WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE highest profile issue CRTC commissioners will tackle beginning next week’s policy hearings on broadcast distribution undertakings and specialty services is fee-for-carriage. That is, paying a new subscription fee for over-the-air broadcast stations.
As the rules now stand the regulatory bargain is such that cable and satellite and telco TV must carry conventional local TV stations low in their channel lineups and must substitute Canadian signals over top of American ones when the programming is the same. We’ve come to know that part as simultaneous substitution. In return, distributors have not ever had to pay the…
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EDMONTON — Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. is opening a new Internet Data Centre (IDC) in Edmonton to provide better IT support to local small and medium-sized businesses by housing and managing computer server hardware and software assets in Alberta.
The data centre in its first phase will have 4,000 square feet of raised floor space with options for 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, full-sized and custom cages for collocation space.
The expansion has resulted in Primus hiring 12 additional sales employees and five network staff in Edmonton , and seven sales employees in Calgary.
“Our SMB customers have told us that…
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INVIDI TECHNOLOGIES CEO DAVID DOWNEY has been long been dining out on John Wanamaker’s now ancient and clichéd quote: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
It’s been a key portion of Downey’s presentations to investors and industry folks for years. Now Wanamaker, the innovative American department store pioneer (he’s said to have invented the price tag and the “sale”) died in the 1920s, so one would think that we have progressed beyond the late retailer’s ad spend calculations over the century or so since he spoke those words….
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OTTAWA – Niagara Networks isn’t on the list of 27 companies that qualified to participate in the auction for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum that Industry Canada released Monday.
Niagara Networks, which acquired wireless spectrum in a May auction, had the highest deposit of $881.4 million when Industry Canada issued on March 14 its list of participants intending to participate in the auction.
But added to the list was Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, a financial backer of a planned bid by entrepreneur John Bitove to acquire wireless spectrum. The group is bidding under the name Data &…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has given its approval, subject to certain conditions, to the purchase of BCE Inc.’s broadcasting assets by the group headed by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and three U.S. private equity firms.
“The application proposed to privatize the country’s largest communications company and included significant foreign interest,” wrote CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein in the decision. “Consistent with previous decisions, we have imposed conditions to address our concerns relating to corporate governance. These conditions will ensure that control of BCE remains in Canadian hands once the transaction is completed.”
The CRTC set out six major…
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TORONTO – Seven broadcast journalists will be honoured this spring with lifetime achievement awards presented by RTNDA Canada – The Association of Electronic Journalists.
The seven are Doug Collins, Vicki Gabereau, Vern Coop, Mike McCourt, Tom Young, Dan McLean, and Gord Harris.
The awards will be presented at the RTNDA Regional Pro Dev Seminars in Kamloops on April 26th, in Calgary on May 10th, Fredericton on May 31st, and at the Central Awards Banquet June 19th during the RTNDA National Conference in Ottawa.
“On behalf of RTNDA Canada, let me congratulate these exceptional broadcasters,” said Bob McLaughlin, President of…
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TORONTO – It’s all about the users. That’s the underlying theme to this year’s Canadian Telecom Summit, taking place June 16-18 in Toronto.
Bringing together the people who are transforming Canada’s telecommunications industry, the 2008 Summit will feature 20 keynote speakers and 50 panelists discussing the theme “Maintaining relevance for the customer”.
Leaders of some of the major players in the mobile wireless auction will share their perspectives, including Nadir Mohamed, President and COO of Rogers Communications, who will open the conference on June 16, Pierre Blouin, CEO of MTS Allstream, and Robert Depatie, President and CEO of Videotron….
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TORONTO – Two years after launch, satellite radio company XM Canada now has 400,000 subscribers its parent company, Canadian Satellite Radio, announced today, after having added 50,000 in its last fiscal quarter, ended February 29, 2008.
"An increasing proportion of our subscriber base is coming from our rapidly growing automotive channel, which is a key segment for long-term success in our industry," said Michael Moskowitz, president and CEO, in a press release.
"In addition to strong growth in automotive, we continued to gain momentum this quarter in retail sales due to our NHL exclusivity, strategic partnerships and strong Canadian consumer…
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WASHINGTON – The 700 MHz auction Stateside has raised a record total of US$19.592 billion, the Federal Communications Commission has announced.
That particular band of spectrum is the block about to be vacated by conventional television broadcasters when they switch to fully digital over-the-air transmission in February of 2009.
The $19.592 billion in revenue raised in the 700 MHz auction is significantly more than raised in any past FCC auction. In comparison, the 2006 Advanced Wireless Service-1 (AWS-1) Auction raised $13.9 billion.
As most are aware, Canada is in the beginning stages of its own AWS auction and total…
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TORONTO – The Canwest Emerging Writers Program and the Canwest Showrunner Training Program were launched today by the Banff World Television Festival and Canwest.
The two programs, part of the $140 million cultural benefits package coming out of Canwest’s purchase of Alliance Atlantis, “aim to build a solid foundation for the development and future success of innovative home-grown television series,” says the press release.
They will officially launch at the 29th Banff World Television Festival, taking place at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada, June 8 – 11, 2008.
"We are very excited to announce this extraordinary…
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