OTTAWA – Wireless services and their providers topped the list of approximately 3,700 complaints received by Canada’s Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) last year.
In its annual report, which covers the period from August 2009 through July 2010, the organization noted that the majority of complaints pertained to cellphone contracts and billing. Of the 3,747 complaints that it accepted last year, Bell (including Virgin and Solo) had 1,661; Rogers (including Fido) had 782; and Telus (plus Koodo) had 716.
“The wireless business has the highest rate of growth, the greatest pace of change, and the greatest degree of complexity – at least…
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TIMMINS – On Wednesday everyone, save one company, told the CRTC that adding broadband delivery to the telecom industry’s basic service objective is something that the Commission must do.
And a few even said nevermind those paltry 3-4 Mbps goals, we need to aim at 10, at least (but we’ll get to that in a bit).
MTS Allstream, as we detailed here, not only said the CRTC should make broadband a BSO, but even tied a number, $7 billion over 10 years, which would pay for broadband to every single Canadian household – because letting market forces take care of…
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TORONTO – Canada’s telco TV providers say that they are getting better and better at eating their cable competitors’ lunch, so to speak. And, they have no intention of easing up any time soon.
Bell Aliant, MTS, SaskTel and Telus met with broadcasters and content providers this week in Toronto to chat about their successes and plans for the future. And, they introduced a new member of their informal consortium, TbayTel, who recently began offering digital TV in Thunder Bay, ON.
The majority of the telcos extolled the virtues of their Microsoft Mediaroom platform, particularly how it allows them to offer functionality…
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TORONTO – Third quarter profits at Rogers Communications dropped 24% as Canada’s largest wireless company began to feel the impact of new wireless competitors.
Net income fell to $370 million in the three month period ended September 30th, down from $485 million at the same time a year earlier, while on an adjusted basis, net income was down 6% to $476 million. Revenue increased 3% to $3.1 billion.
"The third quarter 2010 results demonstrate continued steady growth in new subscribers, revenues and free cash flow, and the return of significant amounts of cash to our shareholders through dividends and share buybacks," said…
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GATINEAU – Canada’s major cable companies and telcos are squaring off against MTS Allstream and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre over the CRTC’s authority to mandate broadband as an essential service in the so-called “Obligation to Serve” CRTC proceeding beginning Tuesday in Timmins, Ont.
Comments filed with the CRTC in late August show that Bell Canada, Telus and all of the large cablecos are, not surprisingly, opposed to any Commission intervention on this matter, while PIAC and MTS firmly believe that the CRTC can make broadband essential.
The issue has become a central theme in the proceeding which will cover…
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OTTAWA – Mobilicity is ratcheting up its marketing as it prepares to launch in three more major urban centres: Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver. Service in Ottawa will be available in the next few weeks with Edmonton and Vancouver later in the month. As well Calgary will go online early in 2011.
The upstart mobile carrier, currently only available in the Greater Toronto Area, recently unveiled a new marketing campaign dubbed FMyBill (it stands for Fix My Bill and can be viewed at www.facebook.com/mobilicity) to push its “unlimited everything” pricing plan in preparation for the new city launches….
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GATINEAU – Since all of the country’s biggest broadcasters (save CBC) will soon all be owned by Canada’s biggest carriers, the CRTC has announced a new proceeding to examine safeguards to prevent anti-competitive behaviour.
The proceeding will include a public hearing starting on May 9, 2011, in Gatineau, Que.
“The broadcasting industry is being significantly reshaped by a series of major transactions,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, in the press release. “As a regulator, it’s only prudent that we study the implications to ensure we have the right tools to deal with competitive concerns as they arise….
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CALGARY – As has been expected, Brad Shaw, the younger brother of CEO Jim, has been appointed chief executive officer of Shaw Communications, effective January 13, 2011. After 12 years as CEO, Jim has decided to step down and recommended Brad as his successor, the company reported this morning.
The younger Shaw fils has been taking on more of a public profile for the last 12 months or so, appearing at a number of industry events, even leading the Shaw team through much of the Shaw-Canwest purchase hearing in front of the CRTC in September.
(We even speculated, correctly as it…
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NEW ORLEANS – The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers kicked off the 2010 Cable-Tec Expo in New Orleans in style by presenting its annual awards.
Bob Legg Jr., vice president, technical operations, Atlantic Region for Suddenlink Communications, was presented with the SCTE Member of the Year Award. Legg set and achieved the goal of having his entire team become certified in at least one of SCTE’s Certification Programs and this “keen interest in his team’s professional development involved every technical and engineering employee from each new hire to the 30-year veterans,” says the press release.
Legg is beginning his second term…
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NEW ORLEANS – Traditional cable television services won’t be swept away by an Internet storm anytime soon. Rather, Internet-connected TV services can be supplemental to, and not a replacement for, cable TV.
That was the consensus of a panel discussion Tuesday at the CTAM Summit in New Orleans called ‘IP video and the realm of possibility’. After a look at rumoured cable killers such as Apple TV, Roku, Google TV and Boxee, panelists agreed that the new gadgets could actually serve to enhance their traditional linear offering.
“Linear content in the package that cable operators bring to subscribers today is still very compelling”, said…
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