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…
Continue Reading
“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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Canada’s first mobile payment service is now available for download on the BlackBerry Storm smart phone.
Zoompass, launched last month by mobile commerce company EnStream, offers Canadians a fast and secure way to send and receive money by linking their mobile phone to their personal bank accounts or credit cards.
"The Zoompass mobile application for the BlackBerry Storm smart phone marks the final step in providing the user-friendly Zoompass interface for a broad range of BlackBerry smart phones," said EnStream president Robin Dua, in the press release. "We are excited to work with RIM and look forward to continuing…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC has decided to proceed with a review of wireless newcomer Globalive’s ownership to determine whether it is truly Canadian owned and controlled.
The Commission announced Monday that it will initiate a ‘Type 4’ review of Globealive’s ownership and control, given the complexity of Globalive’s corporate structure and financing arrangements, Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2009-429 reads.
A Type 4 review consists of an oral, public, multi-party proceeding, and occurs when the CRTC finds that a company’s ownership and governance structure “is of a complex or novel nature, such that in the Commission’s view its determination…
Continue Reading
THIS IS THE last chance to register for the CTAM teleseminar ‘Understanding Viewer Multi-Screen Migration’ scheduled for Thursday, July 23, 2009.
Based on a CTAM research study, the 75-minute satellite delivered panel discussion will examine how consumers are using content across the television, Internet and mobile platforms. Senior cable and content marketers will discuss the complexity of marketing to multi-platform users and share experiences in maximizing the content distribution opportunities.
Open to both CTAM members and non-members, the format is enhanced Q&A with the opportunity for participants to email their questions throughout the program.
The teleseminar will be available…
Continue Reading
HAMILTON – After half a century in cable, Owen Boris decided this year, at the age of 77, it was finally time to retire.
In July of 1959, Boris launched Mountain Cable in a brand new Hamilton subdivision where aerial utilities (phone and power) weren’t allowed, meaning his system was one of the first, if not the first, to go underground.
Just prior to the launch of the cable company, Boris had been a member of the engineering team who helped create the famous, and infamous, Avro Arrow jet. When that project was killed, Boris needed something to do. He had…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – In a note to clients, BMO Nesbitt Burns media and cable analyst Tim Casey notes the Shaw Communications purchase price of Mountain Cablevision may be as high as $300 million (a whopping $7,300 per sub).
While saying the impact of the purchase is “slightly negative” for Shaw, Casey notes that industry contacts “have speculated a price in the $300mm range, implying roughly 12x EBITDA,” he wrote.
“The transaction is a surprise given Shaw’s Ontario assets are in Sault Ste. Marie, Kenora and Thunder Bay. We expect operating synergies will be limited.
“Given Shaw’s industry-leading track record regarding capital allocation, we…
Continue Reading
WINNIPEG – Aboriginal Peoples Television Network has launched its high definition channel APTNHD on Rogers’ HD line-up in Ontario.
APTNHD, which initially launched April 8, 2008, airs much of the same programming as the network’s SD channel, is available in approximately 10 million Canadian households and broadcasts programming with 56% offered in English, 16% in French and 28% in Aboriginal languages.
“APTN is excited for the Rogers HDTV launch of our high definition channel,” said Sky Bridges, director of marketing, in the announcement. “Being able to deliver the programming APTN viewers have come to know and enjoy in this new high…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – According to the Campaign for Democratic Media, the CRTC’s hearing into network traffic management is about nothing less than “who will determine the way we use the Internet,” David Fewer, acting director of CIPPIC told commissioners Thursday morning.
Leaving network management practices up to the discretion of the networks owners can only invite disaster and make Canada “a backwater of online innovation,” he added. “The Canadian Internet is not simply the private property of Canadian ISPs.” (CIPPIC is the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic and a member of the CDM.)
While that may be true…
Continue Reading
