OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC and the Competition Bureau signed a Letter of Agreement Wednesday that calls for closer cooperation between the two agencies.
The agreement, among other things, calls for the sharing of best practices through joint training exercises of employees and knowledge transfer sessions, plus provides for the creation of an employee exchange program. The two agencies have also committed to semi-annual meetings between senior management to discuss further avenues for cooperation and collaboration.
“This agreement will allow us to build upon our longstanding relationship with the Competition Bureau in areas of mutual interest, said CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais, in the announcement. …
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MONTREAL – Bell, Rogers, Telus and Videotron said Wednesday that they are teaming up on a new $50 million mobile network for the Montréal metro, a move that will make that city one of the first in the world equipped with a 4G LTE mobile underground network on its subway system.
Within the next five to seven years, some 900,000 daily metro users will be able to browse the web, download music, and make and receive calls as 3G, 4G and 4G LTE technologies are deployed throughout the metro network, including in subway cars, tunnels and stations.
The Société de transport…
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OTTAWA – As widely suspected, no foreign wireless carriers were named as potential bidders for the 700 MHz wireless spectrum according to the list released by Industry Canada early Monday morning.
The 15 potential bidders includes incumbents Bell Mobility, Telus and Rogers Communications, as well as regional carriers MTS, SaskTel, T-Bay Tel, EastLink/Bragg Communications and Videotron. Also named is Wind Mobile parent Globalive Wireless, fixed-wireless operator Vecima and Vancouver-based Novus Wireless.
While new entrant Mobilicity is not on the list, another company owned by its chairman John Bitove, known as Feenix Wireless Inc. is, as is private equity investors Birch Hill Equity Partners and The Catalyst…
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MONT TREMBLANT – With the number of people using anything but a television set to watch TV growing rapidly, the CRTC is betting a lot on the upcoming review of all things television, set to begin this fall. In short, it wants to dramatically change the way it conducts its business.
Vice-chair telecom Peter Menzies gave delegates to the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Connect Conference an early look into the Commission’s Communications Monitoring Report which is being released this week – and tied it into the TV Review, which will begin soon with a direct discussion with Canadians, or “as…
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OTTAWA – The lack of bids from foreign wireless players means the federal government should rethink its goal of having four wireless providers in every market in Canada, say telecom industry analysts.
Reacting to the list of bidders for the 700 MHz wireless spectrum released early Monday, Dvai Ghose, Managing Director/Head of Research for Canaccord Genuity told clients that the list proves that the “outcome of the summer war between the (wireless) incumbents and the Government has resulted in a victory for the incumbent carriers”.
“In summary, we view the list as a key positive for the incumbents and a key…
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REGINA – SaskTel has rolled out a targeted launch of its high speed fusion Internet service, a new fixed wireless LTE-TDD service for wireless broadband Internet (WBBI) customers receiving service from specific towers in the province.
Those towers are located in Climax, Hodgeville, Milestone, Avonlea, Blewett, Caron, Hirsch, Mankota, Maryfield, Orkney, Pangman and Central Butte, where SaskTel high throughput datellite service is not available. A deployment schedule will be announced in November, and WBBI customers receiving service from these 12 towers will be required to migrate to a new service within 30 days after the deployment of the high speed…
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MONTREAL – Jacques Parisien, Bell Media’s president of national specialty and pay TV, radio, and out-of-home (and the man pitched to be the company's leader in Quebec) is surprisingly, leaving the company at the end of the year.
Before joining Bell Media, Parisien was the executive vice-president and COO of Astral Media Inc. and president of Astral Radio where he was responsible for the company's operation and growth strategy. He has spent his professional career in the communications industry, having worked for many years at Telemedia before joining Astral.
"I have been at Astral for nearly two decades. I have seen…
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MONT TREMBLANT ? One of the industry'?s most enjoyable gatherings begins Sunday in Mont Tremblant, CCSA Connect, the annual general meeting and conference of the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance.
While one of the highlights will be the presentation of the brand new cable community channel programming award-winners on Monday night (the winners can be found here), the three days in the resort is dedicated to learning ? and some fun.
After a members-only day on Sunday the 22nd of various workshops (where members will be filled in on their new marketing kits, various regulatory files and a…
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MONTREAL – Industry veteran Ken New has joined Incospec as vice president, sales & business development.
New (pictured) has more than 30 years of sales, marketing, technology and management expertise within the telecommunications industry, including positions with Motorola (GI), ComLink Systems, Cabletel and Maclean Hunter Cable TV. He was also the owner/operator of Angstrom Communications Inc. which provided project management and services to the cable television and broadcast markets.
In his new role, New will be responsible for expanding Incospec’s operations into Western Canada…
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TORONTO – Broadcasting veteran Paul Ski is the 2014 recipient of the Allan Waters Broadcast Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding success in broadcasting. He will be inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame on May 8, 2014 as part of Canadian Music Week.
An award-winning radio broadcaster, Ski has more than 30 years of radio broadcasting experience, most recently as CEO of the radio division of Rogers Media where he oversees the company's 55 radio stations across Canada. Prior to this role, he served as president of CHUM's radio division, playing a significant role in the…
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