OTTAWA – There is broad consensus among the smaller Internet providers, consumers groups and local governments that high speed Internet is a critical part of Canadian society and the economy. They are now telling the CRTC that it should take the steps necessary to include broadband as part of the basic service objective and find ways to ensure its rollout is funded by the industry and government.
As the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) noted in its July 14 submission to the CRTC’s review of basic telecommunications services, broadband has a “prominent influence” on Canada’s economic, social and cultural identity.
“Broadband…
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OTTAWA – Industry Canada is tripling down on the number of licences up for grabs in its auction of unassigned licences from the previous 700 MHz and AWS-3 spectrum sales. The department has decided to license the bandwidth on a Tier 4 basis as well as separate the 15+15 MHz GHI AWS-3 block into three individual 5+5 MHz licences.
This means there will be three licences available in the 700 MHz band, one for each of Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. In the AWS-3 spectrum there are now 15 licences to buy with three in each…
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TORONTO – Bell Media’s CraveTV streaming service will be available to all Canadians with an Internet connection beginning early in 2016, the company said Monday.
When it launched last December, the service was firmly tied to a paid TV service subscription. But that strategy has changed, just weeks after Rogers and Shaw-owned shomi announced that it would open up to all Canadian Internet users this summer. It was not revealed whether CraveTV would continue with its $4 per month price tag.
“As our business model has continued to evolve, the time is right to also offer CraveTV as a standalone product,”…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications could rake in more than $300 million for selling off The Shopping Channel and is allegedly actively seeking bids on the broadcast retailer.
According to a report from Reuters, Rogers began the sale process six weeks ago and is now in the second round of bids. Liberty Interactive Corporation is one of the bidders, according to a source quoted in the report, while other interested parties could include U.S. home shopping channel operators HSN Inc. and EVINE Live Inc., which runs ShopHQ, as well as private equity firms.
The Shopping Channel is part of Rogers' media…
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TORONTO – Former Bell Media exec Rick Brace has been named as the new president of Rogers’ media business unit.
Brace, pictured, succeeds Keith Pelley who has served as president of Rogers Media since 2010, and who announced in April that he was leaving the company to head up the European golf tour.
With more than 35 years of experience in the sports and media industries, Brace started his career at CBC in 1975 before going on to play a founding role at TSN when it launched in 1984, and eventually assumed the role of president from 1998 through 2000. After joining CTV in 2000,…
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TORONTO – Rogers has completed its acquisition of Mobilicity and Shaw’s AWS spectrum, just over a week after the two deals were announced.
In a short news release late Thursday, the Toronto-based communications company said that it had “received all requisite governmental, creditor and court approvals” to complete the acquisitions.
As Cartt.ca reported, Rogers offered $465 million for 100% of Mobilicity’s ownership, plus agreed to buy Shaw's unused AWS-1 spectrum for $100 million, in addition to the down payments made when an option agreement was originally announced in January 2013. Rogers then agreed divest some of that spectrum to Wind Mobile.
www.rogers.com
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GATINEAU – Canada’s Privacy Commissioner is praising new transparency reporting guidelines that should help Canadians understand how often, and in what circumstances, businesses provide their personal customer information to law enforcement and security agencies.
The new federal transparency reporting guidelines, released Tuesday by Industry Canada, were developed in consultation with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), government departments and industry stakeholders. They are designed to provide direction to companies on making public information related to requests from government agencies to access customer information.
“The new transparency guidelines will help to close existing gaps in transparency reporting," said Commissioner…
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TORONTO – Hollywood Suite chairman and co-founder Jay Switzer recalls in mid-April first taking notice of an important industry signpost: Canadian television's small club of network heads are now all women.
"Satisfying that almost nobody has noted Canada's big 3 MediaCo’s & CBC now run by smart leaders who happen to be women. #took50 years," Switzer tweeted at the time.
Bell Media president Mary Ann Turcke (lower left, in our photograph) in April joined (clockwise) Rogers Media vice-president of TV and broadcast operations Colette Watson, CBC executive vice-president of English Services Heather Conway, Shaw Media president Barb Williams, and Groupe TVA…
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TORONTO – Bell Canada said today it will spend $1.4 billion in Toronto alone to bring fibre to every home and business, and then upped the stakes even further by announcing it will soon bring 1 Gbps speeds to many cities in its footprint – which is up to four times as fast as cable companies offer most of their subscribers in Bell's area.
BCE CEO George Cope said Thursday that Gigabit Fibe Internet and television service will start this summer some Toronto neighborhoods, and will be extended to all of Toronto in three years. Quebec City and Halifax will…
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GATINEAU – Consumer representatives say the CRTC’s proposed TV Service Provider (TVSP) Code of Conduct should mirror many aspects and be “as consistent with the Wireless Code as possible.” The broadcast distributors, on the other hand, say that while having a standard set of practices for all TV providers is a worthwhile initiative, using the wireless code as a template just won’t work.
The TV providers Code of Conduct idea is something that came out of the CRTC's Let's Talk TV, TV Policy Review.
In a joint submission, the National Pensioners Federation (NPF) and Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) argue that…
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