Feds again being asked to compensate for transitions
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The federal government has historically not compensated companies that must relocate their services to different spectrum bands to make room for emerging technologies. But companies with a vested interest in the repurposing of the C-band spectrum for 5G technology are urging the a change to that position.
Over the air (OTA) broadcasters had to absorb the cost of moving off the 700 MHz band for broadband use years ago. Broadcasters were told more recently by Innovation Canada (ISED) that they wouldn’t be financially covered for the millions of dollars…
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OTTAWA — The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) today shared the news Charlotte Bell, a long-time broadcasting executive and former CAB chair, died on the weekend. She had been suffering from cancer for some time.
“Charlotte was a dear friend and valued colleague to many of us in the broadcasting sector, and all those who were fortunate to work with her are saddened to hear this news,” said Lenore Gibson, chair of the CAB board of directors, in a press statement. “Our thoughts go out to her family and friends at this time.”
Bell most recently was president and CEO of…
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CALGARY — Shaw Communications today launched the next generation of its Fibre+ WiFi Pod across its Western Canada footprint, promising to provide Shaw Fibre+ Internet customers more consistent Wi-Fi coverage by reducing dead spots in their home.
Shaw says the new Fibre+ WiFi Pod is faster than the original (although it didn’t quantify how much faster), and provides more range to create a whole-home mesh network that offers the average home seamless connectivity with a single Pod instead of three, says Shaw’s press release.
“Working with the Shaw Gateway modem, our new pod provides better in-home Wi-Fi coverage in those hard-to-reach…
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BURBANK – There may be millions fewer people in their theme parks right now, but The Walt Disney Company said Friday it now has more than 137 million streaming subscribers – and it’s about to kick growth of its direct-to-consumer business into overdrive.
“The tremendous success we’ve achieved across our unique portfolio of streaming services, with more than 137 million subscriptions worldwide, has bolstered our confidence in our acceleration toward a DTC-first business model,” said CEO Bob Chapek (pictured), during the company’s investor day. That number includes Disney+ (86.8 million subscribers), ESPN+ (11.5 million) and Hulu (38.8 million) subscribers as…
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QUEBEC CITY – Epic Storyworlds co-founders Steve Couture and Ken Faier announced this week they have set up Loomi Animation, a studio based in Québec City focussed on animation series for Epic Storyworlds/Epic Story Media original content and third-party projects.
Louis Leclerc, formerly executive director of Pixel Québec has joined as director of the studio, while Guylaine Robidoux and Daniel Belleville of Montreal’s ToonDraw have come on board as consultants. The studio is the recipient of a funding grant from the city’s economic development initiative.
The first project Loomi Animation will undertake is Epic Storyworlds’ recent commission from Radio Canada -…
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By Peter Nowak
IMAGINE, FOR A SECOND, someone making fun of you for being too skinny. Then they take all your food away.
Got that image in your mind? Okay, good. You’ve just pictured what trying to grow a telecom business in Canada is like.
For years, that’s essentially what big companies such as Bell, Rogers and Shaw and their armies of lawyers, lobbyists and hangers-on have been doing to TekSavvy and other independent service providers.
They’ve argued that the only good telecom company in Canada is one that builds its own networks head-to-toe, from the poles that hold the wires in the…
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CALGARY — The annual Shaw Charity Classic golf tournament, which was cancelled this year due to Covid-19, has still helped to raise more than $12 million this year for more than 200 youth-based charities across Alberta, Shaw Communications announced today.
When tournament officials were forced to cancel the 2020 edition of the event in June, they promised the Shaw Birdies for Kids presented by AltaLink program would continue.
The tournament’s title sponsor, Shaw Communications, along with the Shaw Family were first to step up in the annual fundraising drive with a commitment to match up to $2 million in community donations….
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications today announced Thursday it’s opening two new retail stores, in Prince George and West Vancouver.
The 1,900-square-foot retail store at Pine Centre in Prince George opens this week, and, next week, the company will open a 1,882-square-foot location at Park Royal in West Vancouver, completing its retail expansion for the calendar year, with more to be announced and opened in 2021.
“The new retail stores in Prince George and West Vancouver are visually stunning, informative and technology-rich environments that will delight our customers,” said Paul Deverell, president, consumer.
Since launching Shaw Mobile in July 2020, Shaw has built…
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TORONTO — Corus Entertainment today confirmed to Cartt.ca that it is not renewing its licensing deal with BBC to operate the BBC Canada channel, which will no longer be available as of January 1, 2021.
This is the only BBC channel to which Corus owns the licensing rights for Canada, and therefore no other BBC-branded channels are affected by this news.
According to the last financial information Corus filed with the CRTC, as of August 31, 2019, the BBC Canada channel had approximately 2.4 million subscribers, which was a 3.55% decrease from a year earlier. In 2015, its number of subscribers…
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By Denis Carmel
VANCOUVER – Talk to anyone in the telecom industry and they know one of the most pressing challenges facing Canada is connecting our Indigenous communities to proper, and affordable, broadband.
In his Thursday keynote to the online Canadian Telecom Summit, Tony Geheran (above), executive vice-president, and chief customer officer, at Telus outlined the company’s commitment to connecting those communities to fibre.
Geheran went through the company’s various PureFibre, Health, Agriculture and Telus for Good spending, in the billions over the years, connecting millions of Canadians in various ways for various services.
However, what stood out in his speech was the…
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