OTTAWA – The CRTC has denied a request from Bell and Telus to replace the basic international telecommunications services (BITS) licensing regime with a registration system. Instead, the commission has decided to leave the current licensing regime as is, ruling it allows for more effective enforcement than a registration system.
In its year-long review of the BITS licensing regime the commission received submissions from Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Bell Canada, Saskatchewan Telecommunications, Télébec, MTS Allstream Inc., Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Communications.
The BITS licensing regime for telecommunications services providers (TSPs) was put in place a…
Continue Reading
DARTMOUTH – Radio broadcaster Newfoundland Capital Corp. posted a profit of $6.4 million in the second quarter, a rise of five per cent over the $5.8 million generated last year.
Sales came in at $27.4 million, up from $26.2 million last year, with broadcasting revenue in the quarter coming in at $26.5 million, an increase of $1.3 million over the year before.
"We are making significant efforts to improve results in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta. We were extremely pleased to see in the July ratings that our overall market share in these two cities has increased. This is a very important…
Continue Reading
RICHMOND, BC, – It will take about five months to complete, but beginning this month Rogers Video stores will begin changing their name to Rogers Plus.
"This change reflects our continuing commitment to movies and games while at the same time increasing the presence of Rogers Cable and Rogers Wireless products and services in our stores," says Chuck van der Lee, president and CEO for Rogers Retail.
The transition from Rogers Video to Rogers Plus will take place between August and December 2008 on a city-by-city basis across the country. The intention is to recognize the growing importance of…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Industry Minister Jim Prentice says Bell Mobility and Telus have assured him that any customers mistakenly charged for text message spam can have the charges removed from their bills.
Prentice, in a news release, says he met with the CEOs of both companies to express his "serious concerns" with the fact the plans could charge for unsolicited, unwanted spam. He also said the government has “no intention of interfering with the day-to-day business decisions of private companies or with the choices available to consumers” but added that his officials will continue to “monitor market activity.”
"I would encourage consumers dissatisfied…
Continue Reading
IT’S NOT USUAL FOR a reporter to ignore a story on his beat, but it’s happening right now for me.
The issue is text message fees and the decision by Bell Canada and Telus to begin charging customers who aren’t on any sort of texting or data plan 15-cents for each of their incoming text messages.
I’ve been lax in my coverage of this story because I find the stupidity at all levels of this issue is breathtaking. Maddening. Press, consumers, government and the companies themselves; there is more than enough foolishness to go around.
When the story first…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Communications Inc. said Friday it has agreed to purchase for cancellation 3 million of its outstanding class B non-voting shares – or approximately 0.006% of the class B shares outstanding at June 30, 2008 – for an aggregate purchase price of $93,855,600.
The purchase is a private agreement between Rogers and an arm’s-length third party seller. The private purchase was made under an issuer bid exemption order issued by the Ontario Securities Commission. The class B shares purchased under the private purchase will be included in calculating the number of class B shares that Rogers may…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – "Once again, Quebecor’s very positive results were spearheaded by robust numbers in the cable segment, which continued to log strong customer growth for all its services," said Pierre Karl Peladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor Inc., in a press release announcing the company’s second quarter results today.
Quebecor’s second quarter 2008 (ended June 30th) revenues came in at $942.3 million, up 15.6% over the second quarter of 2007. Operating income rose 20.1% to $277 million.
Videotron’s operating income was up 25.1% to $182 million and quarter-over-quarter net customer growth was 51,300 for cable telephone service (to 743,000),…
Continue Reading
ALEXANDRIA, VA – The Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing 2008 Mark Awards finalists were announced today and in the running are three Canadian companies.
The Mark Awards competition recognizes the cable industry’s finest marketing and spotlights the creators of the work. Teams of experienced marketing and agency executives chose 172 finalists out of more than 900 entries, each of which will win either a Gold or Silver Mark Award.
The Gold and Silver winners will be announced at the Mark Awards Presentation during the CTAM Summit on Sunday, November 9, from 5:00 – 6:15 p.m. The event will…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – In an attempt to reflect the converging industries it regulates, the CRTC today issued its first ever monitoring report that covers the entire telecom, cable and broadcast industry.
The first Communications Monitoring Report shows that the Canadian communications industry posted revenues of $51.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 5.7% over the $48.3 billion reported in 2006.
"The convergence of technologies and industries has dramatically reshaped the communications landscape in recent years," said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., chairman of the CRTC. "This year’s monitoring report gives us our first comprehensive look at the state of the overall…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Communications said today that it has priced a US$1.75 billion underwritten public offering of debt securities, consisting of US$1.4 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.8% senior notes due 2018 and US$350 million aggregate principal amount of 7.5% senior notes due 2038.
The net proceeds from the issuance of the debt securities will be approximately US$1.73 billion, which are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of a portion of RCI’s outstanding debt. Pending any such use, RCI may invest the net proceeds in bank deposits and short-term marketable securities. The sale of…
Continue Reading
