THE LITANY OF REGULATORY issues facing the Canadian telecom business is long and the stakes are huge. It’s why this year’s Regulatory Blockbuster session held Wednesday at the Canadian Telecom Summit yet again delivered a lively, sometimes heated, discourse among the industry’s key regulatory players.
Moderated by Cartt.ca’s editor and publisher Greg O’Brien, the panel featured senior regulatory experts from Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, Telus, MTS Allstream, Globalive Communications and PIAC (the Public Interest Advocacy Centre) and the issues ranged vertical integration, foreign ownership, usage-based billing, wireless spectrum auction rules, rural broadband initiatives, and so on.
With the CRTC’s public hearing…
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TORONTO – Astral Media’s new kids network Disney XD launched across the country on Wednesday with a mix of high definition live action and animated programming.
An advertiser-supported TV network and multi-platform brand, Disney XD’s programming targets children aged 6-14, with a focus on boys and their quest for discovery, accomplishment, adventure and humour, while still being inclusive of girl audiences.
The network is currently available through Rogers Communications, Bell Satellite TV, Bell Fibe TV, EastLink and Delta Cable, and will join Telus’ Optik TV lineup on June 20. In addition to the on-air launch, Disney XD also debuted dedicated on-demand channels with…
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TORONTO – Robert Dépatie doesn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with Rob Bruce.
A day after Bruce, the president of the cable and wireless arm of Rogers Communications, called for no restrictions on the Canadian government’s upcoming auction of 700 MHz spectrum, Dépatie, the president and CEO of Videotron, called for definitive restrictions on the auction. Specifically, Dépatie made the case for an in-band spectrum cap for 700 MHz bidders while speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Wednesday morning.
As the company has spelled out for Industry Canada as it prepares to write the rules of the 700 MHz spectrum auction,…
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TORONTO – Rob Bruce, the president of the cable and wireless arm of Rogers Communications, won’t be alone this week calling (as he did Tuesday opening the 2011 Canadian Telecom Summit) for a “fair and open auction” of the 700 MHz wireless spectrum.
We know enough of what the likes of Telus’ CFO Robert MacFarlane plans to say at lunch Wednesday and can hazard a guess that Bell CEO George Cope will follow up with a similar call on Thursday when he speaks to CTS delegates at the Toronto Congress Centre. The auction isn’t expected until 2012, but the…
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TORONTO – An equal and fair spectrum auction that allows established wireless providers and newcomers to play by the same rules is critical to Rogers’ roll out of its new Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, said the company’s president of communications, Rob Bruce.
"Those who have suggested that companies like Rogers shouldn’t have fair and equal access to this spectrum are misguided," Bruce said during his the opening keynote Tuesday morning at the 2011 Canadian Telecom Summit. "Restrictions on the 700 MHz band auction would be unfair to our nine million wireless customers who have every right to access a…
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TORONTO – Despite numerous technical, operational and financial challenges, Long Term Evolution (LTE) will become a dominant wireless technology, if not the dominant wireless technology, globally by the end of the decade, according to panelists at the Canadian Telecom Summit.
Speaking in a Tuesday morning session, executives from a range of major equipment and software suppliers argued LTE will take a commanding role because of its high transmission speeds, low latency, greater capacity, more extensive coverage, and lower costs. “LTE will be the choice for all spectrum, all technologies and all networks in the next 10 years,” declared Dr. Wen…
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TORONTO – Bell Media ranked second in Canada for videos viewed in April, coming in only behind Google.
According to comScore’s April 2011 ranking, Bell Media was the only Canadian company in the top five highest-ranked companies by videos viewed. Video views to Bell Media sites were nearly 120 million, with more than 8.8 million hours of video consumed.
"Ranking up amongst the biggest on-line entities is a testament to the strength of Bell Media to compete not only as the #1 broadcaster in Canada, but as a powerful contender in the digital video marketplace," said Gary Anderson, head of Bell…
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TORONTO – In its effort to set universal broadband Internet speeds for all of Canada, the CRTC set far too low a target when it announced in early May in its "obligation to serve" proceeding decision it expects all Canadians to have access to 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds by 2015. That was the view expressed by at least two panel speakers at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Tuesday during the “Connecting Canadians” session.
“This is just my opinion, but I do think (the CRTC’s Internet speed target) is too low,” said Daniel O’Connell, president of…
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TORONTO – Citytv appeared to spare no expense at its annual programming shopping spree in Los Angeles. The Rogers-owned network announced Monday that its new 2011-12 primetime schedule will include six new dramas, five new comedies, and four newly acquired series, as well as two brand new Canadian series, Canada’s Got Talent and Secret Millionaire Canada.
The new dramas include Terra Nova, The Playboy Club, Revenge, and Person of Interest that showcase writing and producing from industry heavyweights like Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan. The new comedies include 2 Broke Girls, New Girl, Suburgatory, and Last Man Standing, while…
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TORONTO – Rogers-owned easy-listening pop music station CHFI-FM held on to top spot in the Toronto radio market with a 12.5% share, according to the Spring portable people meter (PPM) reports released by BBM Canada.
For the 13 week period from January 24 through April 24, 2011, Toronto’s second spot went to Bell Media’s CHUM-FM with a 10.5% share, which was up slightly from 10.1% last fall. CBC Radio One (CBLA-FM) held down third spot with a 8.6% share of the market.
Corus’ news talk format remained popular with listeners in B.C. and Alberta. CKNW continued to lead the Vancouver market…
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