Search Results for: industry canada

Cable / Telecom News

Mobilicity puts off sale deadline to February

TORONTO – Mobilicity has pushed back its sale process until February 18, 2014. This marks the second time that the struggling wireless carrier has extended creditor protection as it pursues a court-monitored process to find a buyer.  The Toronto-based company, in which court documents say has about 180,000 wireless customers, was granted creditor protection in September.  The current stay from creditor action expires December 20. Mobilicity has said in court documents that it has a number of parties interested in some, or all, of its assets, and rival Wind Mobile confirmed earlier this month that it was considering a bid. The new sale… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Cisco commits to job creation program in Ontario

TORONTO – Cisco and the Province of Ontario have inked a new 10-year agreement that will help to create at least 1,700 new high tech jobs in the province. The deal, announced Friday by Cisco Canada president Nitin Kawale and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, says Cisco will add up to 1,700 high tech jobs with a focus on R&D within the first six years.  The agreement also includes a framework with the potential to grow Cisco’s total Ontario employee footprint up to 5,000 by 2024, reflecting a potential total investment of up to $4 billion, including $2.2 billion in salaries… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

MTS Allstream and CCO Peirce parting ways

TORONTO – MTS Allstream chief corporate officer Chris Peirce is leaving the company effective December 31, 2013. Peirce (pictured) joined MTS Allstream's predecessor AT&T Canada in 1999 as vice-president, government affairs.  In roles of successive responsibility and breadth within the organization and as an active leader with industry groups, Peirce made significant contributions to the telecommunications policy landscape in Canada while also playing a leading role in shaping MTS Allstream's position on major issues including the contribution subsidy mechanism, competitor network access, anti-competitive behaviour, wireless spectrum auction rules and foreign investment regulations. "Chris has been a key part of the MTS… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Telefilm invests $96.M in funding in F2012/13

MONTREAL – Telefilm Canada celebrated the growing interest in Canadian film, especially on the international scene, at its fifth annual public assembly held this week at the PHI Centre in Montreal. The organization, which is dedicated to the cultural, commercial and industrial success of Canada's audiovisual industry, presented its 2012-2013 annual report which detailed its $96.9 million investment through various funding programs. Highlights from the report include: – Telefilm funding enabled backing for the: Production of 72 feature films Marketing of 94 films Support for 44 Canadian film festivals and 83 industry events – The Canada Media Fund renewed its services agreement with Telefilm as CMF… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Investigates, Radio / Television News

SPORTS TELEVISION: Distributors foot a much bigger bill for sports and worry their video days are numbered

ROGERS COMMUNUCATIONS' BLOCKBUSTER NHL deal puts a direct focus on the sheer costs of sports programming for distributors and their customers, the Canadian consumer. Cartt.ca interviewed several executives across the Canadian television industry (including some distributors who spoke to us on the condition they not be identified) to discuss the impact sports is having on broadcasting in Canada and whether or not the business can survive the spiralling costs of this rich content. Alyson Townsend, president of the independent cable group Canadian Cable System Alliance, said no one should be surprised by the consistent price increases consumers have paid for cable… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

OBITUARY: Cable pioneer Phil Keeping

ST. JOHN’S – Phil Keeping, proud Newfoundlander and founder of cable companies including N1 Cable TV and Cable Bahamas, died suddenly in Mount Pearl, NL on December 9.  He was 65. He fell from a mechanical scissor lift inside a Harley Davidson dealership he owned, reportedly while changing a light fixture. Keeping was involved in the telecommunications and cable TV industry for more than four decades.  After starting his career in the early 1970s as a coast guard in the telecommunications group of Transport Canada, he left to found N1 Cable TV Ltd. in 1986 which, in partnership with Canadian… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

#TalkTV with the CMF

TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is staging a discussion Tuesday about the current state of television as part of the CRTC Let’s Talk TV initiative. Scheduled for December 10 from 3:00 – 4:30 PM ET, the bilingual webcast is intended for producers, broadcasters, and content creators, and will focus around content, technology and viewer experience.  It will be hosted by CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton and Stéphane Cardin, vice president of industry and public affairs. Click here to register. www.cmf-fmc.ca Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Investigates, Radio / Television News

SPORTS TELEVISION: Why rent when you can buy? Why owning the content is better

WHILE THAT LOGIC HAS BEEN applied to real estate, sports networks are using it when it comes to insulating themselves from ever-increasing rights fees. Buoyed by the success it has achieved since the late Ted Rogers bought the Toronto Blue Jays basically as programming for Sportsnet back in 2000 (not to mention as part of the huge “Rogers” branding exercise as wireless phones took off), the media company is looking at owning even more sports properties – and in a deeper fashion. It began last year when Sportsnet got wind that that the Grand Slam of Curling might be coming on… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Wind Mobile ponders bid for rival Mobilicity

TORONTO – Wind Mobile has confirmed that it is among the list of potential bidders for fellow wireless carrier Mobilicity. Under creditor protection since September, Mobilicity announced last month that any interested buyers must formally declare their intentions by December 2 at 10:00 pm ET, and make an official offer by 5:00 pm ET on December 9 to the Monitor, Ernst & Young. Wind CEO Anthony Lacavera issued a statement confirming that his company is “assessing the value” of Mobilicity’s assets, however, added that there is no guarantee that Wind or parent Globalive will make a binding… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Canadian interactive digital media industry “poised for growth”: report

– TORONTO – Canada’s interactive digital media industry is thriving, particularly in three of the country’s largest provinces, according to a new report commissioned by the Canadian Interactive Alliance / Alliance Interactive Canadienne (CIAIC) and created by Nordicity. The report, Canadian Interactive Industry Profile 2012 (CIIP), follows two previous editions of the Canadian Interactive Industry Profiles released in 2006 and 2008, but proposes a revised methodology that includes a more narrowed definition of the digital media industry to provide more of a focus on companies creating true “rich interactive experiences” (in terms of content creation), and those that supply services… Continue Reading