HOLDING A HEARING ON fee-for-carriage one month after a hearing on fee-for-carriage sounds stupid to the extreme, on the face of it, anyway.
However, in a very political move, Heritage Minister James Moore yesterday told the CRTC it must hold a hearing into the issue of fee-for-carriage so that consumers can have a chance to participate in the process and make their voices heard.
Of course, mobs of consumers (more than 12,000 submitted form letters supplied to them by Rogers) are already participating, or have already participated, in BNC 2009-411, and November’s hearing into group licensing and fee-for-carriage is…
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IN A VIRTUALLY unprecedented display of unity, Canada’s biggest broadcasters and BDUs unanimously agreed that the federal government’s decision to step in on the fee-for-carriage issue was a good one.
In a joint statement, CTV, Global and CBC all said that they welcomed the government’s “commitment to consumers” and “new negotiation for value regime”.
"We are in agreement that consumer interests should be front and center when it comes to implementing a new negotiation for value model for local television across the country," said Charlotte Bell, Global’s SVP of regulatory and government affairs, in the statement. "Going forward, we welcome a clear…
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TORONTO – Canada’s two largest cable companies have very different opinions of a nine-year old agreement that had its genesis during a March 2000 dinner in Toronto between Ted Rogers and Jim Shaw – and the dispute has led the country’s two largest cable companies to court.
Rogers Communications is asking the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for an injunction blocking the $300-million sale of Hamilton’s Mountain Cablevision because Shaw signed a letter that became effective in March of 2001 which says the Calgary-based MSO wouldn’t mess in Rogers’ territory and the big red machine would stay out of the…
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TORONTO – The purchase of Mountain Cablevision by Shaw Communications can go ahead. Justice James Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice today dismissed the motion filed by Rogers Communications seeking to block the acquisition based on a near decade-old non-compete arrangement it had with Shaw.
The judge said Rogers had not established it could be caused irreparable harm by Shaw’s purchase, even though the judge recognized “that there is a serious question to be tried regarding the validity of the restrictive covenants,” wrote the judge in his decision.
His decision also said “(t)here is no doubt that the acquisition…
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TORONTO – It is simply fear that has the incumbent telcos trying to block new competition from the Canadian wireless sector, says Wind Mobile.
Responding to Rogers’ request to the CRTC to review the ownership of fellow new wireless entrants DAVE Wireless and Public Mobile, Wind’s CEO Ken Campbell called the move “distasteful and disappointing”.
“This type of regulatory gamesmanship is extremely disappointing and harmful", Campbell said in a statement. "The uncertainty presented by our upcoming CRTC hearing and the human and financial resources spent preparing for it won’t stop us from bringing a compelling new offering to Canadians by the end of the…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications is merging its cable and wireless businesses under a new business and corporate development group, the company announced late Wednesday.
These changes will help Rogers "enhance the customer experience, improve time to market, further drive innovation and deliver sector leading growth" by reducing costs and improving the company’s effectiveness, president and CEO Nadir Mohamed said on a media conference call.
Edward Rogers had his role expanded under the new title of Deputy Chairman to include "major strategic initiatives" like mergers and acquisitions, and will also be EVP of the new Emerging Business and Corporate Development group.
Check back soon for more on this announcement.
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications is merging its cable and wireless operations under a new business and corporate development group, the company announced late Wednesday.
The changes are in an effort to help Rogers "enhance the customer experience, improve time to market, further drive innovation and deliver sector leading growth" through cutting costs and improving the company’s effectiveness, the company’s press release reads.
"Our industry is in transition with products and networks converging, product cycles maturing and customer expectations increasing”, said president and CEO Nadir Mohamed, in the release. “To remain the industry leader, we need to work and operate differently. These…
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GUESS WHAT? Canadians don’t want to pay any extra per month for their television. They also don’t want to lose their local TV stations.
Independent producers think that broadcasters should have to buy lots of shows made by them and those broadcasters would prefer to use those producers a little less, so that they can make (and sell) some of their own dramas.
The creative side of the industry is afraid of the word “flexible” when it comes to the broadcasters’ requests for changes to their Cancon requirements because flexible might mean less Canadian drama and comedies altogether, fewer hours in…
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TORONTO – Later this month, Rogers Wireless will begin selling a new Rocket Mobile Internet stick, one that can provide nearly three times the speed of the current on offer today.
Available on Rogers’ upgraded High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) network in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, it can clock speeds up to 21 Megabits per second (but more typical will be in the mid-to-high-teens, as shown during a live test yesterday at Rogers HQ in downtown Toronto).
Rogers is the first wireless operator in North America, and one of the few in the world, to offer the 21…
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TORONTO – Canadian wireless operators will likely see a three percent decline in their service ARPU for 2009, with data accounting for 20% of wireless service revenue – and all of the growth, says a new report from Toronto’s Convergence Consulting.
Over the last year Canadian wireless voice revenue growth has moved into negative territory, while data growth continues to be robust, thanks to the growing adoption of smartphones/data devices, which the report estimates will reach 23% by year-end 2009 (and break 50% in 2014).
Based on what Convergence projects in terms of new entrants pricing (Wind, Dave, Public Mobile), and…
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