EVEN FOR A PROPONENT of spectrum set-asides, mandated roaming and mandated tower sharing, the rules surrounding the 2008 advanced wireless spectrum auction, which were released Wednesday afternoon in Toronto by Industry Minister Jim Prentice, aren’t quite a slam dunk.
MTS Allstream’s regulatory chief Chris Peirce was pleased Industry Canada had accepted his, and others’, argument that a leg up was required for newcomers to enter the space and increase wireless competition in Canada, but was non-committal about putting the rules into practice. “At a policy level, the government and the ministry have clearly gotten it. They understand that…
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TORONTO – Industry minister Jim Prentice is expected to make an announcement later this afternoon on the rules for Industry Canada’s auction of new wireless frequencies next year.
Quebecor and MTS Allstream have been pressuring the government for rules that favour newcomers so they can get a piece of the action more cheaply than in a wide open auction.
The Industry minister will made his announcement at 4:05 p.m. today at Le Royal Méridien King Edward Hotel in Toronto. A question and answer session for the media will follow the announcement.
As well, there is a media lockup for…
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OTTAWA – TELUS said Wednesday it’s “deeply disappointed” with the government’s rules that were announced for the upcoming Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS) auction.
“It (the decision on the rules) is inconsistent with this government’s stated policy of relying on market forces to deliver benefits to Canadian consumers. It also rewards companies that have both the resources and the motivation to bid openly for new available spectrum,” said Janet Yale, executive vice-president, TELUS Corporate Affairs, in a statement. “As a consequence, Canadian taxpayers will receive less than full market value for the new spectrum.”
She added, “TELUS advocated a policy that…
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TORONTO – Canada’s big three wireless incumbents will be wearing handcuffs when the advanced wireless spectrum auction begins on May 27, 2008.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice was in Toronto this afternoon to announce the rules of engagement when the federal government auctions off the 105 MHz worth of spectrum. The auction itself will take two to three weeks.
Of that spectrum, 40 MHz will be set aside for new wireless entrants to bid on alone. The remaining 65 MHz will be open to everyone. “The spectrum being set aside amounts to less than 14% of the total mobile spectrum…
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TORONTO – Paul Brandt was named Monday as the inaugural recipient of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award and Moses Znaimer will receive the 2008 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award in April 2008 at the Juno Awards.
The award given to Brandt, a country musician and philanthropist, recognizes an outstanding Canadian artist who has positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada. Funding for the award comes from the CTV/CHUM benefits package.
Brandt supports several causes, including the Alberta Children’s Hospital, the Alberta Neurofibromatosis Association, the Alberta Torch Run for Special Olympics and the Brandon Cole Memorial Fund, which raises awareness…
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TORONTO – Deborah Lewis has been named as vice-president of communications – television at CanWest MediaWorks, and Jamie Schouela has been promoted to vice-president of marketing strategy at Global Television.
Lewis will be responsible for spearheading external and internal communication efforts for all CanWest conventional and specialty TV networks. With over 15 years of industry experience, she has been involved in the development of communications programs for national and international corporations, including Inside Entertainment, FQ and SIR Magazines, Wire Image, Diesel and Hugo...
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OTTAWA – Higher costs will limit profit growth in Canada’s telecommunication industry to 3.2%, or just over $6 billion, in 2007, according to the Conference Board’s autumn 2007 report, “Canadian Industrial Outlook: Canada’s Telecommunications Industry.”
The report predicts telecom profits will grow at a modest pace to reach $6.3 billion by 2011.
“Even though the telecom services sector has been plagued by weak pricing and sales growth, profits have improved steadily thanks to weak appreciation in material costs,” said principal economist Michael Burt. “However, with cost growth expected to accelerate, profit growth will be sluggish for the rest of…
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TORONTO – Women in Film and Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) and the Directors Guild of Canada – Ontario announced Tuesday that Alison Reid is the winner of the 2007 DGC Ontario Emerging Television Director Award.
She will receive her award at the 2007 Crystal Awards Gala Luncheon on December 3 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
The award provides an emerging Canadian female director with the opportunity to do a two-month creative mentorship with an established TV director and intensive industry coaching with a business and/or legal representative. The mentorship sessions will begin in January 2008.
“DGC…
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OTTAWA – Four Canadian unions protested on Monday outside the CRTC public hearings, calling on the regulator to deny CanWest Global’s acquisition of Alliance Atlantis because it’s backed by U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs. About 50 people showed up for the demonstration on the opening day of the hearings at which CanWest executives, including president and CEO Leonard Asper, are facing questioning by CRTC commissioners.
The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), CWA-Canada and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), all unions that represent workers in Canada’s media,…
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ATLANTA — Scientific Atlanta announced Monday that commitments for its Switched Digital Video (SDV) platform in the United States have exceeded 7 million homes passed.
The company said the milestone demonstates its SDV architecture is open and confidently accepted by the industry.
The announcement follows Scientific Atlanta’s introduction earlier this year of the Universal Session and Resource Manager, which is a software upgrade to existing SDV servers in any network system. It allows operators to maximize their network investment by sharing quadrature amplitude modulators (QAMs) across both video-on-demand (VoD) and switched digital video traffic.
“Scientific Atlanta’s SDV solution provides…
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