WHILE WE’LL STILL be covering the news as it happens on Cartt.ca, our newsletters are taking a little holiday break. Today’s newsletter will be the final regular one until January 4th as those of us at Cartt.ca pause to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.
If there’s REALLY BIG news over the holidays, we’ll be on it of course, but the entire industry generally quiets down quite a bit between now and the first week of January so that’s when we schedule our break, too.
We’ll be coming back strong right away in the new year as Cartt.ca consumer electronics editor…
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KEITH PELLEY DOESN’T DO caffeine. He’s already wired.
“Can’t drink caffeine,” he says. “I don’t need the energy.”
Late this past summer, the unfailingly exuberant Pelley made the surprising leap from CTV to Rogers Media, jumping from the country’s biggest TV company, the highest rated national TV network and owner of TSN, the top-rated sports channel where Pelley began his TV career, to a far smaller TV business.
At the time, many considered Pelley the odds-on favourite to replace CTV CEO Ivan Fecan. Now, whether Pelley knew for sure the Bell folks were coming in and unlikely to give him the…
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TORONTO – Mobilicity announced early this morning it now has over 50,000 wireless customers. This milestone comes with the key holiday sales period still ahead and just one month after launching in three new markets.
"Mobilicity is thriving and is on track to account for approximately 10% of the Canadian wireless industry’s growth in subscribers this quarter with three of our key markets open for only six weeks," said Mobilicity president and CEO Dave Dobbin, in a press release.
"We are proud of achieving so much in so short a time period and look to Canadians’ thirst for more…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – A direct marketing company has agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty after being caught violating the country’s do not call list rules.
Xentel DM Inc., which has offices in Toronto, Calgary, and the U.S., paid the administrative monetary penalty to the Receiver General for Canada after receiving a notice of violation from the CRTC, the Commission said Friday.
A CRTC investigation found that Xentel made calls to consumers who had registered their numbers on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) and promoted events on its own behalf or on the behalf of organizations that were not registered…
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OTTAWA – Budgets are set and regulations are being drafted for the new anti-spam law, an Industry Canada official told the Senate Transport and Communications committee this week.
Bill C-28, the latest Conservative effort to enshrine anti-spam legislation, was tabled in the House of Commons this fall and quickly passed through the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in a single hearing.
Among other things, it will give the Competition Bureau the ability to target deceptive marketing practices, the CRTC the right to combat unsolicited commercial e-mail, and the Office of the Privacy Commission the authority to fight…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Government’s decision to oppose a new tax on MP3 players and smart phones as part of its copyright legislation received votes of confidence from the wireless industry and a business coalition, but faced claims of “political manipulation” from ACTRA.
After Wednesday’s announcement, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) issued its opinion in which it said that the government “definitely got this right."
"This is absolutely the right decision for consumers as the Government moves forward with its digital economy strategy”, said CWTA president and CEO, Bernard Lord, in the statement. “We don’t agree that law-abiding consumers should…
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NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ont. – Long-time head of the Canadian Cable Television Association, Michael Hind-Smith, died December 3rd from complications due to cancer. He was 80.
Hind-Smith was the longest-serving CCTA president and CEO and oversaw a period of massive growth and change in the cable business during his 15 years (1975-1990) heading the now defunct organization.
“He was such a good representative for the cable industry,” Rogers Communications vice-chairman Phil Lind told Cartt.ca in an interview. “He had some terrific battles with the CRTC (pay-TV, specialty channels, “6 and 5”, pole access) but he kept the association together for a long time….
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TORONTO – The future of cable is “outstanding”. Just ask Louis Audet, the president and CEO of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Cable.
Speaking with Cartt.ca prior to presenting the company’s 2010 financial results to shareholders in Toronto last week, Audet shared Cogeco’s plans for wireless, why he’s not worried about Netflix, and his thoughts on vertical integration in Canada.
“There are good reasons to believe that”, Audet said about his unshakeable belief in the cable industry’s rosy future. “It’s not a wanton statement.” A perfect example of cable’s ability to evolve is Cogeco’s plans to trial addressable advertising in Canada next year. “This…
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TORONTO – Primus Canada has achieved industry classifications for the highest available standards for measuring data centre operations and management at its seven data centres across Canada.
The company announced Wednesday that it has secured full Payment Card Industry compliance, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants section 5970 Type B, and Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 70 Type II certifications.
"Primus is extremely pleased to have achieved these important industry designations for our data centres," said Jeff Lorenz, VP of sales and marketing, in the announcement. "Due to the high level of security and network operations required to run an effective and…
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MONTREAL and HAMILTON – This is something the entire Canadian TV and advertising industry will watch very closely.
Cogeco Cable said Monday it has entered into agreements with Invidi Technologies and Channel Zero to trial the Invidi Advatar addressable targeted advertising system with TV broadcaster CHCH.
Advatar lets television advertisers deliver tailored messaging to individual households during a commercial break. This technology uses public domain demographic information to accurately pinpoint consumer needs and interests, enhancing the relevance of advertising commercials to unique viewers, as Cartt.ca has reported previously.
Addressable advertising simply put, means more efficiency for everyone. Media buyers can market to specific…
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