Group (whose proposal was called Voices) and TLN Media Group (whose joint application with Asian Television Network was called CanadaWorld), joined Corriere…
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