TORONTO – There were a spasm of news stories just after the holidays that highlighted the need for better emergency 911 service for wireless phones in Canada.
There have been a few accidents, and in one case, a fatality, that might have been averted if emergency personnel had been better able to pinpoint where a wireless caller was at the time they called.
And there is no doubt that better 911 service for wireless phones is, of course, a necessity here in Canada.
However, the stories in the consumer press centred on how the wireless industry in Canada hasn’t…
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TORONTO – CBC Newsworld has launched an HD channel for Rogers digital cable customers in Ontario and New Brunswick.
Calling itself “the first Canadian news channel to offer HD free to their viewers”, the news channel will include its coverage of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Barrack Obama on Rogers’ on demand platform free for two weeks, beginning January 21 at 5 pm ET.
www.newsworld.cbc.ca www.rogers.ca
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Exton, PA – Boris Culum from Rogers Cable has won the inaugural Young Canadian Engineering Professional of the Year Award by The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE).
Culum will accept the award at a luncheon at the SCTE Canadian Summit held February 3-4 at the Toronto Congress Centre.
The SCTE, along with Aurora Networks as the primary sponsor and Cartt.ca as the publishing partner, last month announced the new award that recognizes a young cable telecommunications engineering professional in Canada who has demonstrated outstanding achievement within the Canadian cable telecommunications industry.
“Boris has been the driver behind the successful…
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TORONTO – Bruce Marshall from Mountain Cablevision has been elected as president of the Ontario chapter of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) for the 2009 term.
Boris Eventov (Cogeco Cable) has been named vice president; James Myles (Rogers Cable) is treasurer; and Bill McMillan (TVC) is secretary.
Robert McCann (Clearcable Networks) will serve as director of training and events, and Daniel Sacolle (Cogeco Cable) is director of certifications.
www.scte-ontario.com
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I’LL CUT RIGHT TO the chase. When CanWest Global’s interim television division president Peter Viner was asked Wednesday afternoon, point-blank, by one of the financial analysts who cover the media industry in Canada if the money-losing E! network might be altogether shut down, he said:
“Maybe. That’s an option we have to think very hard about.”
To me, that’s a blockbuster comment. A “wow” moment. That shows that it is so bad in the conventional TV market right now – and inside CanWest in particular – that the broadcaster is thinking about shuttering a TV network serving millions in…
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MONTREAL – Inukshuk Wireless has issued a call for proposals that help to promote on-line learning in its ten licensed areas.
Approximately $2.4 million is available to be awarded for ideas that focus on content or connectivity related to learning and the Internet. The Inukshuk Wireless Learning Plan invests annually to promote learning in unserved rural and underserved communities across Canada.
Inukshuk Wireless’ network footprint currently covers 55 cities and more than 100 communities in areas of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Eastern Ontario and Outaouais, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon.
A…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has issued a call for comments on a proposed model tariff for the 9-1-1 emergency response service offered by competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs).
The Commission developed a proposed 9-1-1 emergency response service model tariff for CLECs based in part on a proposal submitted by MTS Allstream in September. MTS asked to amalgamate its six existing provincial 9-1-1 emergency response service tariffs into a single tariff that would apply in all areas where it operates as a CLEC. Rogers Cable filed a similar proposal the following month.
Comments are due by February 9.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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TORONTO – Sports broadcast veteran Brian Williams will head up the 91 broadcasters and former Olympic athletes who will cover the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
English-language coverage will be spread over 11 television networks – including CTV, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, Omni, and the Asian Television Network (ATN); 10 Rogers radio stations and the dedicated website CTVolympics.ca.
Among the Olympic medallists who will join in the coverage are figure skaters Jamie Salé, David Pelletier and Elizabeth Manley; cross-country skier Beckie Scott; speedskater Catriona Le May Doan and skier Karen Percy Lowe.
The French-language coverage will include another 50 hosts,…
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TORONTO – The Ontario Chapter of the Society of Telecommunications Engineers announced Monday that Daniel Sacolle (Cogeco Cable), Bill McMillan (TVC Inc.) and James Myles (Rogers Cable TV) have been elected by the membership to serve on the board of directors for the 2009/10 term. They assumed their roles as of January 1, 2009.
Departing the board are chapter president Laura O’Hare, and vice-president Lawrence Watson (Rogers). The two new board members (McMillan and Sacolle) plus Myles, who was re-elected, join Boris Eventov (Cogeco Cable), Rob McCann (Clearcable Networks) and Bruce Marshall (Mountain Cablevision) to form the six-member 2009…
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TORONTO – While still posting healthy subscriber gains across all products, the rate of growth in 2008 at Rogers Wireless, cable, telecom and Internet slowed in 2008, the company announced with the release of its preliminary year-end subscriber results this morning.
The company’s Apple iPhone rollout continued to proceed well as Rogers added 130,000 customers for the device in the quarter, 40% of which were new customers.
"Rogers ended 2008 with healthy growth in both our wireless and cable subscriber bases reflecting our innovative offerings that have the features, convenience and value that Canadians want," said Alan Horn, chairman…
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