By Connie Thiessen
Toronto radio veteran Julie James is joining Evanov Communications.
Starting Monday, Oct. 5, James will take on the dual role of Assistant Brand Manager of Evanov’s flagship Top 40/Dance station, Z103.5 (CIDC-FM) Orangeville and Classic Hits/AC format, Lite 92.1 (CKPC-FM) Brantford.
James most recently served as APD for Toronto’s CHFI and was the National Head of Pop Programming for Rogers Sports & Media. Prior to her 15-year run with Rogers, James was a Content Director at Corus Entertainment’s 103.1 Fresh Radio (CFHK-FM) London and the former 92.5 JOE FM (CKNG-FM) in Edmonton. Prior to that, she was the longtime host…
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Videotron claims it is also owed $2.8M in BAI deal; Rogers claims Videotron owes it $4M
By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor’s Videotron is suing Rogers for $151 million over aspects of its acquisition of Freedom Mobile.
Videotron filed a detail-less six-page notice of action in Ontario Superior Court last year that alleged Rogers owed it $91 million in breaches of the Freedom sale agreement, which required Rogers and Shaw to offload the mobile wireless subsidiary to merge. The transactions – Rogers buying Shaw and Quebecor buying Freedom (formerly Wind Mobile) – closed in April 2023.
Since then, Rogers and Quebecor have…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Ontario Superior Court earlier this year upheld a decision by an arbitrator who ruled that Rogers cannot offer its credit card in Glentel stores, which are co-owned by the cable giant and Bell.
The dispute dates back to 2024, when Rogers took the retailer to the same court over its decision to pull the cable giant’s Mastercard, which was offered starting in September that year as a bundle with its telecom services. Bell told the retailer that it believed the distribution of the cards was a violation of the telecoms’ agreement, which has a…
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Regulator pointed to importance of news
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC approved Thursday the transfer of Corus’s broadcasting licences to a new parent company, NewCo, that will be held by its debtholders, who will forgive $500 million in debt hanging over the media company.
Quebecor, which wanted to buy Corus and did not respond to a request for comment, was the big opposition to the transfer, alleging the media company did not follow-up on its offer to buy and NewCo shareholders will not have the expertise to operate such a business. Corus, which pushed back against…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Canada’s largest telecoms are welcoming news that the federal government will invest in a national internet backbone.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto on Tuesday that the government will spend money from private investment, including in the country’s four largest airports, on “new nation-building infrastructure, including a sovereign broadband backbone” that connects Canadians across the country “with more direct and secure links to Europe and Asia.”
When reached for comment, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) only added Wednesday: “Further details regarding the initiative will be provided in due course.”
One…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Wednesday made projects focused on redundant networks eligible for Broadband Fund money.
The regulator confirmed a preliminary review that such projects, which ensure networks are backed up in cases of outages, should be subsidized. A resiliency project is defined by the commission as a second transport route “that provides a similar or greater level of capacity as the existing route but that is geographically or technologically diverse.” This can also apply to satellite projects.
“The benefits of high-speed Internet and cellphone services can only be fully delivered with reliable access,” the CRTC said in its decision….
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers and Telus want the Federal Court of Appeal to determine whether the CRTC adequately established why it believes the three largest telecoms may be violating a new rule that bans fees discouraging customers from switching providers.
The CRTC launched a show-cause proceeding on June 30 ordering Rogers, Bell and Telus to show why their new device setup and SIM card fees are not in violation of the June 12 rule that eliminates fees on activation, changing and canceling internet and wireless plans. The proceeding came before the Big Three tried…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers’s chief financial officer said Tuesday that offsetting the CRTC’s ban on activation fees has become part of the company’s strategy.
“The headwinds we have going into the second half of this year are coming from the ongoing effects of that first quarter discounting, but then also the CRTC regulation around fees,” Glenn Brandt said at the BMO TMT conference Tuesday. “As all of us adjust to figure out how to offset the loss of that fee income … we’re all doing it with setup fees, shipping fees, delivery fees that have always been there, but they become more…
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Telecom now says bulk agreements can be good for customers
Beanfield Technologies Inc. has withdrawn a complaint filed to the CRTC in September 2023 that alleged Rogers’s bulk internet service agreement practices in multi-dwelling unit (MDU) buildings were giving the cable giant an undue advantage.
In a letter made public on the CRTC’s website on Sept. 10, the telecom regulator said Beanfield submitted a letter to the commission on Aug. 14 withdrawing its Part 1 application in which it had complained Rogers’s practices served to limit competition and were inconsistent with the CRTC’s MDU…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell President and CEO Mirko Bibic said Thursday that Northwestel’s prospective buyer, a consortium of indigenous organizations known collectively as Sixty North Unity, is still discussing a critical component of the deal: funding.
“That is very much an active file,” Bibic said in response to a question about the deal during the Bank of America Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference in New York. “We’re working through with the potential new investors there how to structure it. They’re in discussions with funding partners on their end in order to fund their contribution. Should it proceed, which…
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