MONTREAL — Stingray is adding to its TV channel offerings with the launch announced Tuesday of its Stingray Country music video channel, featuring new country, bro-country, ’90s country hits, pop country and more. Stingray says the channel is currently the only dedicated country music channel in Canada.
“We are thrilled to introduce our latest TV channel, Stingray Country, to Canadian country music fans,” said Mathieu Péloquin, senior vice-president of marketing and communications for Stingray, in the news release. “With a growing millennial fan base including both men and women, country music’s popularity is spreading across all regions of the…
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By Samer Bishay
IT’S NO SURPRISE CANADIANS are paying some of the highest wireless prices – especially for data – in the world.
In another international audit of prices last fall, by Rewheel Research, it confirmed what Canadians already know: we pay far too much. In public surveys released by Canada’s telecom regulator earlier this month, Canadians said overwhelmingly they feel cell service in Canada is more expensive than abroad.
Affordability is the main reason the federal government ordered the CRTC to move up its review of the wireless market and start a critical public hearing February 18, a…
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BELCARRA, B.C. – Telus announced today it is investing more than $500,000 to connect more than 90% of homes and businesses in the village of Belcarra directly to its fibre optic network.
Construction on the PureFibre network is already underway, and the company anticipates the majority of homes and businesses will be connected by the end of the year. Belcarra is a part of Metro Vancouver, but is somewhat isolated as it is located on Indian Arm, a side inlet of the Burrard Inlet, northwest of Port Moody.
“We are delighted with Telus’ investment in our village to provide residents with…
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TORONTO – Intended to make a few waves just as the CRTC kicks off its two-week public hearing into its policies on the wireless market in Canada, Ice Wireless today said a few new plans, with one set at 99-cents per week, will launch next month.
“If we can do this in Canada’s North, where network costs are higher, there’s no reason we can’t do it in other parts of the country, if we’re allowed,” said Samer Bishay, president and CEO of Ice and its parent company Iristel.
Ice Wireless is a regional mobile network operator, where the company’s release says…
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VANCOUVER – On Thursday Telus reported solid gains in the fourth quarter of 2019, as it announced customer growth of 176,000 net additions, which included wireless net additions of 130,000 and wireline customer additions of 46,000.
The wireline additions broke down as 28,000 Internet, 15,000 TV and 15,000 security net new clients, combined with residential voice line losses of 12,000.
The company added 713,000 net customers in all of 2019, up 21% over 2018.
For the quarter, consolidated operating revenue of $3.9 billion increased by 2.5% over the same period in 2018, driven by growth in wireless network revenue and wireline data…
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LONDON — Mobile analytics company Opensignal today released its latest mobile network experience report for the Canadian market, and Telus came out on top across all categories, except voice apps where it scored a draw with Rogers.
In terms of wireless download speeds, Canada scored high compared to other countries, achieving an average download speed of 55.4 Mbps, ranked second behind South Korea’s average speed of 58.7 Mbps. The third-ranked country was Netherlands with an average download speed of 49.5 Mbps. The average download speed for Canada includes regional operators such as Freedom Wireless, Videotron and SaskTel, which have slower…
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Critics say that claim is misguided
VANCOUVER – Telus’s claim that it has reached, on one of its wireless plans, a 25% reduction in price, as promised to Canadians by the Liberal government, is wrong, according to critics, because the intent was always for a further reduction in prices from December 2019.
This month, Telus created a page on its website advertising that its Peace of Mind plan for a family of four, with 10 GB of data each, with an annual cost of $2,880 meets and beats the Liberal government’s annual goal of reducing wireless prices by 25% –…
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OTTAWA — Ahead of the CRTC’s public hearing next week to review its wireless policies, research firm Abacus Data released results Wednesday of a survey commissioned by Shaw Communications that found 95% of Canadians say regional wireless providers increase competition and provide better service to customers.
Furthermore, 66% of Canadians agree competition from regional wireless companies like Freedom Mobile, Eastlink and Vidéotron has resulted in reduced prices charged by the national carriers, says study.
“One reason Canadians value having strong regional wireless network options is because most see a direct connection between reduced prices charged by the national carriers and increased…
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TORONTO — The Canadian Telecom Summit’s regulatory blockbuster panel was announced Wednesday.
The annual showdown between Canada’s largest and smaller telecom competitors will see Ted Woodhead appear for the first time in the Rogers chair, after his recent move from Telus.
The list of announced regulatory panel participants (and others may be added) includes:
Samer Bishay, CEO, Iristel
Andy Kaplan-Myrth, vice-president, regulatory and carrier affairs, TekSavvy Solutions Inc.
Rob Malcolmson, senior vice-president, regulatory affairs and government relations, Bell
Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president, regulatory, Rogers Communications
Returning to guide and referee the conversation will be Cartt.ca’s own editor and publisher Greg O’Brien.
Those…
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SAN FRANCISCO – Samsung revealed its Galaxy S20 5G series of smartphones on Tuesday, saying the 5G devices will be available in Canada on March 6.
Before Samsung Canada issued its news release Tuesday night, Rogers and Bell had already issued their own releases saying they were taking pre-orders starting immediately. Samsung is also taking pre-orders directly from customers on its website here. The new smartphone is also now available for pre-ordering on the Telus website, too.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 5G series are the first 5G-enabled smartphones to come to market in Canada. Samsung’s lineup of…
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