TORONTO – In a new message on its “save local” web site, CTVglobemedia says it wants cable and satellite bills to be regulated.
As most Canadian BDU customers are becoming aware, their monthly bills are about to rise due to the launch of the new local programming improvement fund (LPIF) September 1st.
That fund, a levy of 1.5% on revenues (or about $102 million a year) will go directly to small market broadcasters to help them weather the economic storm, changing media markets and buy time until a new ownership group based licensing regime is decided – a process which has…
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MONTREAL – Quebec MSO Videotron showed ongoing growth among cable TV, internet and voice over IP phone customers in the second quarter of 2009, ended June 30th, the company announced Thursday.
“We have now recorded growth for all our products for 16 consecutive quarters,” said Robert Dépatie, president and CEO of Quebecor-owned Videotron, in a press release announcing the company’s Q2 results.
Quebecor Inc.’s release shows telecommunications revenue of $232.7 million in the quarter, 27% higher than Q2 2008.
The customer base for Videotron’s basic cable television service increased by 3,453 during the second quarter to 1,732,621 as of June 30, 2009,…
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ST. JOHN’s – EastLink said today that it has been selected to move into negotiations with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to build the fibre network portion of the government’s broadband initiative.
"We are pleased to be moving into this next phase with Newfoundland and Labrador," said Dan McKeen, deputy chair, external affairs, EastLink, in a press release.
"Providing this fibre network to the provincial government will enable EastLink to continue the expansion of our broadband network and services to more communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador," continued McKeen.
While EastLink doesn’t serve St. John’s (that’s an Aliant and Rogers territory right…
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HALIFAX – Today at noon, Halifax listeners discovered a new radio station, LITE 92.9 FM, a new Rogers Broadcasting launch.
Featured artists include Michael Buble, Elton John, Beyonce, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Madonna, Rod Stewart, John Mayer, and Sarah McLachlan.
"Listeners are going to love what they hear", said Danny Kingsbury, Rogers’ project manager for LITE 92.9, in a press release.
"Launching this station in Halifax, one of Canada’s most beautiful and dynamic markets, will dramatically expand what we can offer our advertisers. At the same time, we are offering a true alternative listening option for a very important sector of Halifax,”…
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TORONTO – CTVglobemedia’s MuchMusic and Rogers today announced Much Concerts – a new concert portal for Canadian music fans.
The three-year partnership marks the beginning of a new, innovative multi-platform service for concert goers to access tickets and interact with fellow music lovers across Canada. (Go to http://concerts.muchmusic.com)
Users will find everything concert-related and get first access to tickets, enter contests to meet artists, browse photos, watch performance videos, and check out Twitter activity from fellow fans. Rogers customers will be able to buy tickets without paying any service charges to Live Nation.
“We’re giving our audience a way to…
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TORONTO – Sales of the Apple iPhone helped to boost Rogers’ second quarter earnings by 24%.
Net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, rose to $347 million, compared to $301 million in the same period last year, while consolidated revenue grew 3% to reach $2.9 billion.
The wireless division added 148,000 new monthly customers, up by 6% from last year, and activated more than 315,000 smart phone devices during the quarter, predominantly iPhone 3G, BlackBerry and Android devices.
Basic cable, digital cable, Internet, and home phone service subscriber growth all continued to slow from the previous year, which the company…
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TORONTO – Rogers Wireless will begin the Canada-wide deployment of a 21 Megabits per second (Mbps) high-speed HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Plus) wireless network starting next month.
The company said that it will increase wireless network download speeds first in the Greater Toronto Area and expand over the coming months to other cities across the country, making it the first wireless provider in North America and only the sixth carrier in the world to launch HSPA+ at peak speeds of 21 Mbps.
"With the exponential growth of smart phones, application stores, mobile Internet sticks and embedded laptops and netbooks, Canadians are embracing…
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TORONTO and WINNIPEG – Rogers Wireless and MTS Allstream inked three new agreements Tuesday.
The first will see the companies partner on a shared 3.5G high speed packet access (HSPA) wireless network building agreement for their respective customers in Manitoba. The agreement also allows MTS Allstream to leverage Rogers’ purchasing scope and scale for cost effective access to new network technology and HSPA handsets.
Rogers has also pledged to help MTS Allstream launch a national wireless business offering under the Allstream brand through a “competitive wholesale arrangement”, the press release read.
Lastly, the companies signed a roaming agreement under which MTS’ HSPA customers will roam exclusively on the Rogers’ mobile…
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“YOU DON’T HAVE TO be a genius to know that consumers’ expectations are different than what they once were,” understates the Olympic Broadcast Consortium’s Alon Marcovici while discussing the digital plans he and his team have for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Virtually everything is on the table. With a vow that every second of the Games be made available to fans, the CTV-Rogers broadcast consortium will make use of all its digital weapons – from the web (streamed live or recorded video, apps, games, user generated content, interactivity and social media) to mobile and VOD says the vice-president of digital…
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MONTREAL – Videotron has inked an exclusive roaming agreement with Rogers Wireless which will see Videotron’s future wireless customers roam exclusively on the Rogers network while outside Videotron’s coverage area.
The move will “guarantee a nationwide service” for the Quebec cable giant’s new high speed packet access (HSPA) network that it announced last October.
Videotron has also made transmission tower sharing arrangements with Rogers for certain cellular sites within Quebec and the Ottawa region.
“As part of the rollout of our wireless network – one of the world’s most sophisticated – we consider every collaboration as essential to providing customers with…
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