GATINEAU – The press release headlines sound pretty good, but it’s in the conditions, the details, where all this talk of consumer choice and flexibility gets bogged down.
The three largest Canadian vertically integrated media and carriage companies (Bell, Shaw and Rogers) each issued press releases Friday – the day their submissions to the CRTC on its TV Policy Review were due – saying, and we’re paraphrasing here: “boy oh boy, are we consumer friendly and choice leaders!” The big three each said they support more pick and pay, or a-la-carte channel selection, so that Canadians…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL and TORONTO – Broadcasting and distribution behemoths Bell, Rogers and Shaw said Friday in press releases that they are advocates for more flexible packaging and channel selection options for Canadian consumers. The comments come as part of their respective submissions to the CRTC's Let's Talk TV consultation, (which Cartt.ca will be breaking down in a series of stories over the coming weeks, beginning Thursday).
Bell said that BDUs should have “continued flexibility” to include discretionary Canadian services in basic packages and offer a range of TV packaging options, while also having the ability to make all Canadian discretionary…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – With the 2014 CFL season set to kick off Thursday, TSN is offering fans new digital content to help round out its television coverage.
The new TSN Fantasy Football: CFL Edition lets fans build their own fantasy roster each week to score points and win prizes, while the enhanced TSN Game Tracker: Canadian Football Edition offers a “companion experience” to the games by offering instant highlights, real-time access to in-depth stats, and detailed game and player analytics.
In addition, TSN subscribers can both live stream and watch all CFL games on demand using TSN Go. To date,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers unveiled the first 200 games of its 350 NHL game schedule Sunday, slated to air across CBC, City, Sportsnet (East, Ontario, West, and Pacific), Sportsnet One, Sportsnet 360 and FX Canada.
The action kicks off Wednesday, October 8 with an all-Canadian double-header featuring Toronto vs. Montreal and Vancouver vs. Calgary on Sportsnet, and Rogers said that it will announce its remaining national and regional broadcast schedules in the coming weeks.
In addition to regular season games, Rogers has exclusive Canadian broadcast coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Stanley Cup Final, NHL All-Star Game, NHL Draft Lottery, NHL Draft, and the…
Continue Reading
MARKHAM, ON – Retired Rogers radio executive John Hinnen will receive the 2014 Hall of Fame Award from the Ontario Association of Broadcasters at the organization’s fall conference in October.
The OAB Hall of Fame Award honours private broadcasters who have devoted a substantial part of their career to the Canadian broadcasting industry and demonstrated a commitment to the highest standards of broadcast excellence and community service in their role.
Hinnen and his family emigrated from the Netherlands in 1960, arriving in Canada at Pier 21 in Halifax. As he learned English, Hinnen developed a love for the power of the…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Near Field Communication (NFC). Machine to Machine (M2M). Internet of Things (IoT). Different phrases, different acronyms, same concept – wireless device-to-device connectivity that enables contactless communications, most notably today for mobile commerce.
With so many different definitions buzzing around, “it’s very noisy and it’s very confusing,” said Manoj Jain, communications and media sector leader for Microsoft Canada, who appeared along with other wireless device experts on a panel called “Rage of the Machine” at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Wednesday morning. Jain said Microsoft uses the phrase “Internet of your things” to explain the concept to its customers.
“And…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – It quickly became clear during Wednesday morning’s panel discussion at the Canadian Telecom Summit that no one-size-fits-all solution exists when it comes to implementing a national digital strategy that positions Canada as a key player in the global digital marketplace.
The arguments for the digitization of Canada’s economy are wide-ranging, said moderator Namir Anani, president and CEO of the Information and Communications Technology Council. “Some would argue that we need investments – without investment we can’t have technology. Others would say it’s our policies – if we don’t have the right trade policy, if we don’t have the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC) have filed a joint application challenging the wireless device deposit programs offered by Rogers and Telus.
According to the press release, the Rogers “NEXT” and Telus “T-Up” programs require subscribers to pre-pay a monthly fee in addition to their usual service charges for at least 12 months. These payments, which range from $17 to nearly $30 a month, claims the application, go toward the partial cost of a new cellphone. If the customer stays subscribed and returns their old phone and signs a new two year contract,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Service providers should be working together, collaboratively, to build a truly integrated ecosystem for delivering next-generation, personalized customer services, said Telus CTO Ibrahim Gedeon during his Monday afternoon keynote at the Canadian Telecom Summit.
Admitting that no single service provider will ever own its clients’ end-to-end business, he added: “Not every service is 100% Telus, or CIBC, or Air Canada, or Rogers or Bell.”
He pointed out Telus was able to work with Bell and Rogers in the past on the OneAPI initiative that created a single API for the mobile industry in Canada. “How many people know that…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Wholesale wireless service continues to be a prickly topic between wireless incumbents and new entrants, and quickly became a dominant theme Tuesday morning during the Canadian Telecom Summit’s annual regulatory blockbuster panel, moderated again this year by Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O’Brien.
Bell, Rogers and Telus remained steadfast in their collective belief that increased regulation on wholesale wireless services will result in decreased network investments. Ken Engelhart, SVP regulatory for Rogers Communications, got that ball rolling early in the 90 minute panel, raising the matter in his opening “trite observations”.
“Wholesale regulation inevitably leads to a reduction in investment,…
Continue Reading
