Rogers says being singled out is ‘concerning’
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Three days after Rogers closed its acquisition of Shaw, the Competition Bureau launched an investigation into the cable company’s marketing of its “unlimited” wireless plans, saying it is misleading because the speed of the data is throttled after the monthly allotment is used.
The investigation was revealed when the bureau filed a request to the Federal Court this week to compel Rogers to divulge information related to the deceptive practices inquiry, which was launched on April 6.
The competition watchdog claims in its application that Rogers’s marketing of its “Infinite” plans…
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TORONTO – Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau revealed Tuesday during a speech at the Canadian Club Toronto that subsidiary Videotron’s discount wireless brand Fizz will soon expand service to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.
“Thanks to the MVNO framework, our fully digital, disruptive wireless brand Fizz will make its first foray into the West in the coming weeks with a Beta launch in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. This is another big step forward for competition,” Péladeau said in his speech, excerpts of which were provided by Quebecor to Cartt via email.
“Fizz is an entirely different…
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OTTAWA – Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge announced Tuesday the appointment of former Videotron executive Stephanie Paquette to the seat of regional commissioner of Quebec for the CRTC.
The lawyer with nearly 30 years of experience in the media industry will begin a five-year term starting November 23 — in the middle of the first week of the commission’s three-week hearing on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
Paquette has been Videotron’s senior director of content and strategic partnerships for the past six years and director of that area for seven years before that. That means she was responsible for acquisition…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said Thursday that the CRTC must ensure that the final last mile fibre access rates are set appropriately to bolster competition.
Since the CRTC’s decision Monday to allow wholesalers to force negotiations for access on the last bit of Bell’s and Telus’s fibre network to the home, the competitors have been concerned about the rate set for the temporary regime. Some say while it is an important step forward, those interim rates are still significantly higher than what the telcos sell their own services at.
“We are happy that the CRTC has announced its…
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TekSavvy says it is currently not for sale
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell announced Monday evening that it is cutting its fibre investments by over $1 billion in 2024-25 after the CRTC said it must negotiate access with competitors on that network.
The telco said that plan will also include a minimum cut of $500 to $600 million in 2024.
“Bell’s fibre network is now available to over seven million homes and businesses,” Bell said in a press release. “Prior to the CRTC’s decision, Bell’s near-term plan was to build high-speed fibre to nine million locations by the end of 2025. Bell will now…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telus CEO Darren Entwistle said Friday he believes there will a future where the regulatory environment will be tempered by heightened competition and current declining prices despite higher inflation.
“God forgive me for saying this, but I see over the longer term the environment moderating,” Entwistle said during a third-quarter earnings call Friday. “I think a lot of the goals that the federal government has had on the regulatory front have effectively been answered, and I think this is an era to allow free market forces to determine competitive outcomes, not regulatory or government intervention.”
The telecom said…
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By Connie Thiessen
Quebecor-owned TVA Group has announced Thursday major changes “to secure its future at a time of crisis for the global media industry,” that will include the elimination of 547 positions or 31 per cent of the network’s current workforce.
The sweeping layoffs will encompass 300 positions in in-house production, 98 positions related to the operation of TVA’s local stations, and 149 positions in other departments. The media group says employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks notice, from today, with a transition committee established for those who may wish to continue their careers elsewhere within Quebecor.
In its…
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GATINEAU – As of 5 a.m. Monday morning, 214 unionized employees of Quebecor subsidiary Videotron have been locked out at the company’s location in Gatineau.
Videotron announced last Friday in a press release it was serving a lockout notice to Laurentian-area Local SEVL-2815 (Gatineau), a Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local, after 74% of members voted to reject Videotron’s Oct. 10 offer.
The employees’ collective agreement expired on Aug. 31, 2021, and after 18 bargaining sessions with local union representatives and several high-level meetings between Videotron management and CUPE representatives, the two…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC on Thursday is proposing to relax Corus Entertainment’s regulatory obligations on an “exceptional basis,” as the pure-play media company saw a dramatic decline in its financials over the year.
Corus sent an application to the regulator last Wednesday stating that high inflation, its sub-$1 share price, and its debt-to-liquid cash ratio reaching “unacceptable levels” after the content company saw a 61 per cent free cash decline over the previous year have put it in a precarious position with rapidly declining profitability. The company said it has had to halve its dividend since its November…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor is patting itself on the back as Statistics Canada’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, released Tuesday, indicates cellular phone service prices have fallen considerably since this time last year.
In a press release distributed Tuesday afternoon, Quebecor claims “the decisive factor in the decline of Canadian wireless service prices shown this morning in Statistics Canada’s monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) report is increased competition from Videotron, Fizz and Freedom Mobile.”
Quebecor notes in its release the overall CPI rose 3.8 per cent on a year-over-year basis between September 2022…
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