WHEN JUSTIN TRUDEAU is sworn in as Prime Minister his Liberal party will face a number of key telecommunications issues in the next 12 months.
These include meeting the challenge of an increasingly digital world, innovation, privacy regulations, wireless competition, dealing with the rural-urban broadband divide and increasing access to our digital future with poor Canadians.
One of the most obvious problems with trying to read how the new government might deal with these issues is that telecom and broadcast policies didn't figure largely in the leaders' debates or their major speeches.
Still, the Liberal platform makes a few promises:
Repeal of "problematic…
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GATINEAU – New digital media offerings certainly have problems fitting into the various interpretations of the well-worn Acts and Regulations which the CRTC must attempt to apply to emerging new services and their packaging plans.
The latest target is Videotron’s Unlimited Music service. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s complaint about the service which launched in August by the Quebecor-owned cable and wireless company has found a number of supporters. Rogers Communications is standing alongside its media arm and other radio broadcasters in calling the streaming music service anti-competitive.
Rogers and its allies argue…
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NEW ORLEANS – With the Gigabit Era clearly upon us, cable operators are now fervently searching for the best way to enter that era and the best next-gen technologies to make that entry successful.
This search was very much in evidence at last week's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo show in New Orleans. Over the course of three days, teams of MSO technologists marched from booth to booth on the exhibit floor, hoping to uncover the right mix of equipment and software that would enable them to introduce gigabit speeds sooner rather than later (here in Canada, Rogers and Eastlink – not…
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CANNES – You know those many reports of the death of Canadian TV you've been hearing about? Ignore them. Canadian TV is alive and well, as evidenced by last week's Canuck contingent in Cannes for the annual MIPCOM TV bazaar.
The dark clouds that hang over Canadian TV were nowhere to be seen on the Rue de Croisette, next to the beach in Cannes, where radiant sunshine reigned after deadly flooding that had turned roads into rivers on the eve of the world's largest TV market.
Canadian heavy-hitters were among the thousands of buyers and sellers streaming to and from the…
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OTTAWA – The Recycle My Cell Student Challenge is back for a sixth year, so c’mon kids and gather up those old mobile devices.
As the national sponsor of the 2015 Waste Reduction Week in Canada, Recycle My Cell will kick off the Student Challenge on October 19. The Challenge, running until November 18, strives to keep old wireless devices out of landfills, and aims to engage young Canadians in raising awareness about e-waste management.
The school in each province and territory that collects the most cell phones (based on school population) will be awarded $500 to be used towards a school…
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TORONTO – With the puck ready to drop on the 2015-16 NHL season, Rogers NHL GameCentre Live will offer more than 1,000 regular season games streamed online, plus every game of the playoffs and Stanley Cup final.
The mobile app returns with an updated interface that includes Google Chromecast support within the iOS and Android smartphone and tablet apps, so fans can stream live games from their mobile devices to their television sets. It also promises improved video player and stream quality.
A full season subscription is priced at $199.99, which includes all out-of-market games as well as national games for the regular…
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TORONTO – On Monday, Rogers Communications made a commitment to 4K, ultra-high definition TV that no one else on the globe has yet made.
Beginning in 2016, the company will broadcast over 100 live sporting events (300 hours at least) in 4K, including all Toronto Blue Jays home games and at least 20 NHL games. It is also bringing to market a brand new Cisco 4K set top box for its cable customers, upon which Netflix will ride as an app, the company announced Monday.
Speaking of the global OTT video leader, Rogers has also signed a…
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TORONTO – Rogers officially announced “the next big thing in home entertainment” Monday with the launch of 4K ready gigabit internet speeds, a new 4K set top box, Rogers 4K TV and a big commitment to live sports broadcasting in 4K high dynamic range (HDR) technology.
At a press event at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, the communications giant said that its new Rogers Ignite Gigabit internet will start to roll out this year in the city's downtown and the Greater Toronto Area, including Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Pickering, Ajax, and Whitby. By the end of 2016, the service will be…
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TORONTO – It is expected that Rogers Communications will announce Rogers Ignite Gigabit Internet today at noon during a press event at the Rogers Centre.
The service will be available later this year in parts of Toronto, along with Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Ajax, Pickering and Whitby. With downstream speeds up to 1 Gbps (1000Mbps) Ignite Gb will then be available across the company’s cable footprint, from St. Thomas, Ontario to St John’s Newfoundland, in 2016. No pricing details are yet available.
The move is a swing back at Bell, which launched a Gb fibre plan in Toronto and other areas…
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TORONTO – With millions of customers between them, you'd expect that customer service would be shining stars for Canada's biggest cablecos.
However, at a communications conference executives from Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications admitted they aren't there yet.
“I think we have a lot of work to do," Jim Pitt, vice-president enterprise, wholesale and tracking," said at a panel on leadership at the annual Capacity North America conference in Toronto. "I don’t think incumbents in general are well known for providing great customer service. We work very hard at it but we have work to do." Company surveys show that after…
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