THE ONLY EXISTING facilities-based wireless player advocating that Industry Canada come up with a different formula for auctioning off wireless spectrum than an open auction is MTS Allstream.
The company is the dominant player in Manitoba, but it seems clear the company has designs on growing beyond its friendly borders to offer wireless service.
Lumped in as a "scallywag" by Ted Rogers, MTS is attempting to get into the national wireless game as cheaply as possible, asking for certain spectrum blocks to be set aside and for mandated roaming until its towers are constructed.
On the other side,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Citing the "questionable business practices" of independent cable co-op Campbell River TV Association, Shaw Communications declined earlier this year to renew the contract of its Shaw Pay-Per-View service with the small cable company.
When Shaw made it known to CRTV that the contract would not be renewed, the co-op filed a complaint with the CRTC under section 6.1(1) of the Pay Television Regulations, 1990, which prohibits a licensee from giving an undue preference to any person, including itself, or subjecting any person to an undue disadvantage.
While CRTV said the PPV or VOD options available to it…
Continue Reading
HALIFAX – RTNDA Canada presentedits easternmost awards this weekend at the Association’s annual Atlantic Regional Professional Development Seminar in Halifax.
This year RTNDA Canada created five new award categories to recognize outstanding videography, use of sound, new media, information programming and diversity. The RTNDA "Diversity Tool Kit" which was released across the country in January offers practical solutions to bring diversity to our stories and to our newsrooms.
To acknowledge those accomplishments RTNDA created a new Diversity Award. Congratulations to CBC Radio Halifax for winning the inaugural award in the Atlantic region. Five television and eight radio stations received…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Digital specialty TV channel G4TechTV is sending a vehicle with tech junkies to major events across Canada this summer to introduce the public to the latest in technology. The first ever Wired Road Trip will also be shown online through weekly podcasts and on-air on G4TechTV, a diginet owned by Rogers.
The first stop is Montreal for the Grand Prix, followed by Toronto for the Gay Pride Parade and Ottawa for Canada Day celebrations.
The TV show will be hosted by Brenna Pierson, who will introduce viewers at home to different Canadian places along with the latest gaming,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Communications founder and CEO Ted Rogers said Monday his company was approached by at least some off the private equity players looking to take Bell Canada Enterprises private.
The response from the CEO whose stated goal is to beat Bell? "Of course, we told them all to go to hell.”
For Rogers, who wouldn’t say who approached them, it’s all about execution, shoulder to the wheel, nose to the grindstone, the "boring" work of making sure customers are happy.
"It’s very, very important to maximize what we have, and for the past number of years, we have…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Quebecor and MTS Allstream are not alone among telecom and cable firms in their desire for a wireless spectrum auction that would shackle the "big three" mobile phone companies in Canada.
Among those aligned with the Quebec and Manitoba companies that have been leading the charge to have spectrum in the auction set aside for new entrants – and who have also proposed other rules like mandated roaming and tower sharing – include: Cogeco Cable, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, Shaw Communications, EastLink, the Assembly of First Nations and Toronto Hydro Telecom, among others.
The list…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Billing it as Canada’s first "self-personalizing" home page, mysportsnet.ca is just about set for release.
"Mysportsnet.ca will revolutionize how users of the web manipulate their personal content," said Dave Ballingall, vice-president, marketing, for the Rogers Media owned sports channel. "Rather than taking the time and effort to organize favourites, users will automatically have their preferred web sites, news and e-mail delivered to their home page."
All it takes is a free download and users will see Mysportsnet learn their surfing web behaviour and present content intuitively on their computer screen. The home page will, of course, feature…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – CTAM Canada is hosting a night at the ballpark May 29th when the Toronto Blue Jays play host to the New York Yankees.
The guest speaker for the group’s Grand Slam evening at the Rogers Centre is Paul Godfrey, president and CEO of the ball club.
Doors open at 5:15 for the event with Godfrey speaking from 5:45 to 6:30. Game time is 7 p.m.
The cost – which includes a buffet meal and a view of the game from a VIP box – is $45 and $100 for non-members (which includes a year-long membership). Go to…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – The CRTC has approved the plan of arrangement between Alliance Atlantis and CanWest Global that will run Alliance Atlantis until the Commission can decide on the purchase and transfer of ownership in a hearing.
The Plan of Arrangement will see AA Acquisition Corp. (formerly 6681859 Canada Inc.) acquire all of the outstanding shares of Alliance Atlantis for $53 cash per share, as was announced in January. AA Acquisition is primarily funded by Goldman Sachs, with CanWest Global to be controlling shareholder of the regulated assets.
AA owns (directly or indirectly) the securities of certain entities which are…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Minister of Industry will receive a blizzard of paper tomorrow as incumbent wireless operators, and those who would like to be one, submit their opinions on how the next auction of wireless spectrum should be run.
The newcomers, led jointly by Quebecor and MTS Allstream, have not backed off their rhetoric at all. They want into the fast-growing wireless market and they don’t want to pay through the nose for entry with a costly purchase of spectrum at auction.
Keying on a few lines from the 2006 Telecom Policy Review Report (the one which the…
Continue Reading
