Search Results for: shaw

Cable / Telecom News

Mobilicity says its net will expand east to Oshawa, west to Hamilton in 2013

TORONTO – Mobilicity announced Wednesday that Canadians will see network expansion from Oshawa to Hamilton through in 2013. President and COO Stewart Lyons said in a press release the company is on track to launch in Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa by September, and in Milton, Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton/Stoney Creek by December 2013. "To the hardworking people living in Oshawa, Hamilton and everywhere in between… our engineering team has been working on network builds in your areas and we're looking for new dealers and employees to help us deliver the value you deserve through Mobilicity's no-contract, affordable unlimited data, talk… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Shaw Direct adds Disney Junior

TORONTO – Astral Media’s Disney Junior will launch today on Shaw Direct on channel 167 Advanced/538 Classic. Dedicated to providing the best in engaging, educational and entertainment-based series and short-form content for younger viewers and their families, Disney Junior’s programming will also be available to Shaw Direct subscribers via Disney Junior OnDemand. “With its lively programming featuring entertaining and development-based series, Disney Junior showcases the best in children’s series from Disney paired with award-winning Canadian programs,” said Joe Tedesco, senior vice president and general manager, Astral Kids. Disney Junior offers exclusive, first-run programs from Disney together with celebrated Canadian series to create… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Small telcos push back on subsidy, changes to toll interconnection

GATINEAU – The small incumbent local telephone companies (SILECs) are urging the CRTC to reject proposals calling for changes to the local subsidy regime for lost telephony customers (lost NAS). They also say a regime that will force them to raise local rates to make up for a shortfall in toll interconnection revenue won’t work. The large incumbents, as well as Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, want the Commission to only allow the 50% subsidy rule to apply to lost customers who port their number to a competing carrier. The SILECs counter that this is not what the CRTC had… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

COMMENTARY: Consolidation very close at hand for wireless newcomers

“EVERYBODY’S STARTING TO realize that this market isn’t what we thought it was going to be,” said Alek Krstajic, president and CEO of upstart Canadian wireless company Public Mobile. The wireless business is a very tough game. It’s extremely costly to build out, quite difficult to convince customers to switch service providers, incumbent carriers have been ruthless and access to spectrum, especially the good stuff, looks to be a problem. Those reasons and a few others make it appear like a round of consolidation among the three new independent wireless providers is close at hand, likely before the 700 MHz… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus boosts its nets down Ontario, B.C., highways (corrected)

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. and CRANBROOK B.C. – Telus announced Wednesday that it has moved its networks down a couple of Canadian highways. The first is the Queen Elizabeth Way as the company said it has launched its LTE network in the Niagara region. Today’s announcement is part of the company’s $650 million investment in Ontario over the next three years to further expand and enhance its wireless networks. LTE has emerged as the new standard for wireless technology and Telus’ 4G LTE network supports manufacturers’ rated peak download speeds of up to 75 megabits per second (Mbps), with an expected average… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Small telcos’ positions on subsidy regime still opposed by larger service providers

GATINEAU – The small telephone companies and their larger competitors are seeing eye-to-eye on some aspects of proposed changes to the regulatory framework for small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECs). But on others, they remain at loggerheads. When it comes to giving SILECs the same flexibility as the ILECs in market trials and promotions, and the use of rate ranges, there is broad consensus among interveners. The same goes for maintaining the basket of services structure. Telus is an outlier on this issue. It wants the creation of a fifth basket that would group all competitor services – interconnection and… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CRTC grills Rogers over “back-door” entry into Montreal for Citytv (corrected)

by Steve Faguy GATINEAU – With the recent, unexpected and much-publicized denial of Bell Canada’s purchase of Astral Media (because the players didn't prove the transaction to be a net benefit to Canadians) as a backdrop, the CRTC made it clear to Rogers Media Wednesday that its tough line isn't limited to Canada's largest media company. At a hearing in Gatineau on Wednesday, the commission grilled Rogers, Channel Zero and a Montreal-based start-up on their multi-part plan to essentially convert ethnic television station CJNT Montreal (branded Metro 14) into two television stations, allowing Citytv to enter Canada's second-largest… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

OAB’s Connection 2012 reports record attendance

TORONTO – The Connection 2012 conference attracted a record number of attendees reports the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB). “ OAB Connection 2012 hit a new high level for our annual conference. Our six speakers presented a diverse set of perspectives on current trends affecting our industry through the eyes of marketers, programmes, an investment analyst, a sales professional, and a market researcher,” remarked OAB President, Doug Kirk. The conference, at the Westin Bristol Place Hotel, featured an extensive line-up of industry speakers including Scott Cuthbertson, Sean Ross, Donald Cooper, Paul Weyland, and Alastair… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Obituary: Cogeco founder Henri Audet dies at 94

MONTREAL – Henri Audet, the elder statesman of the Canadian cable and broadcast pioneers who built Cogeco from a single broadcast TV station, died November 3. He was 94. With an electrical engineering degree from MIT, Audet joined the CBC in 1949 when it was just a radio broadcaster beginning to explore television. He and a few others led the public broadcaster’s push into the new medium, which saw the first station go live in Toronto in 1952 – and two years later the first French-language CBC TV station in Montreal. However, the CBC’s television coverage was very limited then and… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Corus, Google, Shaw Media driving digital content through ideaBOOST

TORONTO – Corus Entertainment, Google and Shaw Media are lending their support to ideaBOOST, a new accelerator program that offers financial backing, strategic guidance and mentor support to help convert high-potential Canadian digital content ventures into commercially successful offerings. The program was initiated by the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab. CFC’s ideaBOOST also announced the first group of content creators selected to participate in the four-month program, which starts today. Chosen from a competitive crowd-sourced voting process, the eight selected companies reflect a full range of ground-breaking digital projects that have already engaged audiences… Continue Reading