TORONTO – Canadians helped Rogers Sports & Media celebrate International Nurses Day by raising awareness and funds, to the tune of $1 million, for Canada’s healthcare workers as they continue to keep us safe in the fight against Covid-19.
Limited-edition Hearts and Smiles t-shirts and masks have been purchased by Canadians in record numbers (and they’re still for sale), with proceeds going to The Frontline Fund. The four-day promotional blitz last week leveraged the company’s sports and media outlets, its hosts (the photo above is of Sportsnet’s Martine Gaillard, borrowed from her Instagram) and its partners, athletes, and celebrity friends.
“I…
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By Ken Kelley
OTTAWA – An exchange between a Telus executive and a Calgary MP got a little heated late Thursday during a virtual meeting of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology
The bulk of the tension stemmed from a line of questioning directed at Telus EVP and chief customer officer Tony Geheran by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel-Garner (Calgary Nose Hill).
After asking the executive for the company’s cost per gigabyte when it comes to serving its customers (something Geheran said he didn’t have at hand and offered to send after the meeting) and noting that the figure doesn’t seem…
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GATINEAU – After being told in a letter from CRTC staff that the Commission would not be pursuing an investigation into contact-tracing applications, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre today demanded certain procedural rights its original application requires.
First, PIAC notes the CRTC has not yet posted the May 4 application publicly on its website, which is required by section 23 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure and wants to see it on crtc.gc.ca immediately.
Plus, the advocacy group said it wants the full Commission, not just staff, to issue a ruling on its application, which was opposed…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC won’t open a proceeding to investigate the role and responsibilities of telecom service providers when it comes to contact-tracing applications currently being developed by government authorities to help in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.
In a letter Wednesday to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), the Commission said it would not give further consideration to PIAC’s Part 1 application filed on May 4. The Commission’s decision comes a day after Bell and Telus submitted letters to support a previous May 7th letter from Rogers which asked the Commission to dismiss PIAC’s application.
In…
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GATINEAU — Rogers, Bell and Telus are asking the CRTC to dismiss a recent Part 1 application from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) that asks the Commission to investigate and clarify the rules and responsibilities telecom service providers have regarding Covid-19 contact-tracing apps.
In a letter to the Commission dated May 7, Rogers submitted the initial request to have PIAC’s application dismissed, arguing the concerns about privacy and oversight raised by PIAC in its application are already being addressed by Canada’s privacy commissioners in a joint statement outlining the principles expected to be adhered to by governments…
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THE BANFF WORLD MEDIA FESTIVAL is launching four months of premium online content from May to September, following the cancellation of this year’s in-person festival due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Banff Virtual Edition program will connect the international media industry and help to ignite new projects and business development, say Banff organizers. The Rockie Awards (June 15) and Banff Day (June 16) will tentpole the season of programming, the majority of which will be offered to the global industry free of charge, says the news release.
International media companies already signed up to participate in sessions and exclusive networking…
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TORONTO — Tuesday is International Nurses Day and in recognition of Canada’s frontline healthcare workers, Rogers Sports and Media is launching what it’s calling the Hearts and Smiles national campaign to benefit The Frontline Fund through the online sale of Hearts and Smiles T-shirts and masks.
“The bravery, resilience and dedication exhibited by nurses, doctors, hospital administrators, paramedics, PSWs, and the entire frontline healthcare community has been nothing short of heroic,” said Jordan Banks, president of Rogers Sports and Media, in the news release. “It’s both an honour and a privilege to use our sports and media megaphone to…
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OTTAWA — The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) reported early Tuesday a 12% decrease in the number of complaints it received from Canadian telecom and TV customers between August 1, 2019 and January 31, 2020, following a 44% increase for that same six-month period last year.
The CCTS accepted a total of 8,621 complaints in the time frame and resolved 90% of all complaints. There were 46 confirmed wireless code breaches, five TV service provider code breaches and three deposit and disconnection code breaches.
The main contributors to the decline were Cogeco and Bell, with Cogeco recording a 75%…
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By Greg O’Brien
“THERE’S A WASTE OF two hours,” was my thought after listening to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology on Thursday evening.
Not just my own time. Everyone’s.
The meeting notice said only that the INDU committee was looking at the Canadian response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but with a witness list of Jay Thomson, CEO of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance; Ian Stevens, CEO of independent broadband provider Execulink; Andy Kaplan-Myrth, vice-president, regulatory and carrier affairs at TekSavvy; two rural politicians – Steve Arnold, mayor of St. Clair Township and Rob Gay, the board chair of the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – In the middle of March, Rogers Communications was asked to prepare a document by Innovation, Science and Economic Development that floated ideas for how governments could potentially help enhance network capacity if needed, including mobilizing temporary wireless sites, fast-tracking permit applications and allowing access to rights-of-way for emergency fibre installs.
The example measures, obtained by Cartt.ca through an access to information request, was in response to one of several questions asked of Canadian telecommunications companies by the federal department in the event the virus strained networks – and before the full effect of what the virus…
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