GATINEAU – As the large telephone and cable companies continue to push fibre deeper into their old copper networks to offer increasing broadband speeds and new services to their customers, the CRTC affirmed Monday the incumbents must continue to rent space to third party ISPs under its mandated access policy and the Commission’s speed matching rules.
These regs must be set aside, though, Bell Canada’s regulatory chief, Mirko Bibic, told Cartt.ca late on Monday. “We need to figure out how do we get to a situation where this should not be done at all?” he said in reacting to Monday’s…
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TORONTO – WFN: World Fishing Network will launch its high definition service on Rogers’ cable systems starting Thursday.
WFN HD will be available on Rogers channel #542 as part of the cableco’s sports theme package, or as an a la carte offering, and will be in free preview for the month of October. The channel will also continue to be offered in SD on channel #426.
In other news, the fishing and outdoor lifestyle network announced that it will be available to Videotron customers in Quebec starting September 1st. WFN will be offered on channel #57 as part of Videotron’s ‘Custom’, ‘Mega’ and…
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EDMONTON – Allarco Entertainment, owners of Canadian pay-TV service Super Channel, received unanimous creditor approval for a plan of compromise and arrangement under Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
CCAA is a statute in Canadian law that governs the reorganization of businesses, allowing them time to restructure and reorganize debts.
Allarco said Tuesday in a statement that it will appear in court on September 3rd to have the plan of arrangement sanctioned by the court. The company, which has been in CCAA since June 2009, said that it expects to be finished restructuring by the end of September.
www.superchannel.ca
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OTTAWA – Tickets are now available for Canada’s 6th annual Telecom Laureate Awards gala dinner and induction ceremony, scheduled for November 10 in Ottawa.
This year’s Telecom Laureates are John L. Bragg (Atlantic Canada’s Communications Entrepreneur), Charles Sirois (Global Communications Visionary), Stephanie MacKendrick (Advocate for Women in Canadian Telecom) and the late Major W. Bruce M. Carruthers (Father of Canadian Military Communications).
In addition, this year’s Special Recognition Award will go to the Telecom Pioneers of Canada, part of a volunteer network of more than 620,000 current and former North American telecom industry employees, the largest industry-related volunteer organization in the…
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TORONTO – Add Rogers to the list of wireless providers targeting the student market.
Its back-to-school line highlights a range of smart phones and quick messaging devices, plus some new plans and service bundles that it promises will give students “the freedom of anywhere, anytime access to what matters most to them, and gives parents peace of mind when it comes to footing the digital school bill”.
“For back-to-school 2010, the school bag has gone digital and the hot essentials are those devices and services that keep students connected to not only what they need, but what they want, when and…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Most stakeholders agree that the CRTC’s new community TV policy did little to lessen cable’s firm grip on the country’s community channels. But even some of the country’s biggest cable companies appear to have some concerns.
“The closed captioning component is going to be a challenge”, said Colette Watson, VP of Rogers TV, in an interview with Cartt.ca. “As of December 31st, the funding is frozen to the levels we’re at now for four years. That’s fine, we’ll make that work. The issue then becomes, if in that same time frame we have to caption 100%…
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TORONTO – Adam Ashton has been named the new president of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.
He succeeds Keith Pelley who left last week to take on the role of president of Rogers Media.
Ashton, 38, was formerly VP of marketing for the consortium. In his capacity as president, Ashton will oversee the day-to-day operations for the multiplatform coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games, leading all integrated sales, marketing, scheduling, production and digital initiatives across the consortium’s suite of media assets. He will report to Phil King, who was recently named as president of sports and EVP…
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TORONTO – TVO and TVOKids programs have joined Rogers On Demand.
Rogers’ digital cable customers can tune in to current affairs programs such as past episodes of The Agenda with Steve Paikin, while younger viewers will find TVOKids’ educational programs like Gisèle’s Big Backyard (for ages 2-5) and The Space (for ages 6-9). TVO documentaries will also be available for a rental fee of $1.99 per movie on Rogers On Demand.
The high definition version of TVO will also join Rogers’ digital basic package, and has begun rolling out the service in the Greater Toronto Area. In the coming weeks, TVOHD will…
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OTTAWA – When it comes to licensing the 28GHz band, Canada’s wireless operators generally agree with Industry Canada’s proposed framework, documents submitted to the department via its call for comments reveal.
Telus, however, is concerned about the first-come, first-served approach advocated by the department in its consultation. Given the rapid growth of mobile networks and mobile data services, the need for longer-term backhaul network planning is paramount and a FCFS process may act as a barrier, the company states in its submission.
“Telus is of the view that the FCFS model needs to be ‘tweaked’ to allow…
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TORONTO and FENELON FALLS, Ont. – Independent cable company Cable Cable is the first non-Rogers carrier to sign up for Rogers Sportsnet One, the new 24/7 sports channel launched last week.
General manager Mike Fiorini told Cartt.ca it was a move he felt he had to make, saying there were a number of customers who expressed their frustration at not being able to find Toronto Blue Jays games on their dials. Sportsnet One had three Jays games over the past weekend and has 23 more on the schedule through the end of the baseball season.
The channel also has NHL,…
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