CHATHAM, Ont. — In its latest salvo aimed at the CRTC and its May decision not to lower wholesale Internet rates, independent ISP TekSavvy today issued a press release and an election backgrounder in an effort to rally Canadian voters to visit paylesstoconnect.ca — where they can “demand concrete federal action that will lower monthly internet bills,” the release says.
“In this election, affordability remains top-of-mind for most voters. Recent polling by Abacus Data shows that 64% of Canadians believe the cost of things you use day-to-day have gotten worse over the past 2 years,” the press release reads.
“In another poll conducted by…
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MONTREAL — Rogers Communications announced today it has signed a five-year agreement to be the exclusive telecommunications sponsor for the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.
Starting in 2022, Rogers will be the official presenter of the Festival’s Blues stage and will also present a series of indoor concerts. In addition, Rogers “will offer festival goers an improved experience, namely thanks to the launch of 5G onsite,” reads a press release.
For this year’s Festival, which starts on Sept. 15, Rogers will provide musical entertainment in the Quartier des Spectacles, exclusive content as part of the Festival’s digital segment, as…
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Quebecor CEO said it’s “another attempt” to “eliminate real competition”
By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Bell wants the Federal Court to review whether Innovation Canada made a mistake in awarding Quebecor’s Videotron crucial 5G spectrum licenses outside of its normal operating territories, a move that Pierre Karl Peladeau said is another attempt to “eliminate real competition.”
The Quebecor CEO, who has tweeted his thoughts on the matter, said in a statement Monday: “This is just another attempt from Bell and Telus to eliminate real competition, but Canadians deserve better than today’s overpriced wireless marketplace.” Bell and Telus have a network sharing agreement…
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By Denis Carmel
CARTT.CA HAS LEARNED large Canadian broadcasting and telecommunication enterprises collected significant amounts from the federal government’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) in 2020 and will likely receive more for 2021.
The following companies have, according to the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA), received subsidies:
BCE: $122.9 million
Québecor: $3.1 million
Rogers: $90.5 million
Telus: $38.6 million
Stingray: $25.2 million
Corus: $34.9 million
Pelmorex: $6.3 million*
According to the administer these programs, “a Canadian employer who has seen a drop in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, may be eligible for a subsidy to cover part of its…
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TORONTO – Rogers Sports and Media’s Frequency Podcast Network announced today a slate of new original podcasts and returning podcasts for fall.
“With more and more Canadians tuning into podcasts, we’re incredibly excited to expand our fan-favourite roster of shows to reach more diverse audiences,” said Jordan Heath-Rawlings, director of Frequency Podcast Network and host of The Big Story, in a press release.
“Plus, this season’s collection offers a variety of unique stories and conversations that are all proudly made by Canadian creators.”
New shows include The Reheat, which launched July 26. The show “takes the biggest pop culture stories of yester-year…
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Office life unlikely to return to what it was in 2019
By Amanda Oye
AS COMPANIES AROUND the country make plans to bring employees back into offices, and grapple with how to do so safely, Cartt.ca asked a variety of Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting companies about their own plans.
Few companies Cartt.ca reached out to have, at this point, decided to require staff to be fully vaccinated. Fourteen companies responded to our request for information on back to office plans, only three of which indicated they were requiring some or all employees to be vaccinated.
OUTtv is one of those companies. While…
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SYDNEY, NS – Rogers Communications will acquire Seaside Communications, a local telecommunications company based in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the companies announced today.
Seaside has two divisions, a wireline operation and fixed wireless rural Internet. “They both have about 10,000 customers and both are included in the deal,” said Parker Donham, director of communications at Seaside, in an interview with Cartt.ca.
“I think this is a pretty good deal for our customers because they’ll have all of the strengths that Seaside brought to a community-based telecommunications company, but they will have resources that we didn’t have before particularly in terms of spectrum…
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TORONTO — The Canadian Telecom Summit — which will be held as a hybrid event from Nov. 15 to 17 — will feature Robert Ghiz, president and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, as one of its keynote speakers, event organizers announced today.
Ghiz (above) will address attendees on Tuesday, Nov. 16 from 2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. ET.
His keynote will be followed by the Canadian Telecom Summit’s “regulatory blockbuster” panel (from 3:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET), with confirmed participants including: Geoff White, executive director of Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC); Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory…
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Some bright spots remain
CANADIAN SPECIALTY CHANNEL revenues took a hard hit in 2020, thanks to Covid-19, with independents taking bigger shots than vertically integrated (VI) companies.
The recently published CRTC 2020 Individual Discretionary and On-Demand Statistical and Financial Summaries for the year ended August 31, 2020 shows Canada’s VI companies, taken together, reported a 6.9% year-over-year decrease in total revenues to $2.9 billion in 2020. The CRTC considers VI companies to include Bell Media, Rogers Media, Quebecor Media, and Corus Entertainment.
These companies spent 36.2% of their total revenues on Canadian programming, but total expenditures on Canadian programming was down 8.1%…
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TORONTO — Rogers Sports and Media today revealed the fall premiere schedules for its Citytv and FX channels.
Citytv’s fall schedule features the all-new series Bachelor in Paradise Canada, which will debut on Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by The Bachelor After Show: After Paradise at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Also joining the Citytv schedule this fall is new drama Ordinary Joe starring James Wolk (Mad Men, You Again), which will premiere Sept. 20 at 10 p.m. ET.
Citytv has also picked up season 23 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which will have a two-hour premiere on Sept. 23…
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