ENGLEWOOD, Colo – Former Bell ExpressVu and Bell Mobility chief Michael Neuman today was named president and chief operating officer of EchoStar Communications.
Neuman was president of Bell Mobility until earlier this year when he was forced out after the wireless unit endured a series of billing blunders which saw customers either over-billed or un-billed, among other issues.
Neuman fills a post with EchoStar that had been vacant for more than a year. Prior to his stint with Bell Mobility, he served as president of Bell ExpressVu, WorldLinx Telecommunications and Cerberus Canada.
As president of ExpressVu, Neuman had an…
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TORONTO – It’s been a year of enormous growth for The Movie Network on demand, the company announced today.
In its inaugural year just completed, TMNOD has proven widely successful, recording exceptional ratings in both subscriber adoption and satisfaction, exceeding all expectations, says the press release.
The service lets existing TMN subscribers view most of the pay service’s content whenever they like, at no additional charge. The earnings, for the service and the cable operator, come via the “significant decline in our churn rate,” said Domenic Vivolo, senior vice-president, marketing and sales, Astral Television Networks.
"We are delighted with…
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CALGARY – Shaw Cablesystems today notified its Internet customers that they can now access a new e-mail feature, for no extra charge.
Shaw Video Mail is now available to all Shaw Internet customers. Using Shaw Video Mail, customers can send a video email up to two minutes in length to multiple recipients around the world. The message interface allows the inclusion of full audio as well as photos in a slide show format.
"Shaw Video Mail is a next generation service that is perfectly supported by the recent speed enhancements we’ve introduced," said Peter Bissonnette, president of Shaw Communications,…
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TORONTO – So what’s it like going from one side to another, is what people often want to know from Janet Yale.
She spent four years as president and CEO of the CCTA (Canadian Cable Television Association ) before bolting to Telus in late summer 2003 and is now executive vice-president, corporate affairs. Yale (right) tries not to see her move from one side to another, and draws similarities between cable and telecom.
However, while each are facilities-based providers, cable and telecom are clearly at each others’ throats right…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable today made official its launch of voice over Internet telephony in many of its major service areas.
Over the last year, Cogeco Cable has successfully tested its new digital telephone service in the Trois-Rivières area in Québec and in the Burlington/Oakville Ontario corridor.
These conclusive trials, as well as the market studies conducted at the same time, have helped to better pinpoint the services and functions that customers want, says the company.
In 2001, Cogeco abandoned testing it was doing in the telephony space after spending about $25 million, saying it would wait for the…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Communications has asked the CRTC to free its pay-per-view service from its geographic shackles.
In its license renewal application for Shaw Pay-Per-View, the company has asked the Commission for an amendment to permit national distribution, but only via satellite companies.
As the Shaw PPV license now stands, it may only distribute its service in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Viewer’s Choice PPV gets the rest of the country in its license.
Since Bell ExpressVu has its own branded PPV service called Vu! –and the only other licensed DTH company in Canada…
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TORONTO – Last week’s Canadian Telecom Summit saw the leaders of Canada’s largest ILECs stay relentlessly on the attack, hitting at the CRTC as well as Canadian cable companies.
While Bell Canada Enterprises CEO Michael Sabia’s keynote on Tuesday said the telecom regs were just plain wrong, Telus Communications CEO Darren Entwistle backed him up the next day.
Both executives are peeved at the May 12th voice over Internet protocol regulatory decision which said, mainly, that for the incumbent local exchange carriers VOIP will be regulated as their traditional circuit-switched systems in that they must file tariffs each…
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TORONTO – The show that led the buzz-meter during the recent fall launches south of the border, Chris Rock’s “Everybody Hates Chris”, will premiere on Citytv this fall, CHUM Television announced today.
Other new shows include dramatic series "Just Legal" from executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer; "Hot Properties," a new comedy about four women in the Manhattan real estate market; the drama "Supernatural" from executive producer McG ("The O.C.") starring Jared Padalecki; and "Wanted," a gritty crime drama from executive producers Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent.
Mid-season programming highlights include: "Bedford Diaries" from executive producer Barry Levinson; "South Beach,"…
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TORONTO – Don’t expect Bell Canada Enterprises to let up on the CRTC any time soon.
Still stinging from the Commission’s May 12th VOIP decision, which maintains traditional regs on telcos’ voice over IP offerings while cablecos and others get a head start, BCE CEO Michael Sabia made plain today in his keynote address at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto that the company will keep pressuring government for wholesale change.
The situation is dire, he said, as Canada loses ground in the information communications technology (ICT) space to forward-thinking countries like Ireland and Korea. “By making a conscious…
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TORONTO – While he didn’t name names, one of the newest players in the telecom space in Canada appear to be having problems dealing with a certain western MSO.
At a Monday session during the Canadian Telecom Summit entitled VOIP Pioneers – Early Results, Matt Stein, vice-president of new technology and services with VOIP provider Primus Canada, expressed his frustration with customer issues that are peculiar to the west.
“The vast majority of our quality issues are from Alberta and British Columbia,” he said. “An overwhelming amount comes from those provinces and while I won’t name the company, it…
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