TORONTO, MONTREAL and WOODSTOCK – Industry stakeholders wasted little time before commenting on Industry Minister James Moore’s spectrum announcement, with the majority expressing optimism, albeit cautiously.
Rural broadband provider Xplornet Communications said that it was “pleased and relieved” that Industry Canada and Minister Moore revised the previously proposed 3500 MHz spectrum policy, saying that the approach proves that the Minister understands the importance of 3500 MHz spectrum in providing fast and affordable high-speed Internet to rural Canadians.
“The Minister has taken a balanced approached that does no harm to the tremendous gains that have been made in the past few…
Continue Reading
“I BEGAN MY CAREER AT ROGERS 45 years ago, just after the 1968 Broadcasting Act was enacted and this Commission was created,” Phil Lind told CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais during the company’s appearance at September’s TV Policy Review hearing.
“Since that time, Mr. Chairman, I have had the pleasure of appearing before you and all your predecessors. I reckon I have represented Rogers at more than 100 broadcasting hearings over the past four-and-a-half decades.” That’s right, Lind has appeared before every single CRTC chairman there has ever been. His fingerprints are all over broadcasting policy in Canada.
There are very few…
Continue Reading
THE CHANGES WHICH have happened in wireless market over the last five years have been stunning in their breadth, depth and speed. The explosion in popularity of the Android platform and the Apple iPhone and the implosion of BlackBerry often gobble up all the headlines, but riding those waves for half a decade now in Canada has been Wind Mobile.
The company celebrated its birthday Tuesday by using Twitter to give away 50 new Nexus phones – and by making its new CEO, Pietro Cordova (right), available to the media. He’s no Canadian neophyte, having worked here in the 1990s,…
Continue Reading
En 2007-2008, ils étaient nombreux dans l’industrie canadienne de la télévision à se demander qui était ce drôle de type qui achetait toutes les marques musicales.
À l’époque, tout le monde croyait que la musique était une industrie en déclin, complètement dépassée par la révolution numérique — un domaine dont les gens d’affaires sérieux devaient s’éloigner, et non pas investir. Ce n’était certainement pas un secteur où l’on planifiait construire une nouvelle entreprise d’envergure mondiale. Il ne manquait pas de sceptiques lorsqu’est arrivé sur la scène de la télévision canadienne Eric Boyko, être au verbe rapide et entrepreneur à l’énergie…
Continue Reading
BACK IN 2007-08 THERE were no shortage of people in the Canadian TV industry who’d whisper, “who’s the crazy guy buying up all the music brands?”
The prevailing wisdom then said music was a shrinking, sinking business, utterly upended by the digital revolution and one to be fled by serious businesspeople, not embraced. It was certainly not something upon which to build a brand new global enterprise. Oh, there were plenty of naysayers when Eric Boyko (pictured in his Montreal office), a speed talking ball of frenetic, entrepreneurial energy, entered the Canadian TV scene. (Pour la version française, s'il vous…
Continue Reading
SUN PEAKS, B.C. – Mascon Cable Systems has launched DOCSIS 3.0 in Sun Peaks, White Croft and Heffley Lake, the company announced last week.
Sun Peaks is the second largest ski area in British Columbia and is the third-largest in the country. The deployment of DOCSIS 3.0 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification), or D3 technology, represents a landmark shift in Internet speeds for both its residential and business customers, says the company.
Mascon’s first introduction of D3 was in 2013 with launches in Sicamous and Chase, B.C.
The company’s Sonic 100 Internet package will now allow…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Asian Television Network International has launched three more channels nationwide on Shaw Direct.
General interest Hindi-language channels ATN-Sony and ATN-Aapka Colors plus Bollywood Movie channel ATN-B4U Movies are available immediately, and are on free preview through January 13, 2015.
"We are delighted to launch these three popular channels on Shaw Direct via DTH satellite across Canada", said ATN president and CEO Dr. Shan Chandrasekar, in the news release. "These channels will complement our compelling ATN flagship channel with star plus programming , which was the only South Asian channel available on Shaw Direct so far. The consumers can now…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – “Contrary to the assertions of some parties, there is simply no problem to solve when it comes to Canadian broadband.” Those comments from Ted Woodhead, senior VP of federal government and regulatory affairs at Telus Communications, during the company’s reply on Wednesday pretty much sum up the views of all the major incumbent ISPs when it comes to wholesale broadband access regulations which the CRTC has under review.
The big players have argued throughout the hearing that competition is alive and well in retail Internet access markets between the cable and telephone companies, and any decision that grants…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Launching next Thursday for customers of Bell, Telus, Bell Aliant and EastLink is the traditional TV industry’s latest salvo in the battle to retain customers by providing more content to television subscribers on more devices at any time.
This morning at the Bell TIFF Lightbox, the company officially revealed CraveTV, a $4-a-month service which will give subscribers to a traditional TV package access to more than 10,000 hours of content on their handsets, tablets, PCs and their regular set top boxes. It will also be available soon on other platforms such as AppleTV, Chromecast and Xbox.
Costing…
Continue Reading
CALGARY – Shaw Business is launching an upgraded Managed WiFi solution that it says will enable hotels, resorts, casinos and conference centres of all sizes to keep up with the ever-growing demand for Internet connectivity.
Available in January 2015, Managed WiFi will deliver Internet access and a scalable WiFi solution to properties in one package at one affordable price, eliminating the need to buy these services individually while ensuring a property's bandwidth requirements are always met. It also includes a complimentary site design and analysis to determine the optimal WiFi solution for each property.
“Consumers rank Internet connectivity and WiFi availability…
Continue Reading
