Search Results for: shaw

Cable / Telecom News

Big telecoms divided on cybersecurity framework proposed by CRTC

By Ahmad Hathout GATINEAU – Canada’s big telecoms are divided on a CRTC proposal to create a framework that would establish an independent body tasked with creating and maintaining a block list of known malicious software networks, known as botnets. A botnet is a network of malware-infected devices that are controlled from a central location and used to do things like steal data and/or send an overwhelming number of communications to a server, which causes it to fail (denial-of-service attack). The increasing number of internet-connected devices coming to market, a lot largely with flimsy security measures, are multiplying the risk of… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

C-10 is “long overdue” says Bell exec

By Denis Carmel OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage met for the eighth time to hear witnesses’ testimonies on Bill C-10, the Act to amend the Broadcasting Act, on Monday. We’ve pretty much got a bead on who’s thinking what, now. We heard again from Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (Friends) whose question time had been taken up by committee business and the Fedération National des Communications which could not appear in a previous meeting due to technical problems. They were joined by BCE, Unifor, and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). Shaw had been slotted to… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Federal subsidies can be axed with less regulation, Bell argues

Telus asks for more subsidies By Ahmad Hathout GATINEAU – If the CRTC wants to encourage more investment in rural broadband and not have to shell out more subsidies, it should not impose additional regulatory obligations, such as open access to their networks, the big telecoms are arguing. In final submissions to the CRTC’s consultation on barriers to deploying broadband in rural Canada, launched in late 2019, the big telecoms took the opportunity to reemphasize fewer regulations will mean more private investment in their networks – and then the government can save money on programs, too. Should “the investment climate worsen due to… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

No rest: Federal committee will study Rogers/Shaw on its Easter break

By Denis Carmel OTTAWA – On Friday, March 19, during a break week(!), the members of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU) of the House of Commons held a meeting at the request of four of its Conservative members to examine the proposed $26-billion acquisition of Shaw Communications by Rogers Communications. The very busy committee – which has already undertaken studies on competitiveness in Canada, Investment Canada Act, development and support of the Aerospace Industry, front-line grocery store workers, affordable telecom, and domestic manufacturing capacity for a Covid-19 vaccine – agreed the Rogers/Shaw transaction must be looked… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Shaw/Rogers: Joe Natale on why the deal has to happen

By Greg O’Brien TORONTO – Rogers president and CEO Joe Natale surprised more than a few observers on Monday with the announcement his company would purchase Shaw Communications. Not with the deal itself since that had been a rumour for two decades, but with the level confidence he displayed when saying he believes Canadian regulators will, in the end, approve. That confidence hadn’t wavered when Cartt.ca spoke with him on Wednesday. The company went out of its way to offer major incentives to Canadians as sweeteners to the deal: A $1 billion broadband fund to deliver broadband to 600,000 un- or… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Feds must oppose Rogers-Shaw merger, says NDP

By Christopher Guly OTTAWA – Rogers Communications’ proposed $26-billion purchase of Shaw Communications will reduce competition in Canada’s broadband and wireless sector at a time when the industry’s top players are enjoying record profits, and therefore needs to be opposed by the federal government, according to Windsor, Ontario Member of Parliament Brian Masse, the New Democrat critic for telecommunications. “We need to have strong direction for the industry that buying each other out is not a solution for lowering prices, increasing access for Canadians and bringing greater accountability to consumers,” he told Cartt.ca in an interview. The federal government should use… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Next C-10 meetings to include Bell, CRTC

OTTAWA – The next meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which is studying Bill C-10, the bill to amend the Broadcasting Act, will be held Monday with the following witnesses: Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, BCE, Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and Unifor. Shaw Communications had been scheduled to appear, too, but cancelled. The Committee, in its meeting on committee business of March 8, agreed to ask the CRTC to appear, on March 26, and be given 10 minutes for their opening statements (this is more time than… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Broadband affordability remains a challenge in Canada

By Ken Kelley AS CANADIANS WEARILY commemorate the first anniversary of the Covid-19 crisis, we’ve witnessed companies, schools and other services migrate to the digital world in unprecedented fashion. While the internet wouldn’t be considered a luxury by most Canadians, it is exactly that to a segment of the population facing the rising cost of home internet service while their household budgets are growing increasingly tighter. On Tuesday, consumer group OpenMedia virtually hosted the Day of Action for Affordable Internet, bringing together more than two-dozen civil society and social justice groups, policy experts, activists and independent ISPs to highlight not… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Rogers/Shaw: It finally happened

And what still stands in their way By Greg O’Brien THE PURCHASE OF SHAW by Rogers has been a steady recurrent rumour which would crop up from time to time over the past 23-plus years this reporter has been tracking the industry, meaning Monday’s $26 billion purchase deal by Rogers was a long, long time coming. In fact, when I first spoke with former Shaw president Peter Bissonnette in late 1997 (so long ago I don’t think he had yet been appointed president), I asked him then about the rumour I heard Rogers would buy Shaw. Too soon. Much too soon,… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, OTT

Hayu available on Samsung smart TVs in Canada

TORONTO — NBCUniversal International announced today its SVOD reality TV streaming service hayu is now available on Samsung smart TVs in Canada. Hayu’s content, which includes more than 8,000 episodes of reality TV programming, can now be viewed via the hayu app through Samsung’s built-in application portal. A Canadian subscription to hayu costs $5.99 per month, with a free trial period available and is also available on some pay-TV platforms, including Shaw, for example. The service is now available in 27 territories, and includes such content as Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Real Housewives, Watch What Happens Live with Andy… Continue Reading