OTTAWA – The Competition Bureau announced Friday it’s launching a $31 million lawsuit against Bell Canada, Rogers Communications and Telus Corporation and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). The Bureau alleges that the telcos promoted premium texting services while giving the impression that they were free. It’s also demanding that they cease the misleading advertising and provide full refunds to customers.
The lawsuit, which seeks penalties of $10 million from each telco, and $1 million from the CWTA, follows a five-month investigation. It concluded that Bell, Rogers and Telus, in conjunction with the CWTA, “facilitated the sale to their own…
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VANCOUVER – Rogers and Wavefront, a non-profit business incubator, have announced that the Rogers Wireless Innovation Centre in Vancouver is now open to business customers and developers. Located within Wavefront's national centre of excellence for wireless commercialization, the centre’s mission is to accelerate the development of machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions by helping technology innovators develop products and bring them to market faster.
"Rogers is passionate about fostering growth in M2M and strengthening the wireless developer ecosystem in Canada through simplifying the development and go-to-market journey," said Mansell Nelson, Vice-President, Advanced Business Solutions, Rogers Communications in a release.
"We are thrilled to…
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MONTREAL – “If we had realized last year how Bell would behave once it acquired CTV, we would have opposed that application and proposed even stronger safeguards in the Vertical Integration proceeding,” said Rogers vice-president of regulatory affairs Pam Dinsmore in kicking off Rogers Communications’ opposition to the Bell-Astral merger on Wednesday morning.
“However, we know the Commission cannot turn back the clock back on the CTV transaction now. That ship has sailed.”
The RCI presentation told a tale of how CTV has changed since being acquired by Bell Canada, a story where multiplatform rights are routinely held back and that…
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MONTREAL – Telus is another in the line of companies who want the purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada killed.
But, if it is approved, the industry needs better rules to govern the behaviour of it and other vertically integrated companies (but especially Bell…), Telus told the CRTC Thursday morning in Montreal.
The best example of Bell’s intransigence, said Telus executives, is its dealings on multiplatform content. “It has been mentioned by many parties in this proceeding that Olympic coverage on mobile was only available to Bell Mobility subscribers,” said Telus director of broadcast regulation and corporate affairs, Ann Mainville-Neeson….
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MONTREAL – Sometimes it’s hard to put a finger on the reasons why we decide to pull something out of the tens of thousands of words spoken at CRTC hearings and turn it into a story.
Other times, such as Cogeco Cable CEO Louis Audet’s focused, furious appearance Wednesday, it’s easy to figure out why we cover some submissions instead of others…
We know everyone works hard on their presentations and the job they all do is commendable. However, as I often tell people, we can’t write about everyone. That said, there are frequent portions in every CRTC hearing that stick…
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MONTREAL – We have a real soft spot in our hearts for those regular citizens, the ones with no industry background, with nothing to gain financially, who are concerned enough about a broadcasting or telecom, issue before the CRTC that they choose to appear publicly to make their case officially.
A few years ago, it was Ottawa’s Marjorie Lemieux at the fee-for-carriage kerfuffle. Thursday in Montreal it was Rahul Majumdar, just a regular Montrealer who doesn’t want to see TSN Radio 690 (formerly 990) turn into RDS Radio. The Montreal sports fan bears the French sports…
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WINNIPEG – Just a day after resigning from Power 97 after a three-year run, Winnipeg radio personalities Dave Wheeler, Phil Aubrey and Rena Jae have found a new home at Rogers Radio station 92 CITI FM.
"Unfortunately we couldn't come to contractual terms with Corus Entertainment and Rena, Philly and I are no longer employed with Corus," Wheeler told the Winnipeg Free Press.
The timing for Rogers however could not be better as the BBM Canada’s fall radio survey is now underway.
“As Winnipeg’s highest rated rock morning show, securing the on-air team of team of Dave Wheeler, Phil Aubrey and…
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MONTREAL – There’s little doubt of who’s the biggest fish in the Quebec media pond. Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau is a rock star here, drawing reporters, photographers and others like kids to free candy floss.
We’re hard pressed to think of an executive in English Canadian media whose mere arrival at a CRTC hearing would be akin to a red carpet walk, as the assemblage of shooters blasted away when Péladeau walked in with Group TVA president Pierre Dion and Vidéotron president Robert Dépatie. After their appearance a the hearing, more than a dozen microphones and numerous still and…
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TORONTO – After marking 35 years with CTV News, veteran news anchor Christine Bentley is stepping down this coming Friday, September 14. Bentley made the surprise announcement on air Wednesday during the early evening local CTV Toronto nightly newscast.
CTV Toronto will air special tributes to Bentley for the remainder of the week, leading up to her final broadcast on Friday. The station said it will announce her replacement in the coming days.
"I am so grateful to our viewers who have welcomed me so openly into their lives and living rooms over these years. I am so proud to be…
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MONTREAL ? With a three-hour break mid-day (we were told someone had to go to a funeral, so quit complaining&), yesterday?s long hearing day featured a ton of back and forth between Bell executives and the panel of CRTC commissioners.
Long lovely narratives explaining each exchange would be nice but time restraints mean we?re going for the bullets only of some of the highlights. We think we?ve hit some of the main points with our bulleted rundown here.
* In his first public appearance as chair of the CRTC, Jean-Pierre Blais acquitted himself well, nailing a few biting comments throughout the…
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