MONTREAL – Quebecor Media CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said Wednesday evening in a quickly arranged press conference that his company will definitely participate in the advanced wireless spectrum auction and will spend $500 million to build a broadband wireless network in Quebec – and will consider taking it national, too.
"This policy in favour of greater competition will translate into better technology, more services and lower prices for Canadian consumers," said Peladeau. "As a content company, Quebecor Media (which owns broadcasters TVA and SunTV, the Sun Media group of newspapers, Canoe.ca and a number of other media outlets) is…
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EVEN FOR A PROPONENT of spectrum set-asides, mandated roaming and mandated tower sharing, the rules surrounding the 2008 advanced wireless spectrum auction, which were released Wednesday afternoon in Toronto by Industry Minister Jim Prentice, aren’t quite a slam dunk.
MTS Allstream’s regulatory chief Chris Peirce was pleased Industry Canada had accepted his, and others’, argument that a leg up was required for newcomers to enter the space and increase wireless competition in Canada, but was non-committal about putting the rules into practice. “At a policy level, the government and the ministry have clearly gotten it. They understand that…
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TORONTO – Canada’s big three wireless incumbents will be wearing handcuffs when the advanced wireless spectrum auction begins on May 27, 2008.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice was in Toronto this afternoon to announce the rules of engagement when the federal government auctions off the 105 MHz worth of spectrum. The auction itself will take two to three weeks.
Of that spectrum, 40 MHz will be set aside for new wireless entrants to bid on alone. The remaining 65 MHz will be open to everyone. “The spectrum being set aside amounts to less than 14% of the total mobile spectrum…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications is donating $10 per employee and a total of $270,000 to select food banks, the Canadian Association of Food Banks (CAFB) announced Tuesday.
“This comes at a wonderful time of the year for food banks, assisting families who are in need of food,” said CAFB executive director Katharine Schmidt. “We are grateful for Rogers’on-going support at a local level. This donation is a wonderful gift.”
Rogers contributes to food banks in many communities throughout the year and Rogers Wireless and Fido are already a national sponsor in the Phones-For-Food program in partnership with the CAFB….
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TORONTO – Alanis Morissette, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, musician and producer, will be inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame on Friday, March 7.
She will be awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Canadian Radio Music Awards, taking place at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel during the 26th Annual Rogers MusicStore Canadian Music Week.
Her Grammy-winning 1995 debut for Maverick Records, Jagged Little Pill remains one of the most popular recordings in music history with over 30 million in sales worldwide.
A seven-time Grammy Award winner and 12-time JUNO Award winner, Morissette is also a recipient of…
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TORONTO – Dave Ballingall, currently Rogers Sportsnet vice-president of marketing, has added the new role general manager of Sportsnet.ca to his duties.
“The new web general manager portfolio is an essential part of our continuing commitment to deliver Sportsnet as a brand that stands for the highest quality sports information and entertainment across all the different platforms available to sports fans,” said Doug Beeforth, president of Rogers Sportsnet. “Dave has a proven marketing track record and is a perfect fit to lead the continued growth of Sportsnet.ca.”
The primary focus of the newly created position is to increase the…
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TORONTO – "We just don’t make you the priority we once did," said Rogers Cable vice-president, television David Purdy on Thursday afternoon during a panel discussion sponsored by CTAM Canada on marketing video in a getting-ever-more-crowded marketplace.
It was part confession, part explanation by the Rogers executive who was outlining what all of the programmers and cable operators among the 100 or so in the audience (pictured below) already knew: With cable telephony growing so fast, Internet still a large part of the growth story and (for Rogers) massive ongoing wireless customer build out, that the far more mature…
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TORONTO – As Cartt.ca first reported yesterday, Rogers Cable has launched new pay service Super Channel.
The new service will be available to Rogers customers in Ontario and New Brunswick and will only feature the channel’s four standard definition channels. Super Channel also has a pair of high definition channels – which Bell ExpressVu offers, for example.
The four channels are: Super Channel 1 (channel 368) provides series, movies, documentaries and music; for viewers who tend to like “alternative” programming, Super Channel 2 (channel 369) may be a favourite because in addition to action, horror, and sci-fi programming this…
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KELOWNA – This annual two-day trade show and seminar event will take place at the Coast Capri Hotel in Kelowna, B.C. on May 14 & 15, 2008.
And thanks to popular demand, a golf tournament has been added and is slated for May 13th.
It is anticipated that the expanded exhibitor show should sell out early and attract over 60 exhibiting companies from Canada and the U.S. Tables are half sold out already and sponsorship packages are still available. Exhibitors can save $100 per table if they register by Dec. 1st.
Cable companies, telcos, wireless, sub-contractors, telecommunications providers, and…
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TORONTO – New national pay TV service Superchannel will launch on Rogers Cable today, Cartt.ca has learned.
As we profiled here, Allard-family-owned Superchannel says there is plenty of room to grow pay television in Canada.
The service has already launched on Bell ExpressVu and Access Communications and has announced several programming deals so far this fall.
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