GATINEAU – In its final reply to the CRTC last week on the proposed purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada, Rogers Communications informed the Commission that, if Montreal’s CKGM-AM (now TSN690) came on the market, it would be prepared to purchase the station and keep it sports talk. This was first reported by Cartt.ca.
In their last written reply to the Commission on the proposed $3.2 billion deal, filed today, Bell and Astral, put plainly, didn’t buy Rogers’ assertion. Not one bit.
As many readers will already know, in order to keep TSN690, Bell has asked…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Telus announced Thursday that, pending some government and debtholder approvals, it will acquire Mobilicity for $380 million.
If the deal receives the required approvals, it would ensure continued service to Mobilicity’s 250,000 customers without the risk of disruption, says the press release the companies issued.
Without this deal, Mobilicity would likely end up seeking bankruptcy protection in short order. Of course, it remains to be seen what government thinks of this and whether or not it will grant the request to shift Mobilicity’s spectrum to Telus immediately. DAVE, Mobilicity’s parent company, purchased the spectrum for $240 million in 2008…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) will be holding regional seminars in Montreal and Toronto entitled “Digital Media: Production to Distribution Using IP.”
This seminar covers the use of media on IT networks including both streaming and file-based workflows, covering many aspects of the media life-cycle including acquisition, production, broadcast, contribution and distribution.
The Montreal session takes place on May 30 at Société Radio-Canada / CBC Montréal, 1400 Boulevard René-Lévesque Est. For the Toronto section, the seminar will be held at Ryerson University’s Rogers Communications Centre, 80 Gould Street on…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Much was made last week during the hearing into Bell Canada buying Astral Media about the combined company needing an exemption from the CRTC’s radio station ownership policy in order to keep TSN690 (CKGM) open – and an English language all-sports radio station.
Bell Media executives said it had not yet tried to find any buyers for it and that it doubted any that came forward would be able or interested in keeping it as a sports station, since it owns the rights to important Montreal sports content. It said the station might have…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers announced that its subsidiary, Rogers Communications Finance Inc., has rolled out an offering of US$350 million in senior notes due 2013.
The notes are priced at US$1,000 per $1,000 principal amount. In addition, holders who sell on or prior to 5:00 p.m., on May 29, 2013, will receive a consent payment of US$2.50 per US$1,000 principal amount of notes.
The tender offer will expire at 8:00 a.m., EST on June 13, 2013. Any unsold notes by that time will remain outstanding, mature and be paid on June 17, 2013.
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – In their final written submissions to the CRTC on the proposed purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada, various interveners say there are no words, no new rules the Commission can write which will sufficiently protect the Canadian TV system from the market power of a combined Bell/Astral.
That, tied to the fact Bell has told the Commission in no uncertain terms it will not proceed with the merger should it be required to divest any other assets, means the whole deal should be denied, just like the first one was rejected last fall. ( Continue Reading
MISSISSAUGA, ON – Registration is now open for any eager technicians wishing to compete in SCTE Ontario chapter’s 9th annual Cable-Tec Games to be held on June 6, 2013.
The Cable-Tec Games are a round robin format where contestants are marked based on time and craft on a number of tasks. Bring your best skills to take on tasks such as hard cable splicing, optical cable splicing, RF meter reading, MTDR, and drop connection, as well as a special Cable Jeopardy round.
Players will battle for the chance to win one of three spots on…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Business Solutions announced it has completed a point-of-presence (PoP) deployment that will boost the connectivity capability of Cologix’s new data centre on King Street West in downtown Toronto.
Cologix is a network neutral interconnection and colocation company, with data centres in Toronto Montreal, Vancouver and Dallas. The company provides one of North America’s largest neutral marketplaces where network operators and network buyers interconnect.
“We have invested to interconnect this important location to our advanced access, metro and long haul networks to meet customers intensified needs for data services in downtown Toronto,” said…
Continue Reading
WATERLOO,ON and ORLANDO, FLA. – BlackBerry announced the launches of several new products at its annual BlackBerry live technology conference today, including its new Q5 phone and an expansion of its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service to iOS and Android users this summer.
Support for BBM is also planned for iOS6, and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher, subject to approval by the Apple App Store and Google Play.
BlackBerry is targeting younger mobile users with its new Q5 smartphone, calling it a “fun and youthful” version of its newly released BB10 phone launched earlier…
Continue Reading
NEW YORK, NY and MCLEAN, VA. – Moody’s Investors Services announced its B3 corporate family rating of Primus Telecommunications Group remains stable following the company’s announcement Friday that it is selling its Canadian and U.S. retail telecommunications operations to York Capital Management for about US$129 million.
“This transaction represents a meaningful outcome of the board’s strategic process. The board is considering alternatives for the deployment of the proceeds from this sale,” Primus chair Neil Subin said in a prepared statement announcing the sale.
The transaction is currently expected to close by the third quarter of…
Continue Reading
