By Ahmad Hathout
MANITOBA — Investment firm Globalive said today that it has bid for the spectrum licences of Manitoba’s Xplore Mobile, which shuttered its wireless business this past summer.
The investment firm, which has been trying to purchase Freedom Mobile from Rogers and Shaw, said it has made an offer to Xplore for the licences and is waiting for its response. The firm is promising a mobile wireless-only competitor that will provide lower prices nationally.
“We are building a national independent wireless carrier across Canada and we are acquiring spectrum in all markets to realize our long-term vision of a globally…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Lawyers on behalf of Rogers, Shaw and Videotron said in a letter submitted to the Federal Court of Appeal Friday that the Competition Bureau’s request to hear as evidence a complaint filed to the CRTC related to a side deal between Rogers and Videotron is irrelevant to its appeal.
TekSavvy’s application to the CRTC, filed Thursday, argued that a deal that would see Rogers provide Videotron with wholesale access to its network at below market rates to allay competition concerns related to its purchase of Shaw is illegal because it gives a preference…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Just over three months since the CRTC put in place guidance for its mandated mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) regime, the new chair wants providers to let the commission know about the status of negotiations.
“I would like to know where those negotiations are,” Vicky Eatrides, who took on the job just over two weeks ago, told Cartt as part of her rotation of media interviews on Friday. “We are going to follow up soon to figure out where those negotiations are between the larger players and the regional providers.”
The CRTC, under previous chair Ian Scott,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA — The Competition Bureau today filed a motion at the Federal Court of Appeal asking for the court to allow it to submit into evidence an application by TekSavvy at the CRTC challenging the legality of Rogers allowing Videotron access to its network at below market rates as a deal to help close its purchase of Shaw.
The largest independent telecom in Canada filed the application yesterday for the CRTC to review whether Rogers could provide Videotron wholesale access to its network at below market rates, a deal TekSavvy said could be rampant in…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – SaskTel has warned Innovation Canada that if it significantly increases its costs to certify telecommunications equipment, Canadians will see higher monthly telecom prices.
The department has said that new telecommunications equipment has emerged since it last conducted a certification cost study in 2007, meaning it has had to invest in new technologies to keep up. This has led to the department only recovering 8% of the cost to certify equipment, including 5G smartphones and Wi-Fi routers.
As such, ISED is proposing to increase the cost of that process, including raising the $1,200 certification application fee to $4,000…
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The company wants a broader review of off-tariff agreements
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The largest independent telecom in Canada has filed an application today for the CRTC to review whether Rogers could provide Videotron wholesale access to its network at below market rates, a deal that was struck between the two companies as a sweetener for regulators to approve Rogers’s purchase of Shaw.
TekSavvy had already asked Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne this month to block the deal on the grounds that the wholesale deal was not allowed. And the Competition Bureau filed arguments to be heard in front of the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The House industry committee is expected to hear from the companies involved in the Rogers-Shaw megamerger when it holds a hearing on the matter next week, a parliamentary staffer confirmed.
The hearing is expected to begin January 25 with a one-hour session at 11 a.m. with Innovation Canada officials. The staffer said there is a possibility that Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne could attend, but he has yet to confirm.
At noon, the committee will host academics including Jennifer Quaid, Ben Klass, and Keldon Bester.
Then for one hour at 2 p.m., the committee will have…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers Communications said in arguments filed to the Federal Court of Appeal today that its acquisition of Shaw Communications is a non-starter if it doesn’t sell Freedom, hitting back at the Competition Bureau’s central claim on appeal that the Competition Tribunal should have looked at the two deals separately in its analysis when it denied the watchdog’s petition to block the merger.
In its appeal to the appeal court, which will be heard January 24, the bureau argued that the tribunal had incorrectly combined analysis for both the Rogers-Shaw deal with the sale…
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By Connie Thiessen
Rogers Communications Inc. announced yesterday night the passing of Alan Horn, longtime company executive, family ally, and member of the board of directors.
“Alan was one of the most devoted and astute leaders I have ever worked with,” said Edward Rogers, chairman of Rogers Communications, in a statement issued late Monday. “He’s made immeasurable contributions to the company over the past 30 years and for that, we are forever grateful. He not only served as a confidante to Ted, and a trusted advisor to the Board, he was a mentor and a friend to me.”
Horn first…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA — The House of Commons industry committee will convene to discuss Rogers’s pursuit of Shaw on January 25, a parliamentary staffer confirmed, in light of new facts and information that emerged from a month-long hearing at the Competition Tribunal that led to the competition court denying a petition to block the deal.
INDU, as the committee is called, will hold two meetings on that date for a total of four hours, the staffer said, which will include discussions about the main deal and the divestiture of Freedom Mobile.
The Globe and Mail, citing sources, reported Friday that a…
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