GATINEAU – With a cost profile four times higher, an unclear applications future and potentially new access technologies, fibre to the premise (FTTP) carries far too high a risk profile to allow competitors to ride on the networks at low mandated rates, Telus told the CRTC on Monday.
The communications giant kicked off the second week of a hearing into wholesale wireline services by arguing the question about mandating access to competitors isn’t about whether such a decision will cause Telus and others to stop investing, it’s about how and where that capital would be deployed.
“These networks require care and…
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MONTREAL – Bell, Rogers, Telus and Videotron flipped the switch on the first phase of the new $50 million mobile network for the Montreal metro.
The green line segment, which runs through the downtown area between the Guy-Concordia and Saint-Laurent stations, is now equipped with mobile technology including 3G, 4G and 4G LTE, allowing customers of all four wireless providers to browse the Internet, watch videos, listen to streamed music, make and receive calls from within the metro cars and throughout the tunnels and stations.
The project, first announced in September 2013, will take five to seven years to fully…
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MONTREAL and BURNABY – Bell is buying independent mobile retailer Glentel in a deal worth $670 million, the companies announced Friday.
Headquartered in Burnaby, BC, Glentel operates 494 retail locations across Canada; owns, operates, and franchises approximately 735 retail locations in the United States; plus has 147 points of sale in Australia and the Philippines. In Canada, Glentel offers wireless products and services from Bell Mobility, Chatr, Fido, Rogers Wireless, SaskTel and Virgin Mobile, and said that it plans to continue offering products from multiple carriers following the acquisition.
Bell said that the transaction builds on its strategy to “accelerate wireless…
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OTTAWA – While official spectrum license transfer applications were filed by Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications in early September, sources tell Cartt.ca senior officials at Industry Canada have let Rogers executives know they’re unlikely to be granted control of Shaw Communications’ unused AWS wireless spectrum.
In January of 2013, as part of a larger deal, Rogers bought an option from the Calgary-based company to acquire its AWS spectrum in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Northern Ontario to be exercised when the moratorium on its sale expires. It ended September 1st and the two companies applied to…
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TORONTO – When the Xbox 360 app for Rogers/Shaw’s shomi subscription video-on-demand service is launched next week, it will be thanks largely to Digiflare, a Toronto-based TV Everywhere app developer.
Digiflare has been working with the shomi project team for the last several months on the design and implementation of the shomi Xbox 360 application, expected to be officially launched on Dec. 2. Digiflare also contributed previously to the front-end design and implementation of the shomi.com website launched in early November and is working currently on a Chromecast app, which as of yet has no announced release date.
“From our standpoint,…
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GATINEAU – The argument which says the incumbent telcos would simply stop investing in fibre networks if competitors were granted access to them is just not true, according to the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) and Primus Telecommunications Canada.
Chris Tacit, legal counsel to CNOC, told the CRTC on the second day of the hearing that telcos will continue to build because they need to compete with the cable companies (and vice versa, for that matter).
“First of all, they have a natural incentive to build wherever there is a cable carrier because otherwise the cable carrier will eat their lunch,”…
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GATINEAU – While the Competition Bureau argued Monday it’s better not to regulate fibre facilities, others countered that Canada is far too big for facilities based competition and that the Commission should switch its focus to a more service-based approach.
The Competition Bureau kicked off day one of the Commission’s hearing into wholesale fibre access for independent third party broadband providers that it shouldn’t jump the gun on regulating access to wholesale facilities including fibre to the premise (FTTP) networks. The agency said the risks of imposing mandated access to FTTP now may be higher than if the Regulator waited…
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TORONTO – Once viewers are convinced to try the various TV Everywhere platforms being made available by carriers and broadcasters, keeping them engaged with great content and a seamless user experience reduces subscriber churn and leads towards making a profit from the significant investments that broadcasters have made in TVE apps and services.
A panel moderated by Cartt.ca’s Greg O’Brien at the CTAM Canada Broadcaster Forum held Wednesday at Toronto's Sony Centre saw experts from Vidéotron, Corus Entertainment and the CBC offered insight into their organizations’ current TVE services, while TVE platform experts from U.S. technology providers Accedo…
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VANCOUVER – Rogers has committed approximately $4 million to non-profit business incubator Wavefront, Canada's Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, to accelerate the growth of machine-to-machine (M2M), the Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless businesses in Canada.
Over the next five years, Rogers pledged to offer financial resources, technology tools, training and mentorship programs to thousands of technology businesses and entrepreneurs that walk through Wavefront's doors. As part of its commitment, Rogers will sponsor the development of new programs including the Wavefront National Accelerator Program and Commercialization Support Program, as well as hands-on mentorship to M2M businesses looking to…
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TORONTO – The Rogers family has donated $130 million, the largest monetary gift ever made to a Canadian health care initiative, to establish the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research.
The donation will be matched with $139 million in additional funds combined from The Hospital for Sick Children, University Health Network and the University of Toronto for a total investment of $269 million.
With facilities in the three participating institutions, the Centre will be the first in the world to bring together research, education and innovation in individualized genomic medicine, stem cell research, bioengineering, and cardiovascular treatment and management under…
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