MONTREAL – After summer-long public relations campaigns which saw wireless companies and the federal government at each other’s throats, with consumers caught in the middle, the CFOs of Bell and Telus believe the industry must do a far better job of telling Canadians how good they have it in Canada.
“We have to work on our communication of why we’re successful in Canada, why this is a competitive market, why pricing isn’t out of line with what’s happening in the rest of the world,” Telus EVP and CFO John Gossling told attendees at the CIBC Institutional Investor Conference in Montreal…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has launched a new online resource that examines emerging technologies that enable producers to create TV content in new and innovative ways.
Known as InnovaTV, the resource already has 12 presentations designed to provide developers, technologists and creators with a platform to share information on innovation and convergence in the television industry. The presentations include interviews on topics such as t-commerce (transactional interfaces related to digital TV content) and the influence of social networks on television consumption.
“Using video interviews and short blog articles, the site encourages television producers and broadcasters to share…
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TORONTO – Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan told investors on Wednesday what many had already expected: None of Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, or T-Mobile USA have submitted applications to take part in the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction here, he wrote in a note to clients, after speaking with officials at each company.
This is good news for Canadian telecom shareholders. “We believe the absence of a large US operator removes a threat for the Canadian wireless carriers,” he wrote. “We believe their decisions to not enter is due to their focus on the domestic market, the lack of attractive return…
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TORONTO – U.S telecom giant AT&T decided against expanding north of the border citing "not enough room for four players in Canada", according to a report aired Tuesday by BNN anchor Howard Green.
In a confidential memo obtained by BNN, a highly-placed telecom industry source wrote that AT&T had looked at Wind Mobile and Mobilicity "in detail" and passed. BNN also reported that AT&T, Vodafone and Norway's Telenor have all considered bidding for wireless spectrum in Canada. Telenor is a 33% owner (with 43% voting rights) in Vimpelcom, the company that owns Wind Mobile. Both AT&T and Telenor declined to…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media has promoted Hayden Mindell to the newly created role of vice president of television programming & content, Rogers Media, effective immediately.
Mindell (pictured) joined Rogers in 2001 and was most recently director of programming & general manager for specialties under Malcolm Dunlop, who has since left the company. As Cartt.ca noted last month, this new role will see Mindell responsible for the programming and multiplatform strategy for all non-sports Rogers Media television assets (City, FX Canada, OLN, OMNI Television, G4, and BIO), plus oversee the submission, development, and production of original Canadian programming for all Rogers…
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VANCOUVER – Two of the country’s biggest unions say they’re happy that Verizon has decided against entering Canada’s wireless market, but stress that should not take public focus off the problems plaguing the telecommunications industry.
The newly merged Telecommunication Workers Union (TWU) and United Steelworkers (USW) said Monday that they support parliamentary hearings and on-going public debate about Canada’s telecommunications policy.
"We clearly and consistently pointed out that giving Verizon preferential access to Canada's wireless infrastructure and spectrum would be a bad deal for Canadian workers and consumers," said Lee Riggs, national president of the TWU, which represents 13,000 Telus, Shaw and other…
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WHILE VARIOUS wireless executives received e-mails this week from Industry Canada officials cautioning them on speaking with the media about the 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction, both EastLink and Wind mobile confirmed Monday they will take part.
Initial deposits from any company interested in bidding on the spectrum during the auction which will kick off January 14th, are due Tuesday at noon. While speculation will likely rage on for days now, it is hoped that Industry Canada will release a public list of participants by September 25th. While it’s a lock that the likes of Rogers, Telus, Bell, Videotron, SaskTel,…
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WASHINGTON – American wireless giant AT&T told the Federal Communications Commission it will support interoperability in the lower 700MHz band, the so-called A Block, starting in the fourth quarter of 2015.
“Challenges in the lower 700 MHz band have left the 700 MHz A Block vulnerable to interference and largely undeployed. Now, under the leadership of Chairwoman (Mignon) Clyburn and her staff, an industry consensus has emerged that offers a path to achieving interoperability in the band,” said Joan Marsh, AT&T vice-president-federal regulatory, in a company release.
“AT&T, for its part, has committed to investing considerable time and resources to the…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) provided $371.8M in funding to 574 productions in the 2012-2013 fiscal year, according to its just-released online annual report that outlines its role in shaping Canada’s creative economy and digital future.
A total of 489 television and related digital media productions were supported through its Convergent Stream and 85 innovative and interactive digital media projects through its Experimental Stream.
In addition to its financial support, the CMF also continued to provide industry intelligence to its stakeholders through the publication of nine research projects and white papers, plus launched TMC Resource Kit, an…
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AJAX, ON – ATX Networks has named Stuart Hillman as regional sales manager for Canada and Alaska.
Hillman joins ATX with many years of experience in the electronic hardware industry, most recently with Power-One Inc. in the UK. He holds a diploma in Electronic Servicing combined with a variety of sales and project management education.
ATX Networks designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of digital video products to the global cable television industry.
www.atxnetworks.com
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