Search Results for: shaw

Cable / Telecom News

Shaw returns to business as usual after fire

CALGARY – Shaw Communications has made “significant progress” in restoring services to customers impacted by last week’s fire at its Calgary-based headquarters.  The company said that Shaw Court experienced extensive water damage as a result of the sprinkler systems, and that it has contingency plans in place to relocate employees throughout Calgary in order to continue business operations.  Technical and IT essential staff will remain in the building 24 hours per day to monitor and support as required. "Special thanks go out to the City of Calgary and the Calgary Fire Department for their assistance in a full evacuation… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Fire at Shaw HQ cuts phone, Internet services

CALGARY – An explosion and electrical fire at Shaw Communications’ Calgary headquarters on Thursday morning has knocked out telephone and Internet services to some of its customers.  No one was hurt in the incident. According to a CBC report, the Shaw building is a "key hub" for national, provincial and municipal networking infrastructure and its back up systems failed to kick in.  The cause of the fire remains unclear. “We absolutely apologize for what has happened, and we're doing our best to restore services and we are in an emergency restoration process”, said Shaw president Peter Bissonnette.  “So it may seem it's… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Supreme Court’s copyright decisions favour ISPs

OTTAWA – The Supreme Court sided with the likes of Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Telus, and Apple Thursday in a number of copyright cases related to the use of music on the Internet. In the first case, the court determined that Internet service providers (ISPs) and other digital providers that offer music services should not have to pay copyright fees when music is downloaded, but that artists should be compensated when their music is streamed online. In another case, broadcasters, TV service providers and movie theatres won’t have to pay fees for the music used in a film or a television show that they air.  That’s… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Northwestel unveils new phone, Internet services

FORT NELSON, B.C. – On Monday, Northwestel officially launched Cable Home Phone in Fort Nelson, a community of about 5,000 residents in northeastern British Columbia. A new long distance plan is available as part of the offering, providing unlimited, anytime long distance calling for just $9.95/month when bundled with Northwestel’s digital TV and internet services. “Cable Home Phone is a common way of delivering phone service in southern Canada but it is new to the North,” said Curtis Shaw, Northwestel vice president of marketing. “As part of this project, Northwestel invested more than $200,000 to improve the reliability of the Fort… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Rogers to spend $500 million to launch LTE coverage in 28 more cities this year

TORONTO – Rogers celebrated the first anniversary of its LTE wireless launch by confirming plans to invest close to $500 million to bring the service to approximately 60% of Canadians by the end of this year. After first launching in Ottawa on July 7, 2011, Rogers then rolled out LTE in the greater metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.  So far in 2012, it has launched LTE in St. John's, Halifax and Calgary to reach approximately 35% of the Canadian population. Rogers said Monday that it is on track to offer LTE in Moncton, Trois Rivières, Sherbrooke, Quebec City, Kingston,… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Globalive continues quest for Telus’s Canadian credentials

GATINEAU – On Wednesday, July 4, Globalive Wireless Management (Wind Mobile) asked the CRTC to add a new piece of evidence to its file which says Telus is currently off-side when it comes to Canada’s telecom regulations on foreign ownership. As we reported previously, Globalive wants the CRTC to launch a public proceeding to examine whether or not the number of foreign investors in Telus is too great. On June 20th in a submission to the Commission, Globalive said that Telus’s recent aborted attempt to convert to a single share structure exposed… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Revenue flat, operating income, subscriber numbers, dip at Shaw in Q3

CALGARY – Consolidated revenue at cable TV, internet, satellite TV and media company Shaw Communications for the three month period of $1.28 billion was basically flat (down 0.5%) compared to the same period last year. Revenue for the nine month period ended May 31, 2012 of $3.79 billion was up 6% over last year. Total operating income before amortization of $567 million declined 3% over the comparable quarterly period while the year-to-date amount of $1.63 billion improved almost 4%. Free cash flow for the three and nine month periods was $203 million and $379 million, respectively, compared to $240 million and… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Moody’s cautions media companies’ shareholder-friendly moves

NEW YORK – North America media companies that ramp up shareholder initiatives to woo investors could be putting their credit quality at risk, according to Moody's Investors Service. In a special comment entitled ‘North American Media and Entertainment: An Arms Race: Limited Growth Spurs Rising Equity Returns Amid High Cash Levels’, Moody’s said that companies such as Shaw Communications and Time Warner Inc. paid dividends in 2011 that exceeded a third of their free cash flow.  That means their credit quality is at risk if these high payout rates continue to trend upward without other credit improvements, unless risk related… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Mobilicity unveils expansion plans

TORONTO – Mobilicity has confirmed plans to extend its coverage in Ontario, BC and Alberta as well as launch in four new cities. The wireless carrier will widen its network west of Toronto into Milton, Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton, plus will launch in Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa, cities located east of Toronto.  Mobilicity will also build out its network in the Barrhaven, Orleans and Cumberland regions near Ottawa. In addition, Mobilicity confirmed it is in the process of extending its network within the Greater Vancouver Area to include White Rock, Pitt Meadows and the Richmond-Surrey commuter corridors, while in Edmonton, it will expand… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Bell Media, CBC/Radio Canada walk away from 2014-16 Olympics

TORONTO – Bell Media and CBC/Radio Canada have ended their Olympic bid partnership after two failed bids for the exclusive Canadian media rights for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. During their partnership, the organizations submitted two bids for the Canadian broadcast rights that were turned down flat by the IOC. The duo said in a joint statement on Monday afternoon that they will formally dissolve their bid partnership as a result. "We presented not one, but two fiscally responsible bids that are reflective of the Canadian marketplace," said Phil King, president of CTV programming and… Continue Reading