By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers says if OUTtv wants to be placed in a cable package with broader distribution, it must come to the negotiating table instead of asking the CRTC to intervene in what it says are squarely commercial matters.
Otherwise, the LGBTQ+ streamer is currently slotted in the best available theme pack that Rogers offers, which the cable giant argues is precisely what is contemplated for services that are designated as “must offer.”
Rogers is responding to an application by OUTtv that alleges the cable giant is violating Wholesale Code rules after it pushed the service out of its eastern Canadian…
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No details yet as to what the alleged breaches are
By Ahmad Hathout
Videotron is suing Rogers for $91 million over alleged breaches of contract in the sale of Freedom Mobile.
The six-page notice of action, which mentions only the claimed breaches without detail, was filed in Ontario Superior Court last Thursday — the two-year anniversary of the closing of Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw and Videotron’s purchase of Freedom.
Videotron is asking the court to order Rogers to “perform their obligations under the Share Purchase Agreement dated August 12, 2022,” which lays out the terms for Videotron buying the outstanding shares of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers announced Friday it has finalized an agreement to sell for $7 billion a 49.9 per cent stake in a portion of its wireless traffic transport infrastructure through a subsidiary to pay down debt.
The investors will be led by American asset manager Blackstone and include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. Blackstone will also hold a 20 per cent voting stake.
Rogers, which will hold the rest of the shares including voting control, will continue to have full…
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Prior to announcing its new 12-year, $11B NHL media rights deal on Wednesday, Rogers Communications last week filed a number of trademark applications with the federal government’s Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO).
The trademarks include “Canada, It’s Our Game”, “It’s Our Game” and “This Is Our Game”. Rogers’s applications were filed March 27 and 28.
In each trademark application, Rogers’s statement of the goods and services associated with the respective trademarks included “Promotion of goods and services of others through sponsorship of sports…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers says it has been forced to plow millions of dollars to carry Corus channels it no longer sees as useful, and asked for assurances that, if it wins its case at the Federal Court of Appeal, it will be made whole.
The cable giant allegedly asked Corus in December whether it will reimburse Rogers if it wins its case challenging how the CRTC is applying the standstill rule to both parties in a commercial dispute wherein Rogers wants to remove at least one Corus service and move two others down the dial on cable.
Corus allegedly didn’t respond…
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Rogers and the National Hockey League announced Wednesday an $11-billion, 12-year agreement for the national media rights to NHL games on all platforms in Canada through the 2037-38 season.
Worth more than double the current $5.2-billion, 12-year media rights deal the two organizations signed in 2013, the new agreement will start with the 2026-27 NHL season.
The deal was first reported on Monday by Sportico.com, based on information from sources familiar with the details, the sports news website said.
Under the new agreement, NHL fans in Canada will have access…
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Telco suggests ‘rare’ use of subpoena power if AG doesn’t hand over materials
By Ahmad Hathout
Last month, Canada’s attorney general (AG) filed a motion to strike as moot an application filed by Telus in December that asked the Federal Court to quash a cabinet order that asked the CRTC to reconsider allowing the three largest telecoms to use the fibre facilities of Bell and Telus in Ontario and Quebec.
The AG argues that, because the CRTC declined to change the interim decision after a proceeding on that order, Telus’s application – which alleges that cabinet…
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Telus’s CEO Darren Entwistle confirmed Wednesday that the telco is “evaluating a potential plan” to sell a minority stake in its wireless towers to pay down debt.
The Globe and Mail, citing anonymous sources and documents, reported that the company has hired TD Securities to roadshow a 49.9-per-cent stake in its portfolio of 3,000 towers.
“We have engaged with advisors to explore the monetization of our tower infrastructure,” Entwistle said in a press release. “If we are able to do this within the parameters of our desired economics, it would enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our network…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Industry Canada’s new fee structure for spectrum below the 10 GHz band is contrary to the challenges facing the Canadian economy, the trajectory of mobile wireless prices, and out of touch in relation to peer countries, the largest wireless service providers are arguing.
Earlier this month, the department changed how it would charge for those spectrum fees in certain low and mid bands. Instead of the existing annual base rate with a multiplier based on MHz held and population served, the department has opted instead for a three-rate fee system that applies discounts to an annual base rate…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TekSavvy is warning this month that a telco requirement to buy a minimum percentage of what it says is unnecessary capacity to get access to higher gigabit services on aggregated fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks will result in higher costs and lower sales.
The independent telecom is responding to an application by Bell, filed last month, that requests approval of the CRTC to remove the 10 Mbps, 50 Mbps, and 300 Mbps speed tiers for competitors’ residential customers in its Aliant operating territory in Atlantic Canada. Bell explains that it has no customers on the tiers proposed to be removed…
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