WITH THE REVIEW OF the Broadcasting Act (Telecom and Radiocom, too) now under way, as was announced Tuesday, we’re all very anxious to hear what Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly will have to say about it this weekend when she addresses the Banff International Media Fest (Cartt.ca will have a reporter in the room, of course).
Now, since we’re looking at at least another year of discussion and debate, the best course of action to solve such tricky and complex policy challenges is to ask (and answer) the right questions in the right order – and right now….
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TORONTO – Telecom companies are eager to leverage the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to process big data, improve operations and increase revenue, and it isn’t as new as we think it is.
AI is already used in various ways such as automating customer service inquiries, routing customers to the proper agent and routing prospects with buying intent directly to salespeople. However, the massive growth of Internet of Things (IoT) and the exabytes of big data being produced thanks to connected everything has renewed interest in how AI can provide real value to that data.
AI has the ability to fix…
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TORONTO—As might be expected, Canadian telecom executives are already choosing up sides for the forthcoming battle over the CTRC's proposals for reshaping how the feds regulate and tax traditional and new media across the country.
That much was evident at the Canadian Telecom Summit here late Tuesday. Speaking during the annual "Regulatory Blockbuster" panel moderated by Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O'Brien, execs representing industry incumbents and upstarts battled it out over the Commission's new recommendations to "develop better regulatory approaches that engage all audio and video services and for each to participate," producing plenty of verbal fireworks.
Generally backing the…
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TORONTO – Rogers, Telus and SaskTel were quick to endorse Connecting Families, the new initiative designed to help make the Internet affordable to low income Canadians, announced Wednesday by Innovation, Science and Economic Development minister Navdeep Bains at the Canadian Telecom Summit.
Connecting Families will invest $13.2 million over five years, starting in 2017-2018. For $10 per month, up to 220,000 qualifying households will receive an Internet package of no less than 10 Mbps download speeds (or the fastest available) and a minimum of 100 GB of data usage each month, with no equipment or installation fees. Families must…
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TORONTO – The Canadian Football League (CFL) is kicking it up a notch for the 2018 season by adding performances by Universal Music Canada artists to its Thursday night broadcasts on TSN.
Canadian Country duo The Reklaws will perform at the CFL season kickoff game on opening night when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers host the Edmonton Eskimos on June 14 at 8:00 PM ET. Other confirmed musicians include CTV’s The Launch artists Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine, the James Barker Band, Tim Hicks, The Beaches, LOUD, Kardinal Offishall, Jazz Cartier, and Chad Brownlee.
TSN’s Thursday Night Football presented by The Brick will…
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TORONTO – We’ve oft been in audiences covering dreary, news-free ministerial speeches. The Navdeep Bains keynote to the 2018 Canadian Telecom Summit today in Toronto was not that.
The Innovation, Science and Economic Development minister came with a crisp, fully loaded speech which satisfied some important needs for which many of the Canadian telecom gathering’s delegates have been clamoring (and he didn’t say “middle class families” once).
An issue which Summit co-founder Mark Goldberg and others have long been hounding various governments about has been the lack of a national, co-ordinated program to help connect low income families to the Internet….
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TORONTO – Once fully deployed, the move to 5G wireless will fundamentally change how we live in Canada, but when and how that will happen is still open to much debate. That’s the message from a panel of telecom executives who gathered on Tuesday at the 2018 Telecom Summit in Toronto to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the next wireless revolution.
In time, 5G will power self-driving cars, but for now it’s the federal government that is driving the 5G show in Canada and it’s taking the slow lane when it comes to releasing spectrum. While Rogers, Telus, Shaw…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has integrated the YouTube and YouTube Kids apps into its intuitive BlueSky TV platform as part of ongoing enhancements to the service.
Shaw said Tuesday that BlueSky TV subscribers may now access YouTube’s entire library of content without needing to change inputs or remotes, and may also the intuitive voice-powered remote to search for specific content that will direct them straight to YouTube.
Families with children may also access the YouTube Kids app, which is a separate app providing a family-friendly viewing experience and simple navigation for young viewers. YouTube and YouTube Kids access can both be…
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OTTAWA – Veteran journalist and author Esther Bégin is joining Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) as the network's French Anchor.
Starting next fall, Bégin (pictured) will host a daily program during sitting weeks of the House of Commons as well as feature interviews with Canadian political personalities.
"We are very excited to welcome such an experienced and passionate journalist like Esther Bégin to lead our team," said CPAC president and GM Catherine Cano, in Thursday’s announcement. "She has the important task of making the various issues affecting francophones in Quebec and the rest of Canada known and understood. As we know,…
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CALGARY and VANCOUVER – Freedom Mobile customers travelling on Vancouver's SkyTrain transit service now have underground connectivity on the Metro Vancouver SkyTrain.
Shaw said Wednesday that its wireless customers may now access LTE service at the Waterfront, Burrard, Granville and Stadium-Chinatown stations — as well as in the tunnels that connect them — so that they can use their phone in the tunnel exactly as they would above ground.
“Underground wireless connectivity means that Freedom Mobile customers now have more opportunity to text friends and loved ones, post to Instagram or respond to emails in the tunnel between Waterfront and Stadium-Chinatown stations,” said…
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