By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — Cogeco CEO Philippe Jetté doesn’t want to discuss when he expects the company will launch a wireless service.
He was pestered with questions from journalists Thursday before the company’s annual general meeting — is it a matter of weeks, months, years? — but repeatedly said that they’re working toward a launch and would announce their plans in the near future. An actual launch is unlikely in the “short term” because “some preparation work remains,” he told analysts earlier.
Jetté expressed some frustration with the length of the process, both in terms of regulatory obligations and the slow pace of…
Continue Reading
Five Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs who are members of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU), including its two vice-chairs, are calling on the committee’s Liberal chair, Joël Lightbound, to initiate a hearing on the increasing prices of wireless services.
In a letter dated Jan. 8 and obtained by Cartt, INDU committee vice-chairs Rick Perkins (Conservative) and Sébastien Lemire (Bloc Québécois), along with Conservative MPs Ryan Williams, Bernard Généreux and Brad Vis, take aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government’s policy decisions that they claim “are increasing costs for Canadians across…
Continue Reading
Bell subsidiary Northwestel announced Tuesday it has connected the Northwest Territories community of Dettah to its newly built fibre line extending to Dettah from Yellowknife along the Ingraham Trail.
The upgrade means residents of the community can get internet download speeds up to 500 Mbps and unlimited data from Northwestel as well as access to the new Northwestel TV Plus service that offers live and on-demand TV.
“Northwestel first launched in-community fibre Internet to Dettah last year which upgraded the community from 15 Mbps to 50 Mbps speeds with the option for unlimited monthly usage….
Continue Reading
Kids’ and family broadcast network WildBrain Television announced last week it has greenlit production of season two of The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy, a preschool series that fosters a love of reading and encourages inclusivity and empathy among children aged 3 to 6.
Created and produced by Lopii Productions, the new season of 26 brand-new episodes is scheduled to deliver in summer 2024, according to a press release.
“With their big, colourful wigs and dazzling fashion, dynamic drag duo Fay (JP Kane) and Fluffy (Kaleb Robertson) are on a mission to spread…
Continue Reading
Rogers announces new five-year deal as title sponsor
CALGARY – Rogers Communications said Tuesday the Shaw Charity Classic golf tournament presented by Rogers has reached a key milestone, raising more than $100 million since its inception for children’s charities across Alberta.
In 2023 alone, the 11th annual tournament raised $18.7 million for 272 charities, which included a $1 million donation by Rogers to support Shaw Birdies for Kids presented by AtlaLink. This brings the total raised since the tournament’s inception to $112.3 million, says a press release.
“The…
Continue Reading
Rogers announced Monday the sale of all of its shares in Cogeco to pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
The transaction, worth $829 million, will allow the cable giant to reduce its debt and exit non-core businesses as it focuses on its core competencies, including telecommunications after its acquisition of Shaw.
“This sale further demonstrates our commitment to strengthen our investment grade balance sheet and aggressively reduce our debt leverage ratio,” Tony Staffieri, Rogers president and CEO, said in a press release. “We’re tracking six months ahead on our deleveraging priorities and we’re committed to reducing our debt leverage ratio…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The Competition Bureau announced Monday it has obtained a court order from the Federal Court requiring Rogers to produce records and information relevant to the bureau’s investigation into the wireless provider’s alleged marketing practices, specifically related to its “unlimited” wireless plans.
“The Bureau’s investigation involves claims made by Rogers when promoting its Infinite wireless phone plans. In particular, the Bureau is examining claims that the plans have unlimited data, when there are allegedly significant reductions in data speed, known as throttling, after a subscriber reaches a certain data…
Continue Reading
WHITEHORSE, Yukon – Bell’s Northwestel is now the telephone service provider in Atlin, British Columbia after agreeing to take over the transport link from the incumbent Telus.
Telus told the CRTC during the April hearing on the far north that it had an agreement in principle that would see the transfer of the incumbency to Northwestel. The move made sense because Telus did not have its own transport route for that community, instead leasing a stretch of 1,300 kilometres from Northwestel.
“Atlin is a part of the north, it just makes sense for them to be a part…
Continue Reading
Rogers says being singled out is ‘concerning’
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Three days after Rogers closed its acquisition of Shaw, the Competition Bureau launched an investigation into the cable company’s marketing of its “unlimited” wireless plans, saying it is misleading because the speed of the data is throttled after the monthly allotment is used.
The investigation was revealed when the bureau filed a request to the Federal Court this week to compel Rogers to divulge information related to the deceptive practices inquiry, which was launched on April 6.
The competition watchdog claims in its application that Rogers’s marketing of its “Infinite” plans…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said Thursday that the CRTC’s decision to force the large telephone companies to open access to their last mile fibre networks “levels the playing field” with cable carriers who service the bulk of wholesale-based subscribers.
“We’ve been required to wholesale under the regulatory regime high-speed internet for quite some time,” Staffieri said during a third quarter conference call. “So it’s good to see a level playing field.”
The majority of wholesale-based competitors were using the large cable companies’ hybrid fibre-coax networks, which accounts for 75 per cent of all wholesale-based subscriptions, the CRTC said.
The decision…
Continue Reading
