By Greg O’Brien
WHEN TELUS RELEASES its second quarter results July 31st, company executives will surely have to answer a fair number of questions about their primary western Canadian competitor’s new brand, Shaw Mobile, when they host their quarterly conference call with financial analysts at noon ET.
Those analysts all published their takes on the launch of Shaw Mobile and agree the dramatic discounts offered by Shaw will surely draw customers away from Telus, Rogers and Bell – while shoring up Shaw’s wireline customer base at the same time. As we reported, Shaw has gone to market in Alberta and…
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EDMONTON – Rogers Communications’ Step Up to the Plate initiative with Food Banks Canada has arrived in Alberta, the company announced today.
Delivering food hampers that will provide more than one million meals to local food banks in the province, the move into Alberta will help fill the plates of more than 56,000 Albertans, said the company press release.
“Albertans are part of our extended family at Rogers, and when our family needs help, it’s our responsibility to step up and pitch in, through food donations, volunteering, and more,” said Larry Goerzen, president of Alberta and Prairies, in the release….
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Prediction: Shaw Internet customers will really like this
By Greg O’Brien
CALGARY — In a move the company says is meant to reward its wired broadband customers while building its wireless subscriber count out west, Shaw Communications is launching today its new Shaw Mobile branded service.
Exclusive to British Columbia and Alberta, Shaw Mobile is meant to leverage the company’s LTE network, its Fibre+ network and 450,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to offer Shaw Internet customers a way to add wireless that promises to dramatically reduce their monthly wireless data bill.
Beginning today, Shaw Fibre+ Internet subscribers can add up to six wireless lines of…
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TORONTO — Rogers Sports and Media shared Tuesday some of the latest trends it’s been tracking during the Covid-19 pandemic, showing Canadians are even more excited for the return of sports than they were in June, and retail sales are bouncing back.
Canadians are most excited about the return of the NHL (67%), followed by MLB (43%) and NBA (41%), according to an Angus Reid survey conducted on behalf of the broadcaster. When consumers were polled back in June, those numbers were 54% for the return of the NHL, 31% for MLB, and 32% for NBA.
Statistics Canada recently released updated…
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OTTAWA — As part of the federal government’s stated commitment to help reduce the cost of some wireless plans by 25% over the next two years, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Navdeep Bains today released data showing how prices have not yet declined for the data plans the department has chosen to study.
Over the next two years, the federal government expects the three major wireless providers and their flanker brands, which together represent 90% of the national market, to offer data plans in the 2 GB to 6 GB range that are 25% cheaper than they…
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Rogers in favour of transport subsidies for rural fund
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers and Bell are among those in favour of a “flexible” approach for the use of the Federal government’s yet-to-be-announced $1 billion Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) to support rural backbone, transport and last-mile projects, according to Rogers and a briefing note prepared for the rural economic development minister.
In a stakeholder page on its website, ISED asks those providing feedback on the program’s design to answer questions including: “In situations where government is only funding backbone investments, how could last-mile investments be facilitated?” And, “Are there particular…
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By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – For the first time in five years, private conventional TV revenues increased nationwide in 2019, according to CRTC data released earlier this month.
The accumulated broadcasting data from the Regulator for the year ended August 31, 2019, show an increase to $1.55 billion from $1.54 billion in 2018 for all Canadian OTA TV revenue streams, including local and national time sales, network payments, infomercials, syndication, small market and independent local programming funds and government grants. National ad sales grew a healthy 2.5% to $1.05 billion. The 2019 revenue increase effectively stopped a continued revenue slide since…
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VANCOUVER – Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications are both stepping up their support for women and individuals facing gender-based violence throughout B.C. by providing complimentary cellular phones along with voice and data plans to the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia.
The handsets will provide essential lifelines for those experiencing domestic abuse. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, anti-violence service providers across B.C. have reported an increase in demand for help and an increase in severity of the types of violence, says the EVA BC press release.
“The social distancing required during the pandemic has made it difficult for those facing violence…
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TORONTO — Saying it’s the first national carrier to offer wireless accessory financing, Rogers announced today customers will now be able to get headphones, smartwatches, cases and such for $0 down, 0% interest and no taxes paid upfront.
Accessories available with Rogers’ new financing option include AirPods and AirPods Pro, Beats, Google Nest products, phone cases, screen protectors, chargers, smartwatches and smart bulbs. (Telus is offering customers the option to finance its new Track+ tracker device, which it launched Wednesday.)
“By extending our financing option to accessories, we’re offering an affordable one-stop destination for our customers to finance the smartwatches, phone…
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However, people are starting to return to stores and advertisers are coming back
TORONTO — Rogers Communications this morning reported second quarter 2020 results which reflected a full-quarter impact of the Covid-19 economic shutdown. (Expect Bell Canada, Telus and Quebecor to report similar impacts when they file Q2 results in the coming days.)
RCI’s revenue was impacted by the pandemic across the board, decreasing overall by 17% to $3.2 billion in Q2 2020, ended June 30, compared to the second quarter of 2019. The revenue decline was largely driven by 13% and 17% decreases in wireless service and equipment revenue, respectively,…
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