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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Rogers announced Wednesday it is adding exclusive Sportsnet+ content to Rogers Xfinity TV packages at no additional cost, including more than 150 NHL games.
This includes Monday Night Hockey, which starting with the 2026-27 NHL season is exclusive to Sportsnet+, as well as more than 100 additional matchups and other exclusive sports content.
Starting Sept. 29, Rogers is adding three new digital channels with the exclusive content to Rogers Xfinity TV packages that have Sportsnet. Customers do not need to take any action and can use their voice remote to find NHL games, Rogers said in a press release.
“Rogers…
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Rogers and OEG Sports and Entertainment (OEGSE) announced Tuesday they have extended their strategic partnership for another 10 years, keeping Rogers Place as the name of the home of the Edmonton Oilers through 2036.
This extension comes as Rogers Place celebrates its 10-year anniversary. Rogers initially acquired the naming rights to the Edmonton arena beginning with the 2016 NHL season, the year the then-new sports and entertainment facility opened.
To mark the anniversary, Rogers is giving away more than 1,500 Oilers tickets to customers throughout the season, starting with 300 tickets for the team’s home…
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Rogers will sublicence rights to NHL games in French to Quebecor in a 12-year deal beginning this season.
Quebecor’s TVA Sports will broadcast up to 350 regular seasons games, including 32 Montreal Canadiens games and the exclusive rights to playoff games in French. It’s an extension of rights it held in the past.
“Premium sports content such as NHL hockey and Montréal Canadiens games is a unique vehicle for bringing together mass live audiences,” Quebecor President and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said in a press release. “It is a strategic asset that continues to grow in value in a rapidly changing…
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Pension fund La Caisse (formerly CDPQ) announced Wednesday it has invested $1.76 billion to acquire a 24-per-cent stake in Mumbai-based Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust, which owns and operates more than 258,000 telecom towers and sites across India.
With the transaction now complete, global investment firm Brookfield remains Altius’s largest investor, alongside La Caisse and existing shareholders who are affiliates of Singapore’s GIC and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), a La Caisse press release said.
Brookfield and BCI’s investment in Indian telecom tower assets dates back to 2020, when they purchased a 100-per-cent…
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The CRTC last week in a letter asked several independent service providers for information regarding their retail internet subscriber numbers as the commission continues to monitor market conditions to ensure its wholesale high-speed access (HSA) framework achieves its policy objectives.
The commission directed its request for information to IT2IS Inc. (doing business as Bravo Telecom), Carry Telecom Inc., CIK Telecom Inc., Cipherkey Exchange Corp., Execulink Telecom Inc., Fibernetics Corporation, Frontier Networks Inc., Purple Cow Internet Inc., TekSavvy Solutions Inc. and Vianet Inc. Several other independent ISPs were included on the letter’s distribution list, and the CRTC said…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The extent of spectrum sharing between Bell and Telus increased from 45 per cent to 90 per cent of each company’s total spectrum licence holdings following four new approvals this past fall to subordinate spectrum to each other, the department handling the airwaves confirmed to us.
Cartt obtained a backgrounder document on the state of spectrum sharing between the country’s largest telcos, which dates back to 2008. In it, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), which encourages such sharing, notes that since 2013, the department has approved about 20 separate joint requests from Bell and Telus to share…
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Rogers announced Wednesday it has expanded its 5G+ wireless network to Salisbury, New Brunswick, to help meet the area’s growing needs and ensure reliable access to emergency services.
“We know how important it is for New Brunswickers to stay connected and we’re investing to enhance our wireless network in Salisbury,” Mark Kennedy, Rogers’s chief technology officer, said in a press release. “This new 5G+ service will strengthen connectivity for local residents and businesses in the community.”
“We welcome investments that expand reliable connectivity in Salisbury and appreciate the work undertaken by Rogers to ensure that our residents can…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Internet service provider Uplink is asking the CRTC to stop Frontier from continuing to disconnect its customers over a pay dispute until it can migrate them to a new provider.
While it disputes the amount, Aylmer, Ontario-based Uplink acknowledges in its Part 1 application, made public Friday, that it does owe some amount of money to its Etobicoke-based wholesale internet provider Frontier, which supplies capacity leased from Rogers and Eastlink. Uplink says it is “prepared to discuss a reasonable interim payment arrangement while the migrations are completed,” including by direction from the CRTC.
In the meantime, Uplink is asking…
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The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) and Rogers announced Thursday the completion of the EORN Cell Gap Project.
The $300-million public-private partnership aimed to bring 5G services across eastern Ontario. Rogers, which was selected as the telecom through a competitive bidding process, built 346 new wireless sites and upgraded 311 existing sites with 5G equipment.
The project targeted 99 per cent voice call coverage, 95 per cent standard definition coverage, and 85 per cent high-definition coverage “in the demand areas where people live, work and travel on major roadways across the municipalities…
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