BURNABY, B.C. – A telecom union which represents Telus and Shaw employees added its voice to the ongoing opposition to U.S. telecom Verizon's potential entry into the Canadian market, saying today that Canadians are being misled by the "mirage" that having a foreign carrier will mean increased competition and cheaper phone rates.
“Tempting voters with the lure of cheaper cell phone bills seems to be Mr. Harper’s plan, but it's a mirage. There is no guarantee of lower prices. It is a complete manipulation of the Canadian public,” said Lee Riggs, national president of the Telecommunications Workers…
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TORONTO – While acknowledging any changes to the 700 MHz wireless auction rules at this stage are “a long shot,” telecommunications and cable analyst Jeff Fan of Scotia Capital still believes that the chances of Verizon coming to the Canadian market are less than 50%.
Simply put, there doesn’t seem to be enough of a return on what would be about a $2.7 billion investment available to the big American cellco, were it to buy Wind Canada and purchase spectrum in the auction, as has been rumoured, plus other costs.
In a research note to investors on Monday, Fan provided an…
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TORONTO – Rogers announced Friday it has signed an agreement with Switzerland telecommunications company Swisscom AG to deliver bilateral 2600 MHz LTE roaming service to customers of both mobile service providers.
That means Rogers and Swisscom customers can access the LTE wireless internet network while roaming with a 2600 MHz device when they are travelling in either Canada or Switzerland. With the Swisscom launch, Rogers says it is the first Canadian carrier to bring LTE roaming to Europe.
“This launch is part of an ongoing commitment to bring the LTE experience to all of our…
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THURSDAY SAW THE continued condemnation of the federal government’s wireless policies by three of the country’s telecom executives as they reported their quarterly results.
Each of Quebecor CEO Robert Dépatie, BCE CEO George Cope and Telus CEO Darren Entwistle used their second quarter 2013 conference calls with financial analysts to take additional public shots at the federal government, whose 700 MHz auction rules coupled with altered AWS spectrum transfer conditions seem poised to give American cellco Verizon an easy, cheap way into the Canadian market. That assumes reports that the American company hopes to purchase Wind Canada are true and…
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TORONTO – For as long as there has been cable television, the subscription has been tied not to the people paying the bills, but to the home, the physical place those people lived.
That’s changing rapidly.
Subscription TV customers are increasingly demanding they be able to take their content with them wherever they want, for viewing whenever they want, either streamed or pulled in on demand. Until very recently this was nearly impossible, but according to David Purdy, Rogers Communications senior vice-president of content, his customers will start seeing a lot more content available for multi-screen on demand viewing in –…
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WHILE THE LOBBYING intensifies here as everyone awaits word on whether Verizon will venture north in advance of the 700 MHz spectrum auction, the American cellco is doing lobbying of its own, Stateside, as the industry there prepares for a spectrum auction in the 600 MHz band.
A research report which is part of the U.S. wireless industry’s lobbying efforts actually casts doubt on our own government’s assertion it is bringing more competition to the Canadian wireless market with restrictive auction rules.
Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan noted in a report to clients what could be…
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DARTMOUTH, NS – Radio broadcaster Newfoundland Capital Corp. almost tripled its net profit to almost $6 million in the second quarter over the previous three months, driven by what the company calls “organic” increases in revenue.
Revenue for the second quarter was $35.8 million, an increase of $1.5 million or 4% higher than last year. Year-to-date revenue of $64.9 million was $3.1 million or 5% higher than 2012.
EBITDA was at $10.3 million, which was $1.1 million or 12% higher compared to the same period in 2012. Year-to-date EBITDA of $15.5 million was $1.6 million or…
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Wind Mobile’s subscriber base may have increased by almost 19,000 customers in its second quarter, but parent company Orascom Telecom Holding said it is continuing to explore the possibility of selling the company.
Wind Mobile added 18,732 subscribers during the quarter, bringing its total number to 620,451 customers, representing a 35.8% year-over-year increase compared to Q2 2012. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for the quarter was at $28.30.
Orascom said that its strategic planning for Wind is ongoing, according to the company’s second quarter report, released today. (The company pulled its application off…
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A WACKY LONG WEEKEND of published and advertised wireless truths, half-truths, information and disinformation has likely moved the public opinion needle on Verizon’s potential entry into Canada not at all.
With the federal government seeming to have said its final word on the matter last week – noting it will stick by the screwy rules it has set up (rather than full, open, foreign investment in Canadian telecom) to govern the Canadian wireless market – the incumbent wireless companies, as well as their supporters and detractors, went into full froth over the August Civic Holiday weekend.
On…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications will unveil the latest iteration of its NextBox TV Tuesday afternoon in Toronto.
NextBox 2.0, made available to subscribers in 2012, provided whole home DVR services, allowed tablet users to stream over 20 channels of live TV to their tablets using their Wi-Fi connection and offered an intuitive interactive program guide and new on-demand portal.
NextBox (will it be 3.0?) is based on the Cisco Videoscape platform, whose latest update, called Unity, features more engaging multiscreen experiences, more options to personalize, the ability to push contextual content and…
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