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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TORONTO – Rogers has had about a year and a half to tweak its NextBox cable/whole home PVR offering since it was first made available to subscribers in 2012. Today, it unveiled its predecessor – NextBox 3.0 – which allows up to eight HD programs to be recorded at one time and has enough storage for 240 hours of HD shows and movies.
Available to customers in Ontario, NextBox 3.0 also includes a three-minute “skip tool” and slow-motion playback, caller ID on your TV, a localized weather app and an augmented selection of movies and…
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TORONTO – Claude Galipeau has been named country manager for Yahoo Canada, the company announced late Friday.
Galipeau will be responsible for sales and operations for Yahoo Canada and will be based in Toronto.
Regarded as a digital media industry veteran, Galipeau most recently headed his own consulting firm, Galipeau Group. He was also COO at Syncapse Corp., a social media management company.
Prior to that Galipeau was SVP and GM of digital media at Rogers before departing abruptly in February 2011.
Galipeau has also held management positions at Astral Media, Alliance Atlantis…
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IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE all-hands on deck round of public pleading from our big wireless companies will not shake our meddlesome federal government from its wireless policy path. After all, there are no votes in it for Ottawa to alter course – and potentially big, big money in simply plowing ahead.
As everyone knows, the most recent Canadian spectrum auction in 2008 brought five new wireless companies to life in Wind Mobile, Public Mobile, Mobilicity, Videotron Wireless and EastLink Wireless. Regulatory intervention set aside some spectrum then which was purchased more cheaply than that which…
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TORONTO – Motorola’s new Moto X smartphone, launched today, is its first new significant product since being acquired by Google.
Available in Canada exclusively through Rogers, the new Moto X features a number of new innovations, including a unique curved back design, touch-free voice activation and a 10 megapixel camera that’s ready to go with two flicks of your wrist.
The Motorola Connect extension for Google Chrome lets users you see and respond to notifications and…
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TORONTO, MONTREAL, and VANCOUVER – Industry Minister James Moore made it official yesterday that Ottawa was not going to budge on its wireless policy framework, but that hasn’t put an end to the public lobbying campaign mounted by Canada’s Big Three incumbents, who issued new pleas today calling on the federal government to close what they say are loopholes that give preferential treatment to major US wireless carriers.
Bell, Rogers, and Telus each issued press releases Thursday urging Ottawa to reconsider the wireless rules that currently would allow a U.S. carrier like…
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