TORONTO, OTTAWA, WINNIPEG and REGINA — Signalling its exit from the wireless network market in the prairie provinces, and just days after it made the original applications, Wind Mobile’s proposed sell-off of AWS-1 spectrum to Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) and SaskTel was approved by Industry Canada on Friday.
In separate announcements, MTS said it will pay $45 million to buy 15 MHz of paired AWS-1 spectrum in Manitoba from Wind Mobile, while SaskTel will acquire six licences of paired AWS-1 spectrum in Saskatchewan for an undisclosed sum.
Industry Canada approved the two spectrum licence transfer deals Friday morning, publishing its separate…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) has chosen Reynolds Mastin as its new president and CEO, filling the vacancy left by Michael Hennessy, who retired from the association earlier this summer.
“On behalf of the CMPA board of directors, I would like to first of all thank Michael Hennessy for his contribution to the association and to the industry over the past three years. It has been an honour working with Michael and I’d like to wish him the very best,” Jamie Brown, chair of the CMPA board of directors, said in a press release. (Prior to…
Continue Reading
DAUPHIN, MB — Continuing its chain of self-congratulatory press releases as we near an election, the federal government today sent out yet another missive touting high-speed Internet for rural voters. Meanwhile, it still does nothing for the urban poor who can’t afford the broadband that passes right by their homes already.
Anyhoo, in today’s press release, Robert Sopuck, Member of Parliament for Dauphin–Swan River–Marquette in Manitoba, announced the federal government’s investment in Manitoba NetSet for high-speed Internet services targetting nearly 10,000 homes in the rural Parkland region of the province.
This is the latest in a recent series of announcements…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The CRTC’s recent wholesale wireline decision fails to adequately take into account the significant growth on online video, both regulated and exempt, says regional CRTC commissioner for Ontario Raj Shoan.
In a dissenting opinion to last week’s Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-326, he argues that because telecommunications and broadcasting are now being delivered to Canadians over a single pipe, this requires a brand new approach to wholesale services regulation.
“In essence, under the current legislative framework, the Internet, through market forces, consumer use, and industry development, is evolving from a telecommunications service into a broadcasting service. The implications…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA — Canada’s ability to compete globally in the digital economy is being hindered by an ongoing shortage in skilled ICT professionals that might potentially worsen in the future, according to a new research study from the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC).
Canada continues to face an “acute” ICT skills shortage primarily due to job growth outpacing the supply of graduates, and the skills gap in meeting current and future industry needs, according to a blog post on ICTC’s website.
The new ICTC report, Digital Economy Supply: Canada’s Post-Secondary Education Stream, reveals that the anticipated cumulative hiring requirements in…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Wind Mobile announced on Monday the appointment of Glen Campbell as its new chief commercial officer (CCO).
“We are delighted to welcome Glen as our new CCO. His strong telecom and investment industry understanding will further strengthen Wind as the company solidifies its place in the Canadian wireless landscape,” Alek Krstajic, CEO of Wind Mobile, said in a press release.
Reporting to Krstajic, Campbell will be responsible for Wind’s sales and distribution, marketing, brand and communications, and customer care operations. Campbell’s previous position was with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he served as head of Canada equity research…
Continue Reading
VICTORIA, B.C. — Vecima Networks of Victoria, B.C., has been awarded $4.6 million in funding from Industry Canada to expand its YourLink network infrastructure in rural Saskatchewan. YourLink currently provides high-speed wireless Internet services to approximately 10,000 residential and business subscribers across the province.
“With this joint funding, we will undertake a significant upgrade and expansion of our Saskatchewan network infrastructure over the next two years,” Vecima’s President and CEO, Sumit Kumar, said in a press release. “We are happy after a rigorous evaluation process that our proposal was selected. Our program will bring the availability…
Continue Reading
STRATHROY, ON; NORTH BATTLEFORD and LA RONGE, SK – Ontario’s TekSavvy and Execulink Telecom and Saskatchewan’s SaskTel and YourLink are the latest four Internet service providers to benefit from the federal government’s Connecting Canadians program.
In the first of three announcements this week, Industry Canada said that TekSavvy and Execulink will receive a total of $3.15 million to connect over 11,000 homes in southwestern Ontario to faster Internet services. This investment will benefit 30 communities in southwestern Ontario, including over 5,000 households in the Lambton Kent Middlesex region.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of April 2018, and will deliver Internet…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canada’s largest communications companies acknowledge that high speed Internet is now critical for Canadians to participate in the digital economy, but they remain divided as to whether the basic service objective (BSO) should be amended to include broadband.
It’s already “self-evident,” according to Rogers Communications Inc., that broadband is a basic telecommunications service because Canadians require it to access government, health, education, business and entertainment services.
“High-speed broadband Internet access is a necessary prerequisite for Canadians to participate in the digital economy in a meaningful way and almost all Canadians now have access to this important service,” it writes…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Save the date for NextMedia 2015 which will take place November 9 – 10 at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto.
The event caters annually to the who’s who in the digital content industry, attracting forward-thinking producers, content publishers, and marketers, with a focus on connecting creators to leading decision makers in the media industry.
Highlights will include a special keynote from David Hayes, head of creative strategy at Tumblr, as well as the annual Digi Awards. Applications are now open to projects in 10 categories across the fields of video, marketing, advertising, mobile and gaming produced by Canadian…
Continue Reading
