TORONTO – Rogers celebrated the first anniversary of its LTE wireless launch by confirming plans to invest close to $500 million to bring the service to approximately 60% of Canadians by the end of this year.
After first launching in Ottawa on July 7, 2011, Rogers then rolled out LTE in the greater metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. So far in 2012, it has launched LTE in St. John's, Halifax and Calgary to reach approximately 35% of the Canadian population.
Rogers said Monday that it is on track to offer LTE in Moncton, Trois Rivières, Sherbrooke, Quebec City, Kingston,…
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OTTAWA – Following applications from Bell Media and Rogers to end the 5% cap on Canadian programming expenditure (CPE) over-spending, the CRTC is calling for comments on its policy regarding CPE over-expenditures for conventional television and specialty services from large broadcast groups. It is also seeking input on the impact that approval of those applications would have on the commission’s CPE policy. The deadline for the filing of comments is August 7, 2012.
In its submission, Bell Media contends that the current 5% cap on CPE over-expenditures and the obligation to use that over-expenditure in the subsequent broadcast year limits…
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TORONTO – Rogers Cable technicians employed at SC 360 Markham have strongly endorsed their first collective agreement on Thursday July 5, 2012 as CEP members. The two year collective agreement will come into effect on July 8, 2012 and run until July 7, 2014.
Negotiations had been ongoing since the bargaining unit was certified by the Canada Industrial Relations Board in December 2010. Highlights of the settlements included an immediate 2% increase in piece rate codes and a new daily minimum program implemented immediately with a 2% increase on July 8, 2013.
In addition, employees will benefit from increased job security…
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OTTAWA – As could be expected, no one is completely satisfied with Industry Canada’s proposed 700 MHz auction rules, which were unveiled in April.
Some are suggesting a complete format change, while others are requesting modifications to specific aspects of the combinatorial clock auction (CCA). Still some say in comments to the department’s consultation it must consider a number of elements in the proposed auction framework under a single lens. Rogers Communications Inc. and Bell Canada are two who share this view, but for different reasons.
Rogers, while satisfied with the proposal to use a CCA format,…
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GATINEAU – An annual report commissioned by the CRTC confirms that pricing for wireline, wireless and Internet Services in Canada are generally competitive when compared to other major markets, the big exceptions being high-speed Internet and entry level mobile wireless. Priced on average at $94 a month, Canada’s highest speed broadband service was the most expensive of all the jurisdictions surveyed except the U.S. While the average cost of entry level mobile wireless in Canada ranks as the highest of the surveyed countries.
The report also found that new entrant pricing for mobile wireless was in some cases 44%…
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TORONTO – CTV and Rogers Media say that the popular feature segments aired during Vancouver 2010, will return for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The productions include Canadian Performances, Difference Makers with Rick Hansen, The Experts, Gold Medal Moments, Snapshots, Gemini Award-winning Superbodies, and Upclose.
In addition, a new feature Raising an Olympian pays tribute to the sacrifices and unwavering support from moms of Canadian Olympic athletes. Features will air during the Games on multiple consortium platforms, including CTV, RDS, Sportsnet, TSN, V, CTVOlympics.ca, and RDSolympiques.ca.
"Storytelling has always been the foundation of our content plan," said Rick Chisholm, Executive Vice-President,…
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TORONTO – Citytv has begun production on an all-new, original documentary The Sky is the Limit, which showcases Saskatchewan’s unprecedented economic boom and will air this September exclusively on Citytv. The Sky is the Limit is the first Citytv production to begin in the province since the recent acquisition of Citytv Saskatchewan that officially launched July 1 and is being produced by Stephen Onda Productions Inc.
“Citytv is committed to producing strong, Canadian programming, and this documentary reflects that mission and our pride in shining a spotlight on this country’s success stories,” said Claire Freeland, Director of Original Programming, Rogers…
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OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada is allowing a class action suit valued at $19 billion to proceed against Canada’s biggest wireless companies.
According to a Globe and Mail report, the suit centres around monthly “system access fees” charged by Bell, Rogers and Telus that the companies falsely led subscribers to believe were required by federal regulators.
The suit was first launched in 2004 in Saskatchewan’s Court of Queen’s Bench. The high court declined to hear an appeal by the companies of a decision that certified the suit in 2008.
The matter could turn into Canada’s largest-ever class action,…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has shuttered its investigation into Rogers’ Internet traffic management practices, noting that its concerns over the company’s practice of slowing down certain types of Internet traffic have been satisfied.
The Commission launched an enforcement action late last year after receiving a complaint from the Canadian Gamers Organization alleging that Rogers’ throttling of peer-to-peer traffic created a major impediment to online game playing. After the CRTC found its practices in breach of the net neutrality rules within the Telecommunications Act, Rogers announced that it would phase out its traffic shaping policy for all customers by December…
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TORONTO – Industry veteran John Hinnen has been promoted to vice-president of news for Rogers Media Television and Radio, effective immediately.
Hinnen (pictured) will continue to oversee 680News and all news content for Rogers’ 55 radio stations, including the four all-news radio stations and four news-talk stations, and will now also oversee CityNews and CityNews Channel. CityNews and Rogers Radio will continue to operate as separate newsrooms, but will now be aligned under Hinnen’s leadership.
“John is one of the industry’s most well-respected news…
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