WHILE THERE WILL surely be more announcements in the coming days, the broadband, telecom and TV industry is responding to the COVID-19 virus in a number of ways.
All have noted in emails their networks are up to the challenge of handling whatever increased traffic that might come from thousands of people working from home rather than the office. During a conference call with financial analysts Thursday discussing its 2019 fiscal fourth quarter, Vidéotron president Jean-Francois Pruneau said, when asked he is “not worried at all about the virus impact on consumption and network capacity.”
Then, on Friday, Vidéotron said it…
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OTTAWA —Canada’s publicly traded television service providers lost a new record number of traditional pay-TV subscribers in 2019, continuing the trend of accelerating TV cord-cutting in Canada, according to new research from Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services Inc.
The continued launch of new Internet streaming services and the growth of such services in Canada, a slowdown in the growth of IPTV, and continued record losses of subscribers of cable TV all contributed to a record cumulative loss by the big Canadian TV service providers of an estimated 278,000 TV subscribers in their respective 2019 fiscal periods…
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VANCOUVER – Rogers Communications announced today its personalized retail service Pro On-the-Go is now available to existing and new Rogers customers in Greater Vancouver (see coverage area above).
Rogers Pro On-the-Go is a customer service effort which delivers the store to customers’ doors. Within hours of ordering a device, a Rogers pro will meet a customer at a preferred time and location with their new device and set it up based on their preferences. The Rogers employee can then walk a customer through plan options, transfer applications, sync contacts, explain its features and offer popular accessories like cases, headsets and…
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OTTAWA — In a decision issued Wednesday, the CRTC has denied an application by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the National Pensioners Federation (NPF) in which they argued Rogers Communications’ proposed balance limit policy for prepaid wireless services violated the Wireless Code.
PIAC-NPF’s Part 1 application, filed with the Commission in February 2018, was seeking clarification and enforcement of rules in the Wireless Code regarding prepaid wireless balances. In December 2017, Rogers began notifying prepaid customers who had unused balances and consumed minimal usage on a monthly basis that Rogers intended to apply a maximum amount of carry-over…
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TORONTO — The 2020 Canadian Telecom Summit advisory board was announced Wednesday. CTS is scheduled to take place June 15-17 at the International Centre in Toronto.
The 2020 CTS advisory board members include:
Roger Perryman, special advisor and advisory board chair, Macgregor Communications
Katherine Winchester, director of operations, Canadian Wireless Technology Association (CWTA)
Samer Bishay, CEO, Iristel
Neel Dayal, director, innovation and partnerships, Rogers Communications
Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO, Telus
Mark Henderson, senior executive/CEO in the telecommunications industry, corporate director, Nomofob
Matt Stein, CEO, Distributel
Namir Anani, president and CEO, Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC)
Please click here to learn…
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It’s part of a war on personal financial identity
By Joanne McNeish
Once again a telecommunications company is telling its customers that they will no longer receive a paper bill. This time it’s Rogers.
What seems to some to be a non-issue evokes a strong reaction in others. When Telus eliminated paper bills, customers who prefer paper bills were shamed online. Others expressed solidarity with digitally disadvantaged groups or listed reasons why some consumers need paper bills.
But why do banks and billing organizations feel it necessary to stop sending paper bills and statements? One reason is the cost to print and mail paper….
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Shaw Communications plans to push Ontario to make mandatory the municipalities’ co-operation with telecommunications service providers to allow access to their infrastructure quickly for network builds, as urgency to lay the groundwork for 5G picks up.
The Alberta-based company registered lobby files with the province last week that reflect the telecom’s intention to bring the case to ministers that there is an urgent need for telecoms to obtain easy access to city infrastructure “to ensure connectivity can be built in a timely manner,” the registration says. It’s unclear how Shaw would like that co-operation to be…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers Media and Corus Entertainment have renewed their lobby registrations with a topic once thought passed its best-before date: junk food advertising restrictions.
In 2016, Senate Bill S-228 was introduced as an amendment to the Food and Drugs Act with the goal of severely restricting the ability of advertisers to market unhealthy food and drinks to children in an effort to fight obesity. Rogers, Bell and Corus began lobbying on the issue, with the latter warning that severely limiting TV advertising of these types of products from between 6 and 9 a.m. and 3 and 9…
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OTTAWA — Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) announced Monday the recipients of the organization’s annual Leadership Excellence Awards, which recognize women, men and organizations committed to gender diversity in Canada’s digital industries.
“Every year, WCT recognizes the individuals who are taking action every day to close the gender gap,” said Joanne Stanley, executive director of WCT, in the news release. “With the rate of women’s participation in the tech industry unchanged for almost a decade, particularly at senior levels, recognizing these sparks of change has never been more critical.”
The 2020 Annual Leadership Awards recipients are:
Woman of the Year…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications today announced 5G service is available to its customers on the Samsung Galaxy S20 5G series, Canada’s first 5G smartphone.
As of Friday, Rogers Infinite customers and business customers with unlimited plans can access 5G services, where available, on the new Samsung smartphone. Rogers recently announced it has begun rolling out Canada’s first 5G network in downtown Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, with 20 more markets to come this year.
“This is the beginning of 5G and as it evolves, it will deliver more capabilities including speed, latency and capacity. Rogers Infinite and unlimited business data…
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