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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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CALGARY and TORONTO — Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications announced today they have reached an agreement for Rogers to acquire all of Shaw’s issued and outstanding Class A and Class B shares in a transaction valued at approximately $26 billion.
The deal agreement will see Rogers pay $40.50 per share in cash, amounting to approximately $20 billion. The transaction total includes approximately $6 billion of Shaw debt.
The Shaw Family Living Trust has already agreed to vote in favour of the transaction, which still requires the approval of two thirds of votes cast by Class A and Class B shareholders at…
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TORONTO — The federal government “must dramatically reduce the regulatory burden on the telecommunications industry to accelerate 5G deployment,” says the newest report from the C.D. Howe Institute’s telecommunications policy working group – which includes top regulatory experts and executives from Canada’s biggest telecom companies, including Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Cogeco and Eastlink.
“Telecommunications providers face obstacles in gaining access rights to infrastructure for installing telecommunications facilities. These barriers, alongside difficulty navigating government incentive programs for expanded connectivity, could stall the federal government’s aim of extending high-speed internet coverage to 98 percent of households by 2026,” reads a press…
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TORONTO — The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) today announced the 10 nominees for the Juno Fan Choice Award, which this year is being presented by Shaw Communications’ Freedom Mobile.
New this year, Freedom Mobile has signed on as a lead sponsor of the 50th Annual Juno Awards and the new presenting partner of the fan choice award. TikTok is also joining as a new lead sponsor and has been named as the official voting platform where fans can vote for their favourite nominee directly in the app. In addition to voting via TikTok, other voting options…
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