Feds say attachment costs “often prohibitively expensive”
By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – The newly-appointed board of directors of the Ontario Energy Board will oversee a review of pole attachment rates in the province, according to a mandate letter sent earlier this month, a priority assignment that is aligned with the province’s efforts to reduce equipment install costs to drive its broadband expansion goals.
Captured in just one line underneath a section on reducing regulatory burdens, the letter requires the “modernized” board to “consider pole attachment policy in the context of opportunities to better serve areas that are currently underserved.”
Ontario has the highest…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – In 2013, the CRTC licenced the Seasonal Channel, a category B television channel owned by Stingray that would “feature still pictures and moving video of nature scenes with appropriate music that will change based upon the season to create a soothing video environment.”
In its 2019 licence renewal, questions were raised as to whether the channel, called Ambiance at that point, should be exempted under the Still Image Exemption Order. As Stingray said, in a letter to the Commission, on February 7th 2019: “It is also important to note that Stingray Ambiance is currently the only…
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2.8 million minutes of online activity, 153,000 platform interactions
EXTON, Pa. — SCTE-ISBE announced today its Cable-Tec Expo Virtual Experience held last week had record-breaking attendance with participants from more than 100 countries.
The virtual format of the event allowed people to participate remotely and registration was free for the first time in the show’s nearly 40-year history, thanks to sponsorships from Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Midco, Liberty Global, Millicom, RCN, Rogers, Shaw, the National Cable Television Cooperative, and the SCTE Foundation.
SCTE-ISBE says the free registration drove a substantial increase in first-time attendees, who accounted for more than half of…
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MONTREAL –- Cogeco Communications announced this morning it will purchase rural cable/telco/ISP DeryTelecom for $405 million.
Based in Saguenay, DeryTelecom offers internet, television, and telephony services to approximately 100,000 customers in over 200 municipalities across several regions in Quebec, including Estrie, Lanaudière, Montérégie and the Laurentians. Revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020 are estimated to be $105 million and $44 million, respectively, reads the Cogeco press release.
Cartt.ca featured the company in 2017. It was established by Gilles Déry, a TV salesman, in 1954. Back then, over-the-air TV reception wasn’t very good in…
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TORONTO — Rogers Communications today announced it’s launching wireless home broadband Internet service across more than 100 communities in southwestern Ontario, including areas around Halton Hills, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.
Rogers wireless home Internet service leverages the company’s wireless network and infrastructure to deliver broadband to the home. Small antennas are set up on customers’ homes and positioned toward select towers which are equipped to support the increased usage. The technology provides broadband to residents in rural and remote communities that are harder to reach with a fibre-optic network, explains the Rogers press release.
The service will compete with…
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TORONTO — Bell Media’s TSN, along with Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), announced Monday the tournament schedule for this year’s hockey holiday tradition, the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Like this year’s NHL playoff finals, the World Juniors will be played in a hockey bubble at Rogers Place in Edmonton. TSN will provide live coverage of all 28 tournament games, beginning on Christmas Day, and culminating with coverage of all four quarterfinal games on Saturday, January 2, both semi-finals on Sunday, January 3, and the gold medal game on Tuesday, January 5.
The three opening-day games on…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. announced today their boards of directors “have unanimously rejected the revised unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Altice USA, Inc. of New York and Rogers Communications Inc. of Toronto.”
The companies’ statement says the boards met early on Tuesday to consider the purchase offer and Louis Audet, who is the executive chair of both boards and the representative of the controlling shareholder Audet family, formally confirmed “the publicly stated unanimous position of the Audet family as set out in its press release dated October 18, 2020.
“Following separate deliberations of the independent board…
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Rogers was the fastest fixed broadband provider in Canada in Q3, says Ookla
SEATTLE — In its latest Speedtest Global Index measurement of network speeds in Canada, Seattle-based Ookla reports Rogers Communications was the fastest fixed broadband provider among top providers in Canada in the third quarter of 2020.
According to Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence data from July to September, Rogers achieved a speed score of 151.51 in Q3 2020. (Ookla’s speed score incorporates measurements of each provider’s download and upload speeds to rank network speed performance, with 90% of the final speed score being attributed to download speed.)
The next highest…
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MONTREAL — The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) announced today Ariel Nasr, a multi-award-winning director and Oscar-nominated producer of film and interactive works, is joining the NFB’s Quebec and Atlantic Studio as an interim producer, starting today.
Based in Montreal, Nasr (pictured) is replacing producer Kat Baulu during her one-year sabbatical.
“Ariel’s track record demonstrates a rigour and imagination that aligns with our studio aims. His commitment to Quebec-based filmmakers, international experience and deep understanding of local storytelling makes Ariel an excellent addition to the NFB ecosystem,” said Annette Clarke, executive producer of the Quebec and Atlantic Studio, in a…
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Audet family would have received $900 million for controlling shares
NEW YORK and TORONTO – Altice USA announced Sunday evening it has presented a new, higher offer to purchase Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications.
Then a bit later on Sunday evening, it was rejected by Cogeco’s controlling shareholder.
The new offer is for $11.1 billion, or $800 million more than the Altice/Rogers first pitch last month ($123/share for CGO and $150/share for CCA, a 57% premium over the shares’ prices as of August 1, notes the Altice release). What hasn’t changed is Altice’s desire to sell Cogeco’s Canadian assets to Rogers Communications,…
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