TORONTO – Rogers Communications announced this afternoon that Alan Horn will step down as chair of the board of directors effective January 1, 2018.
Edward Rogers, son of late company founder Ted Rogers and currently deputy chair, will replace Horn. Melinda Rogers, one of Ted’s three daughters, will assume the role of deputy chair.
Horn (the long-time RCI CFO and the man who served as interim CEO in between Guy Laurence and current CEO Joe Natale) will remain president and CEO of Rogers Telecommunications Limited and certain private companies that control RCI, and will stay on the RCI board.
"The company…
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Whatever the future of TV may hold
GATINEAU – The rise of online TV distribution platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others are upending the delicate balance of the Canadian broadcasting system and that means the federal government and the CRTC need to change the way they regulate the sector. In a nutshell, Canadian broadcasters, producers and distributors want these platforms treated the same way they are.
In comments to the CRTC’s consultation on new TV program distribution models (which was requested by the federal government ostensibly as the first step towards modernizing the Broadcasting Act and Telecom Act), many…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC said Tuesday it wants the opinions of Canadians about additional information provided by the large French- and English- language television groups as part of the reconsideration of decisions to renew their television licences.
The CRTC will gather comments until January 23, 2018.
On May 15, 2017, the CRTC issued a series of decisions to renew licences for the television services of large English- and French-language private ownership groups (Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, Rogers Media, Groupe V and Quebecor Media). On August 14, 2017, the Governor in Council referred back to the CRTC certain…
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LONDON and BARRIE – Logistics company Drexel Industries this week announced it will acquire mobile phone accessories and consumer electronics devices company Affinity Electronics of Canada.
The acquisition will combine Affinity’s assets and experience as an established mobile phone solutions company with Drexel’s strength in third party logistics, says the company’s press release. “Drexel’s retailer connected digital infrastructure is the catalyst for further growth and expansion into the mobility and connected home arena,” it adds.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Affinity and Drexel distribute products through Canadian partners, including: Amazon, Bell, Best Buy, Canadian Tire, Costco, Giant Tiger, Home Depot, Hudson…
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OTTAWA – The majority of Canada’s mobile wireless carriers have told the CRTC that redefining home network to include public Wi-Fi will have serious negative consequences on the mobile market while smaller providers Ice Wireless and Execulink argue Wi-Fi First providers are needed to inject much needed competition to an already highly concentrated market.
The final round of submissions on the CRTC’s Governor-in-Council demand that it reconsider its March wholesale wireless roaming decision were due December 1st. This is something ISED Minister Navdeep Bains announced during June’s Canadian Telecom Summit.
For Bell Canada, the only issue…
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SHENZHEN, China – CENGN, Canada's Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks based in Kanata, Ontario announced last week Huawei will be the newest member of the consortium.
The new partnership with CENGN will provide an opportunity for Huawei and its' operator partners in Canada to work with Canadian SMEs and start-ups on a number of opportunities and issues related to the deployment of 5G, while leveraging the research team at Huawei's Canada Research Centre, also based in Kanata, says the press release.
"We are excited about the opportunity to work with CENGN and our operator partners, including Telus, Bell and…
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CALGARY – Rogers Media has re-branded radio station Kiss 95.9 to 95.9 CHFM (looking much like ratings leader CHFI Toronto…).
There’s not change to the format or the personalities on air, however.
“For more than 50 years, Calgarians have welcomed us into their daily lives, and as this amazing city grows, we too must evolve in order to better serve our audiences,” said Gayle Zarbatany, program director. “Now with a refreshed look and feel, we’re excited to continue this journey with our listeners.”
The station also went all-Christmas last week, too, and it will start the New Year with some familiarity…
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MONTREAL – As Bell Canada CEO George Cope warned a month ago – his company was not about to let Telus, Rogers and Freedom keep the low-cost wireless market to themselves and in response, the company announced the launch of Lucky Mobile today.
Created to compete with Rogers’ chatr, Telus’ Public Moble and Shaw’s Freedom (and it seems the initial markets being launched are exactly Freedom’s footprint), the low-cost prepaid brand’s plans start at $20/month, for talk and text, but not data, a price which generally undercuts everyone in the space. (Chatr offers a…
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VICELAND’S FUTURE IN CANADA may be on thin ice after word that its partner, Rogers Media, may have plans to pull its financial support for the specialty service.
According to a Globe and Mail report, Rogers will “cut off funding early next year”. The millennial-focused Viceland, which launched in Canada in February 2016 in place of the Biography Channel, is part of a joint venture between Rogers Media and Vice. The two also have a larger partnership that includes the Vice Canada content studio in Toronto, built thanks to a $100 million investment in Vice by Rogers Communications, announced in…
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Internet complaints on the rise; PIAC wants a new code of conduct
OTTAWA – The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) said today it saw an 11% increase in the number of complaints received from Canadian telecom customers in 2016-17, a turnaround of a three-year trend of declining complaints.
While Canadians continue to complain most often about their wireless services, they represent a declining proportion of all complaints to the CCTS, says the organization in its press release. What’s on the rise, however, are consumer complaints about their broadband services.
“The CCTS is the administrator of the CRTC’s Wireless Code, and…
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