OTTAWA – We choked a little on our coffee when we read the co-signers, but a letter to Industry Minister Tony Clement – to be printed Monday in an ad in the Hill Times newspaper – urges him to respect the Telecom Act as he reviews the CRTC’s decision on Globalive’s lack of Canadian ownership.
Signed by western competitors Telus and Shaw Communications, along with the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association (which often doesn’t see eye-to-eye with carriers) and wireless newbie Public Mobile, the letter reinforces to the Minister that the CRTC was and is right to tell Globalive…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has issued $650 million worth of senior unsecured notes which the company said could be put towards investments in wireless.
The net proceeds of the offering will be also used for “general corporate purposes, working capital and capital expenditures”, Shaw said in a statement. The senior notes will be made available in Canada and the U.S. and closing is scheduled for November 9, 2009.
Moody’s Investors Service assigned a rating of Baa3 to the notes. Shaw’s senior unsecured debt rating is also Baa3 and its ratings outlook is stable.
"We believe that a wireless product is strategically important to…
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DENVER–Striving to chop energy costs, protect the environment, and placate increasingly demanding regulators, major North American cable operators are starting to take steps to cut power consumption and carbon emissions.
In a “green” general session staged here at last week’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2009, executives from four large MSOs and two prominent cable trade groups spelled out ways that cable providers are beginning to reduce their carbon footprints. They also discussed promising measures that cable operators can adopt to cut pollution further in the future.
D’Arcy Brown, director of optical transport and facilities, network planning group, for Rogers Cable Communications,…
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TORONTO – Canada’s self proclaimed “Latino superstation” TLN Telelatino turns 25 this month, and will debut new programming and grassroots community initiatives to celebrate the milestone.
The trilingual Spanish, Italian and English network will air late night talk show Lopez Tonight starting Monday, featuring Mexican comedian, actor, writer, and producer George Lopez. TLN also announced that it is the new exclusive Canadian rightsholder of the Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) with games from 48 European soccer clubs.
“November will be a special month for us," said president Aldo Di Felice, in the announcement. "It will embody and celebrate TLN’s quarter century as a leader in delivering…
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TORONTO – While data will account for 19% of wireless service revenue – and all of 2009 service revenue growth in Canada – a 2% decline in Canadian wireless service ARPU is predicted by Convergence Consulting Group.
Growing adoption of smartphones/data devices, “which we estimate will reach 23% by year-end 2009 (and break 50% in 2014), is helping to drive data revenue growth,” says the report, as voice revenue has moved into negative territory.
As for the new entrants (and taking into account that Globalive likely won’t be in the market in the short term), “based on what we project new…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications has closed its acquisition of Mountain Cablevision from the Boris Family who has owned Mountain Cablevision for the past 50 years.
The transaction was subject to approval of the CRTC which was granted on October 22, 2009.
The purchase price was approximately $300 million, $120 million of which was paid through the issuance of 6.14 million class B non-voting participating shares of Shaw, with the balance paid in cash.
www.shaw.ca
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications and Bragg Communications are in discussions on potential system swaps, Cartt.ca has learned.
A source with direct knowledge of the talks said late Wednesday on condition of anonymity that the two companies are negotiating a deal in which the primary assets exchanged would be Bragg’s Delta Cable and Coast Cable systems in southern B.C. (and potentially some of EastLink’s other operations in Western Canada, too) in exchange for Rogers’ systems in St. John’s, Corner Brook and Gander, Nfld.
The deal would certainly make sense for Bragg’s EastLink cableco since it owns many small systems throughout Newfoundland &…
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TORONTO – The Ontario Association of Broadcasters annual general meeting and awards luncheon honoured former Global Television and Rogers Radio, president and CEO, Jim Sward.
The Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ Community Service Awards are presented annually to member stations for their outstanding contributions of airtime and staffing to worthwhile organizations in their respective communities, says the OAB release.
The gathering Wednesday at Toronto’s Boulevard Club featured a longer networking reception and a new feature, a panel discussion, where industry leaders discussed the impact of new technology on radio revenue, according to the OAB press release.
Laura Gaggi, president of Gaggi Media moderated…
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BRAMPTON, ON – Registration is now open for the one-day technical training seminar ‘Cable TV Boot Camp’, hosted by the Ontario chapter of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE).
Ideal as introduction for new employees or as a refresher for others, the event will be hosted by Glenn Shield on November 19 at the Tosca Banquet Hall in Oshawa, ON.
Visit www.scte-ontario.com for more information or to register.
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CALGARY – Stable growth across its key metrics helped Shaw close out its 2009 fiscal year on solid ground.
Consolidated service revenue for the year ended August 31, 2009 grew 9% over last year to reach $3.39 billion, while service operating income before amortization also improved by 9% to top $1.54 billion.
Basic cable subscribers grew 29,467 to 2.29 million, and digital penetration grew from 40% in 2008 to 57% as Shaw reached 1.29 million digital customers. The company also reported 1.67 million Internet customers and 830,000 digital phone lines. DTH customers for Shaw Direct topped 900,000.
Cable service revenue was up 11%…
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