OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Telecommunications service providers cannot charge for a service that is not, and cannot be, provided following a cancellation, the CRTC stressed Thursday.
The Commission made the comments after issuing two decisions relating to its prohibition of 30-day cancellation policies, a move designed to make it easier for consumers to switch service providers. In the first decision, the Commission denied a request by Telus to direct Shaw Communications to cease requiring the payment of liquidated damages when small business customers cancel retail local voice or Internet services before service installation work has begun.
Noting that Telus’ focus on a single service…
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SASKATOON – Shaw Communications is now offering free WiFi service with guest access to visitors at Saskatoon’s City Hall, the downtown transit terminal, and several City leisure facilities.
An additional 27 City facilities are scheduled to receive WiFi service under the new Service Saskatoon service model.
Residents and visitors may access the Shaw Go WiFi network on their WiFi enabled devices by selecting 'ShawGuest' from the list of available WiFi settings and following the on-screen instructions to connect. Shaw customers will be able to automatically log onto the WiFi service through the Shaw Go WiFi network.
"The new WiFi services at…
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TORONTO – BCE’s proposed acquisition of MTS will not only contradict the previous government’s push for four wireless players in every market, it could open the door for further consolidation in the rest of the market.
Canaccord Genuity Corp. analyst Aravinda Galappatthige said approval of the $3.9 billion BCE/MTS deal would “set a significant precedent, as it would reduce Manitoba to a three-player wireless market from four.”
“As a result, we also believe that this would give Shaw a potential exit strategy in wireless should it decide to sell Wind”, he wrote in a client note Monday. “In addition, we…
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Focus on transport, says Shaw
GATINEAU – The Joint Task Force (JTF) of small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECs) in Canada offered a rather different option to the CRTC on Tuesday when it comes to ensuring there is broadband to every household in the country.
Rather than a blanket subsidy available for all so-called high cost serving areas, it should only be available in under and unserved communities.
In addition, the subsidy shouldn’t be available on a per exchange basis, but rather on a household or NAS level. If there are two ISPs (i.e. telco and cableco) providing service into a particular…
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WINNIPEG – Corus Entertainment and the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) have unveiled the five students accepted to the 2016 Corus Diverse TV Director (formerly Shaw Media Diverse TV Director) training program.
The program is designed for participants with directing experience who are interested in making the leap to directing scripted television series.
The 2016 students are:
– Tricia Lee; Toronto, ON
– Tarique Qayumi; Whistler, BC
– Adam Garnet Jones; Toronto, ON
– Tanya Lemke; Toronto, ON
– Amy Jo Johnson; Toronto, ON
"We are excited to partner with NSI to offer vital training to emerging diverse Canadian filmmakers and welcome these talented…
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GATINEAU – Three of the country’s smaller, but major, ISPs have told the CRTC’s basic service objective hearing that it shouldn’t micromanage the broadband file by explicitly developing mechanisms to deal with service gaps. SaskTel, Cogeco and MTS all believe that governments are far better positioned to handle infrastructure and affordability issues.
In his opening remarks on Monday, SaskTel president and CEO Ron Stiles argued market forces combined with targeted government funding has worked for the vast majority of communities in Saskatchewan. To encourage additional broadband deployment, the CRTC should stay away from “prescriptive” approaches but rather set new higher…
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TORONTO – Independent specialty movie service Hollywood Suite announced today the launch of the new web version of the Hollywood Suite GO app (HSGO).
The newly designed VOD service is an extension of the premium movie channels and is available at hsgo.ca for Hollywood Suite subscribers from Access Communications, Cogeco, Eastlink, Hay Communications, MTS, NorthwesTel, Rogers, Shaw, Shaw Direct, Source Cable, Telus Optik TV, and VMedia.
“We are excited to offer our subscribers another platform to watch their favourite movies from Hollywood Suite, allowing them to experience their cinematic choices, anytime, anywhere,” said David Kines,…
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Chair's comments change the focus of the hearing, puts government, industry, on notice, to get their acts together
GATINEAU – The the second week of the CRTC's basic service objective (BSO) hearing featured a rare moment of reflection from CRTC chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Blais which will now alter the focus of this hearing. Below are Blais' unedited personal thoughts, made just prior to Monday's lunch break.
Those of you who are familiar with CRTC proceedings will appreciate that it is unusual for Chairs to make formal remarks beyond those made at the beginning of the oral hearing.
But this is an exceptional…
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GATINEAU – Some 66,000 Canadians, or just 0.5% of Canadian television households, have signed up for the new slimmed down basic TV programming packages five weeks after they debuted, the CRTC said Friday.
The Commission asked ten of the country’s biggest TV service providers – Access Communications, Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel, Shaw, Telus and Vidéotron, to add up subscribers to their new basic television packages. These ‘skinny basic’ packages, priced at $25 or less, debuted March 1st amidst great fanfare touting choice and affordability.
TV service providers also began offering either pick-and-pay for individual channels or small packages of…
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CALGARY – Despite an increase in revenue, Shaw Communications saw second quarter profits drop by 2.4%.
For the three month period ended February 29, 2016, Shaw posted net income of $164 million, down from $168 million in the prior year. The company said Thursday that the period included transaction costs associated with the Wind Mobile acquisition, higher amortization and a greater equity loss related to some of its investments, which were partially offset by higher operating income from continuing operations and higher income from discontinued operations, net of tax.
Revenue for the quarter of $1.15 billion was up 3% from $1.12…
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