CALGARY — Shaw Communications tweeted out a teaser today saying its new Shaw Mobile branded service, exclusive to British Columbia and Alberta, will launch on Thursday, July 30.
The company isn’t offering any public details ahead of the formal launch, except to say Shaw will offer iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro smartphones to customers — information included in the tweet.
Since it’s being offered in B.C. and Alberta, home to the bulk of the company’s wired subscribers, we’re betting some bundled TV-Internet-wireless packages with Shaw Cable will be on offer, along with other differentiations to separate the brand from…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications are both stepping up their support for women and individuals facing gender-based violence throughout B.C. by providing complimentary cellular phones along with voice and data plans to the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia.
The handsets will provide essential lifelines for those experiencing domestic abuse. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, anti-violence service providers across B.C. have reported an increase in demand for help and an increase in severity of the types of violence, says the EVA BC press release.
“The social distancing required during the pandemic has made it difficult for those facing violence…
Continue Reading
CALGARY — Shaw Communications is asking Canadians to help support more than 200 Alberta youth-based charities connected to the Shaw Charity Classic golf tournament and its charitable giving program, Shaw Birdies for Kids. The tournament had to be cancelled this summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Canadians can text KIDS to 30333 to donate $10 to the Shaw Charity Classic Foundation between now and August 30, with all funds raised going toward the children’s charities across Alberta that benefit from the PGA Tour Champions event in Calgary. Donors are encouraged to use the #ChipinforKids hashtag to share their donation…
Continue Reading
McAleese decries pricing discipline of Big Three
By Greg O’Brien
CALGARY – While the Covid-19 crisis has hit everyone hard, Shaw Communications posted what can only be considered a good third quarter, considering all that has happened during the pandemic. It announced its Q3 results after the markets closed on Friday.
Also, with 90% of its stores now reopened (albeit with much less traffic so far) and customer activity increasing in its wired and wireless (Freedom Mobile) segments, executives also said Friday the company has rehired 50% of the approximately 1,000 employees it furloughed in April.
“While we continue to navigate through…
Continue Reading
REGINA – On Wednesday, SaskTel reported 2019/20 net income of $119.8 million on revenues of $1,283.7 million.
While that was a year over year revenue growth of $5.8 million, “reflecting continued wireless adoption and increased revenue from wireline growth services,” the net income line was a drop of 6%, compared to the prior fiscal year, mostly thanks to the hit from the Covid-19 crisis, said the company. The company’s fiscal year ends March 31st.
The provincial Crown corporation paid a dividend of $107.2 million to the province during the fiscal year, a decrease of $9.1 million from the previous year. During…
Continue Reading
INUVIK, NWT — Far north telecom provider Northwestel is extending its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, which will be Northwestel’s second FTTH community in the northern territories, following the launch of FTTH in Hay River, N.T. earlier this year.
Inuvik (pop. 3,200) will also be the first community north of the Arctic Circle to have access to FTTH service, says the news release.
“Northwestel is making significant upgrades to our telecommunications network in Inuvik. We will be replacing aging copper wiring to people’s homes with fibre,” says Northwestel president Curtis Shaw, in the release. “This is a milestone…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU — The CRTC announced Tuesday it’s extending the deadline for interventions to its review of the rate-setting methodology for wholesale telecom services.
When the wholesale rate-setting review proceeding was announced in April, the intervention deadline was set as July 23, with replies to interventions due August 24.
In an updated notice of consultation today, the Commission has revised the intervention deadline to August 13 and is suspending the deadline for replies.
This comes after Rogers and TekSavvy separately asked for extensions to the deadlines. Rogers made its request for various reasons, including competing priorities related to other regulatory proceedings,…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC met its obligations under the 2006 cabinet directive, was never beholden to requirements for detailed explanation, and the wholesale rate review itself proved the Regulator has been aware of and followed-through on its cabinet and statutory obligations, lawyers for the third party internet access providers said Friday.
The final day of the two-day Federal Court of Appeal virtual hearing about whether the CRTC erred in law when it decided in August to slash the wholesale internet rate for resellers and force retroactive payments to them from the incumbents, featured lawyers for the independent ISPs…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Some of the country’s largest carriers tried to persuade a panel of Federal Court of Appeal judges Thursday that the CRTC – in its reasoning that led to a decision to slash the wholesale internet rate – did not adequately balance the impact of the decision with a 2006 cabinet directive setting out a market-based approach to regulatory decisions.
The 2006 cabinet directive outlines that the CRTC “should rely on market forces to the maximum extent feasible and regulate, where there is still a need to do so, in a manner that interferes with market…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – During one of the CRTC’s most anticipated hearings earlier this year, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle appeared before the Commission reviewing impending changes to the wireless industry and warned mandating new entrants without facilities to ride on the networks of the incumbents would mean many jobs lost, philanthropic spending slashed and reductions in investments.
It was a defining moment during the hearing. Drawing the attention of national media and critics on social media, it encompassed for some the realities of the competitive delicacy of the industry; for others, it was viewed as a baseless threat…
Continue Reading
