OTTAWA – The remedy Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications offered in an attempt to gain the necessary regulatory approvals for their proposed merger is “inadequate”, according to Dr. Nathan Miller, a professor at Georgetown University who was asked to put together a report on the matter for the Competition Bureau.
Miller spoke today about his report at the Competition Tribunal hearing into the bureau’s application to block the merger.
The remedy he referred to is the sale of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Quebecor subsidiary Videotron to address concerns about the impact of the merger on wireless competition in Canada.
Miller argued the…
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CALGARY — Shaw Communications announced today the launch of Disney+ on Shaw TV and Shaw Stream.
With the launch, Shaw’s Fibre+ Internet customers can “watch classic and original shows and movies available from Disney’s six premium brands — including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Star — through one integrated in-home platform,” says a press release.
“With the integration of Disney+ into Shaw’s robust content lineup, it’s now easier than ever for Shaw TV and Shaw Stream customers to watch the Disney classics they already know and love, as well as discover new originals, movies, mini-series, documentaries and…
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OTTAWA – Documents newly made public today at the Competition Tribunal’s hearing into the Competition Bureau’s application to block the proposed merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications reveals Telus’ strategy to stop and delay the deal.
The document, prepared for Telus’ board on the company’s second quarter of 2022, says Telus continued to execute its “top-of-house strategy” where its executive leadership team met “with political leaders to kill, shape and slow the deal.”
Additionally, the document notes that during the quarter, “NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, repeatedly asked PM Trudeau during Question Period to block the merger, using TELUS talking points”…
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OTTAWA – The Competition Tribunal hearing on the Competition Bureau’s application to block the merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications continued today, although mostly in camera.
The tribunal heard from Blaik Kirby, group president, consumer and small and medium business at BCE, who also appeared yesterday. He spoke about the competitive environment and Bell’s response to the launch of Shaw Mobile.
“If there is a divestiture the resulting environment is actually going to better for Bell Mobility than the current environment,” Kirby told the tribunal panel, speaking about the divestiture of Shaw’s wireless assets.
“When we look at Shaw today, the…
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Shaw Mobile is a big reason why Freedom stores are struggling, another witness says
OTTAWA – Today was the third day of the Competition Tribunal hearing on the Competition Bureau’s application to block the proposed merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications.
Yesterday and today, two Freedom Mobile dealers appeared as witnesses, each answering questions about the struggles they say they have faced since the merger was announced.
The first of the two witnesses, Sudeep Verma, opened his first Wind Mobile store in 2011 and continued on to open a total of 19 stores. He operated all of those stores until…
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TORONTO — Rogers Communications today announced its financial results for the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, reporting its total revenue rose 2% to $3.74 billion compared to the same quarter of 2021.
The increase was attributed to strong performance in the company’s wireless and media segments.
Rogers’ Q3 results included $150 million in customer credits paid out to compensate for its July network outage that affected both its wireless and wireline services. Excluding those customer credits, Rogers says its total revenue in Q3 2022 rose 6% compared to Q3 2021.
Total service revenue for the company increased 3% to $3.23 billion…
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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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