TORONTO – Wind Mobile’s “best quarter ever” was overshadowed by speculation that the wireless carrier could be sold or merged with another Canadian company.
Jo Lunder, CEO of Wind’s Amsterdam-based financial backer VimpelCom, sparked the rumours Wednesday morning while on a call discussing the global telco’s first quarter financial results. When asked about its Canadian operations, Lunder alluded to discussions with different players in this market to either sell Wind or combine it and take “a smaller position in a larger entity”. He added his plans would have been different had VimpelCom been able to take control of Wind Mobile. (As…
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By John Lawford and Geoffrey White
JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH WROTE: “Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.” Case in point: even though the 700 MHz auction is over, and most of the AWS new entrants have been swallowed up by the Big Three, or are about to be, business appears to still be thriving for some economists intent on knocking the Government’s attempts to instill more competition in Canada’s wireless sector.
For the most part these type of reports offer a paternalistic, if not patronizing, view of the consumer interest. The story, or…
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TORONTO – With connected car technology expected to be the norm in new vehicles very soon, the roll-out of increasingly feature-rich in-dash infotainment systems is slowly turning cars into gadgets. Industry experts who took part in a special panel called “The Connected Car – Dash to the Future” at Canadian Music Week in Toronto last week spoke about the impact the connected car will have on traditional radio businesses, while also addressing concerns about distracted driving and road safety.
“The car is really a gadget now,” said Rahul Misra, director of automotive sales engineering for Aha Radio, a division of…
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TORONTO – Allstream is teaming up with Cisco Canada to increase the capacity of its 30,000-plus kilometre national IP fibre optic network.
As part of its 2014 plan, Allstream will deploy a comprehensive IP Next Generation Network built on Cisco's latest technology which will help the company consolidate platforms, streamline its network, and unleash faster provisioning to customers, reads the company’s news release.
"As more Canadian businesses take advantage of video and other data collaboration tools, demand for bandwidth continues to grow," said Allstream president Michael Strople, in the release. "With these network enhancements, Allstream will be able to offer Canadian…
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TORONTO – In a digital media world where TV viewers can choose when and where they want to be entertained, content producers and distributors are betting big on live events as a way to keep people engaged with their TV channels.
“Live events such as the Oscars, Grammys, Golden Globes and BAFTAs are front-and-centre in our coverage planning,” said, Michael Dutton, global director of entertainment products for the Associated Press (AP), who participated Wednesday afternoon in a panel discussion on “The Future of Entertainment” at the Digital Media Summit in Toronto as part of Canadian Music Week 2014.
AP licenses video…
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TORONTO – Describing radio as an industry “under attack (because) everybody wants our audiences,” Eric Rhoads, publisher of U.S. industry magazine Radio Ink, kicked off the “Inside the Executive Suite” discussion at Canadian Music Week last Wednesday by asking Canadian radio executives how many hours a week they typically work.
While answers varied, it’s safe to say Canadian radio bosses are working upwards of 60 hours a week to lead their respective organizations through the ongoing migration to digital platforms.
Paul Ski, CEO of radio and regional broadcast operations for Rogers Broadcasting, said his work schedule is “very fluid” but added:…
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MONTREAL – By fixating on promoting the emergence of a fourth wireless carrier in each of Canada's regional markets, the federal government has lost sight of the ultimate goal of promoting the development of a dynamic, efficient telecommunications industry, says a new research paper released Tuesday by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI).
The paper, The State of Competition in Canada's Telecommunications Industry – 2014, says that the current government has committed itself to relying on market forces as much as possible to achieve its telecom policy objectives. But this orientation has been contradicted by set-asides, spectrum caps, mandatory network…
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OTTAWA – “Combined, the new entrants spent about $3 billion to acquire spectrum, build networks and go after subscribers,” said John Bitove, the chairman of foundering wireless company Mobilicity – as well as the yet-to-launch Feenix Wireless, which purchased spectrum in this year’s 700 MHz spectrum auction.
He was speaking to delegates at the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Biennial National Conference on New Developments in Communications Law and Policy held in Ottawa last week in a session on the success, or failure, of Canadian wireless policy. Panellists, which also included economist Steven Globerman, Rogers’ Ken Engelhart, and lawyer George…
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OTTAWA – The fact that 700 MHz wireless spectrum (taken back from TV broadcasters in 2011 and sold to wireless companies for $5.3 billion earlier this year) will continue to be used to transmit all sorts of video, shows proof we must look at rewriting the legislation governing the broadcasting industry, according to former CRTC commissioner Suzanne Lamarre.
She was speaking Thursday at last week’s Law Society of Upper Canada’s Biennial National Conference on New Developments in Communications Law and Policy held in Ottawa. “The 700 MHz band, formerly designated for over-the-air television… has officially been taken over by wireless…
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OTTAWA – Industry Canada has approved a transfer of spectrum licence held by Latitude Wireless Inc. to Bell Mobility Inc.
On January 9, 2014, Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE), Latitude and Bell Mobility submitted a joint transfer request to Industry Canada, requesting the transfer of a cellular spectrum licence in the Yukon Territory (excluding Whitehorse) between Latitude and Bell Mobility.
After assessing the proposed transfer against the policy objectives and the criteria set out in the Transfers Framework, Industry Canada determined that the transfer request was made in the context of an internal reorganization, and that the transaction will not result…
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