OTTAWA – Day two of the Competition Tribunal hearing on the Competition Bureau’s application to block the merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications saw witnesses answer questions drawing attention to the fact that while the Commissioner of Competition is opposing the whole merger in its original form, this past June the two companies announced a deal was made to sell Freedom Mobile to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron in an attempt to assuage concerns related to wireless competition.
Stephanie Assad, competition law officer at the Competition Bureau, told the three-person tribunal panel she helped draft a request for information in September…
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TORONTO — Organizers of the Canadian Telecom Summit (CTS) announced today Curtis Shaw (above), president of Bell Canada subsidiary Northwestel, will present Bell’s lunch keynote at the upcoming conference on Nov. 22 at 12 p.m. ET.
Originally from Saskatchewan, where he earned his master’s degree in business, Shaw has been with Northwestel since 1996 – he started out as a product manager and became president in 2018.
“In his time at Northwestel, Curtis brought fibre-to-the-home technology to 20 remote northern communities, making Yukon and Northwest Territories among the most connected jurisdictions in Canada. In partnership with Bell Mobility, he brought 4G…
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OTTAWA – Well over a year after the proposed merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications was announced, the Competition Tribunal has begun to hear an application made by the Commissioner of Competition to block it.
The Commissioner of Competition is arguing the merger will result in less competition, while Rogers and Shaw are arguing they have addressed that concern by coming to an agreement with Quebecor subsidiary Videotron for the sale of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile as competition concerns are centred around the wireless assets involved in the deal.
According to the commissioner, however, this is not an effective remedy because…
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By Howard Law
IF JOURNALISTS IN politics are the friends of news media, perhaps it needs new friends.
At the Commons Heritage Committee, former CTV reporter and Conservative MP Kevin Waugh continues to thunder that major TV networks Bell CTV, Rogers City-TV and CBC should be excluded from the “FaceGoogle” Bill C-18.
This Monday at the Senate committee studying the Online Streaming Act Bill C-11, former Edmonton Journal columnist Paula Simons and former CBC TV correspondent Julie Miville-Dechêne suggested Unifor’s recommendation for better cable and streamer funding of local news was unnecessary because TV companies are set to cash in under…
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MONTREAL, TORONTO and CALGARY – A second mediation attempt between Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Quebecor and the Competition Bureau has failed, according to a press release issued by the three companies today.
Rogers and Shaw are currently seeking approvals for their proposed merger. In an attempt to quell concerns about the potential impact of the deal on wireless competition in Canada, the companies agreed to sell Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron.
The first attempt at mediation between Rogers, Shaw and the Competition Bureau happened in July.
The second mediation attempt took place earlier today.
“We are disappointed with…
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The province is moving away from an old methodology on telecom procurement
By Ahmad Hathout
VANCOUVER – Telus Corp. CEO Darren Entwistle sent a seven-page letter to British Columbia premier John Horgan in March expressing concern the province’s move toward a price-focused approach to the purchase of telecommunications services would jeopardize the company’s future investments in the province and possibly force the company to move its headquarters out of Vancouver.
Telus is currently on a 12-year, $1.6-billion “strategic” deal – signed in 2011 and expiring next July – that sees it provide telecommunications services to the provincial government, with stipulations requiring it…
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WHITEHORSE — Northwestel announced today the launch of what it calls “the North’s fastest home Internet plans”, which offer download speeds of up to 500 Mbps with unlimited monthly data.
The new plans are available in 20 communities in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, according to a press release.
“These improvements are part of Northwestel’s significant investments to expand high speed Internet speeds and access in communities across the Yukon and NWT,” the release reads.
With Northwestel’s Internet 500 unlimited plan, “Internet customers can look forward to more gaming, streaming and browsing on multiple devices in the home,” the release says. The…
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“I think they’d better listen,” minister says
OTTAWA – Industry minister François-Philippe Champagne today announced the terms he wants to see in place as he considers whether to approve a deal between Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Quebecor, which would see Shaw’s Freedom Mobile sold to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron in an attempt to alleviate concerns about the impact of the merger of Rogers and Shaw on wireless competition in Canada.
The minister, stating he is officially denying the request by Rogers to acquire Shaw’s spectrum licences, announced “the lens” through which he is considering the proposal for Videotron to…
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OTTAWA – Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Videotron are headed to mediation with the Competition Bureau at the end of the month, the Competition Tribunal confirmed today.
Earlier this year, the Commissioner of Competition applied to the tribunal to have the proposed merger of Rogers and Shaw blocked. Since then, Rogers and Shaw have come to an agreement with Quebecor subsidiary Videotron for the sale of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to try to assuage concerns about the potential impact of the merger on wireless competition.
“Given the public interest in this proceeding, the Competition Tribunal confirms that a mediation is scheduled to…
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SEATTLE — Telus was the fastest mobile operator among Canada’s national providers in Q3 2022, and Rogers was the fastest fixed broadband service provider in the country during the same quarter, according to the latest report from Seattle-based broadband and mobile network testing company Ookla.
The report, released today, says Telus achieved a median mobile download speed of 76.03 Mbps (please see the chart above) during Q3 2022. The median download speeds for Canada’s other two national mobile providers, Bell and Rogers, were 73.3 Mbps and 59.86 Mbps respectively, according to the report.
Rogers achieved the fastest median upload speed for…
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