By Ahmad Hathout
Members of Parliament on the industry committee said Thursday that they want a broad study on mobile wireless prices and want the heads of Canada’s major telecommunications companies in front of them after Rogers announced price hikes to service packages.
MPs said they want to invite to the committee Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri and its chief corporate affairs officer Navdeep Bains, Bell CEO Mirko Bibic, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, and Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau.
Some members verbally agreed that they needed Champagne and Staffieri in front of them by…
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By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — Cogeco CEO Philippe Jetté doesn’t want to discuss when he expects the company will launch a wireless service.
He was pestered with questions from journalists Thursday before the company’s annual general meeting — is it a matter of weeks, months, years? — but repeatedly said that they’re working toward a launch and would announce their plans in the near future. An actual launch is unlikely in the “short term” because “some preparation work remains,” he told analysts earlier.
Jetté expressed some frustration with the length of the process, both in terms of regulatory obligations and the slow pace of…
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Five Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs who are members of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU), including its two vice-chairs, are calling on the committee’s Liberal chair, Joël Lightbound, to initiate a hearing on the increasing prices of wireless services.
In a letter dated Jan. 8 and obtained by Cartt, INDU committee vice-chairs Rick Perkins (Conservative) and Sébastien Lemire (Bloc Québécois), along with Conservative MPs Ryan Williams, Bernard Généreux and Brad Vis, take aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government’s policy decisions that they claim “are increasing costs for Canadians across…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Attorney General of Canada, on behalf of Employment and Social Development Canada, is asking for a legal review of a Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) decision that rejected imposing additional safety requirements on Rogers after a subcontractor’s employee died on site.
On January 26, 2022, a 30-year-old worker employed by Verrascend Technologies fell 400 feet to his death as he was installing a new antenna on the Minden Tower at 2162 Davis Lake Road, 14 kilometres south of Minden, Ontario. Verrascend was hired by Wesbell Communications, which had contracted with Rogers to perform the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Governor in Council has rejected an application to force the CRTC to relook at a decision it made that automatically renewed the broadcasting licences of major broadcasters that have been clamouring for changes to their regulatory obligations due to worsening financial conditions.
The Governor in Council said in the decision dated December 8 that it “is not satisfied that the decision derogates from the attainment of the objectives of the broadcasting policy for Canada set out in subsection 3(1) of that Act,” and that it, on the recommendation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, “declines to refer…
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Rogers Communications said Friday it has turned on three new cellular towers along B.C.’s Highway 16, known as the Highway of Tears, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve public safety and wireless coverage along the northern route where many Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or have been found murdered over the years.
Providing 911 access for all travellers and 5G wireless coverage for Rogers customers, the new towers are part of a project Rogers announced in April 2021 whereby the telecom is building 12 new towers to provide 252 kilometres of…
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Rogers and Lynk Global announced early Thursday morning they have successfully completed Canada’s first satellite-to-mobile phone call using Samsung S22 smartphones.
The call took place Sunday, Dec. 10 in historic Heart’s Content, Newfoundland, where the world’s first transatlantic telegraph cable took place between Canada and Ireland more than 150 years ago, explains a Rogers press release.
The phone call was made between Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey and a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Search and Rescue Association using Lynk’s low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites and Rogers’s national wireless spectrum.
Footage of the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The large telecommunications companies are urging the CRTC to turn away applications asking it to require a pre-production test environment for next generation 911 calls, saying it is unnecessary and too costly.
Some public safety answering points (PSAPs) and the government of British Columbia filed separate Part 1 applications with the regulator asking for it to mandate the ability of these emergency entities to hook up to a pre-production test environment for NG911 so that real 911 calls are not at risk when testing software updates and new features. The NG911 networks are expected to carry multimedia, such…
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Corus Entertainment announced last week its 16-channel streaming service StackTV is now available through the Bell Fibe TV app.
“Existing Fibe TV app customers can now add STACKTV to their subscription for $10 a month and unlock access to exclusive content you can’t stream anywhere else, from binge-worthy comedies and dramas, to guilty pleasure reality, how-to lifestyle shows, and adored family content,” reads a press release.
StackTV offers live and on-demand access to thousands of hours of content from Global Television, Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, W Network, The History Channel, Adult…
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Rogers announces new five-year deal as title sponsor
CALGARY – Rogers Communications said Tuesday the Shaw Charity Classic golf tournament presented by Rogers has reached a key milestone, raising more than $100 million since its inception for children’s charities across Alberta.
In 2023 alone, the 11th annual tournament raised $18.7 million for 272 charities, which included a $1 million donation by Rogers to support Shaw Birdies for Kids presented by AtlaLink. This brings the total raised since the tournament’s inception to $112.3 million, says a press release.
“The…
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