By Ahmad Hathout
Bell announced Thursday that it has struck a deal with one of Canada’s largest pension funds to invest over US $1.5 billion to help Ziply Fiber, a soon-to-be Bell subsidiary in the United States, build its fibre infrastructure in new markets.
The long-term strategic partnership will see the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) own 49 per cent of Network FiberCo, which will focus on new last-mile fibre investments in “growth markets” outside Ziply’s existing footprint of two million locations. Bell will own the rest of the equity in the partnership and all of Ziply’s operations, subscribers and…
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But most said they find contracts clear and easy to understand
By Ahmad Hathout
Only 18 per cent of Canadians are aware of the CRTC’s consumer protection codes, which are intended to make contracts easier to understand for internet, wireless and TV services, according to a survey commissioned by the regulator and released recently.
The result, which comes from a 1,500-person nationwide representative survey by Phoenix SPI and conducted between October 24 and November 20, 2024, is largely unchanged since the baseline survey from 2022. The results are accurate to within plus/minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Respondents were informed…
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Rogers announced Wednesday its Xfinity TV customers can now access 27 new free channels as part of their entertainment experience.
The expanded lineup includes seven free channels exclusively available to Rogers Xfinity TV customers, such as: Flay All Day, featuring the best of award-winning chef Bobby Flay; Home & Design TV, offering favourite home and garden originals; True Crime, immersing viewers in true crime drama and thrills; and MotorTrend, featuring award-winning content for every car fan.
“We’re focused on delivering all the content customers are looking for on the best entertainment experience,” said Bret Leech, president of Rogers’s…
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Telus says report “represents a snapshot in time”
For the first time, Vancouver-based telecom Telus has accounted for the highest number of complaints to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS), with 19.7 per cent of all complaints accepted by the CCTS during the six-month period from Aug. 1, 2024 to Jan. 31, 2025.
That’s according to the CCTS’s Mid-Year Report 2024-25, published early Wednesday morning, which examines complaints received from Canadian phone, TV and internet customers.
Rogers accounted for 18.7 per cent of all complaints accepted by the CCTS during the reporting period, followed by Bell…
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Decision will create challenges for efficient 5G rollout: Telus
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is correct in its interpretation of “transmission line” under the Telecommunications Act to mean just wireline infrastructure for the purposes of regulating attachments to public property, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday.
The 7-2 ruling upholds a lower court’s decision and means the regulator does not have jurisdiction over wireless attachments on that property, forcing the telecoms to go directly to the municipalities that govern those structures to get access that they say they need to expand the next-generation 5G network.
The high court used at least two…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OUTtv is arguing that Rogers cannot have a choice in how it distributes its service if that choice means putting the channel in a television package with less penetration.
The LGBTQ+ service, which must be offered by broadcasters, said in a response filing provided to Cartt that Rogers’s interpretation of section 9 of the Wholesale Code – which appears to offer the cable giant the option of putting the discretionary service in either the “best available pre-assembled or theme package” – cannot be read without the full scope of the CRTC’s objectives when it comes to independent services,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers executives said Wednesday that the cable giant has been getting “substantial interest” from institutional investors about a stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE).
“We’re in discussions with folks who are interested in the assets we own and are soon to acquire,” Rogers CFO Glenn Brandt said during the company’s first quarter earnings conference call with analysts. “It’s premature for me to start speculating on when that might result in a transaction. I would say we are engaged in those conversations in earnest. We are more aware than the market is reflecting right now of the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The News Forum allegedly entered into an affiliation agreement with Rogers knowing that the CRTC may grant it mandatory distribution, so it is inappropriate for the national news service to now ask the regulator to revisit the terms of that 2021 agreement after it was granted must-offer status, Rogers argues.
The ad-based service “understood the commercial implications of the Affiliation Agreement and was aware of the regulatory environment under which that Agreement would operate, and agreed to a period,” Rogers said in its April 14 response to The News Forum’s application to the CRTC…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal on Tuesday set a date for next month to hear an appeal challenging the CRTC’s decision to choose Quebecor’s rate to access Rogers’s wireless network.
The hearing will begin at 9:30 am on May 28 in Ottawa and will centre on Rogers’s contention that the regulator, in July 2023, chose a rate to access its wireless network during final offer arbitration that was “materially lower” than the rate it proposed, running offside of the “just and reasonable” provision of the Telecommunications Act.
The result, Rogers argues, is that the lower rate will not allow…
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Rogers announced Monday that, starting tonight, select NHL playoff games will be available in multiview mode, allowing Xfinity users to watch two games side-by-side on their televisions.
The free preview will start with the Colorado/Dallas (9:30 pm EST) and Edmonton/Los Angeles (10 pm EST) games. Tuesday will feature New Jersey/Carolina (6 pm EST), Ottawa/Toronto (7:30 pm EST), Florida/Tampa Bay (8:30 pm EST) and Minnesota/Las Vegas (11 pm EST). Wednesday will continue the Colorado/Dallas and Edmonton/Los Angeles series at the same times. Thursday will dish Florida/Tampa Bay (6:30 pm EST), Toronto/Ottawa (7 pm EST), Minnesota/Vegas (9 pm EST), and Winnipeg/St. Louis…
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