OTTAWA – Former CCTA president Michael Hennessy started his new life at Telus this week.
As vice-president broadband and video policy he’s the western telco’s "content guy" Hennessy told Cartt.ca. He will be based in Telus’ Ottawa office working under another former Canadian Cable Television Association president, Telus EVP corporate affairs, Janet Yale,
"I just love this broadband and convergence stuff," added Hennessy, who has been working in the telecom space for the since the early 1980s when he was with the CRTC.
Despite the fact Hennessy has "switched teams" – as many will no doubt say – he…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Telus will expand its digital wireless network coverage to additional communities across Quebec, the company announced today.
By the fall of 2006, Telus’ national 1X digital wireless network is expected to cover locations in the Mauricie, Chaudière-Appalaches, Gaspé Peninsula, and Lower Saint-Lawrence regions. The company’s CDMA network presently reaches more than 90% of the Canadian population.
Telus will spend $10 million on the Quebec upgrade.
The digital network will improve existing coverage and upgrade service quality to meet the needs of businesses and consumers in the regions, says the company.
Telus began work on its digital network…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Tens of thousands of Telus customers in British Columbia and Alberta lost their voice mail access this week, say reports.
On Tuesday afternoon this week, says cbc.ca, about a quarter of Telus customers were without access to voice mail for six hours. Callers could leave messages, but they couldn’t be retrieved, nor would the recipient know a message is there.
According to the cbc.ca story, the system went down again Wednesday morning, affecting 250,000 customers.
Telus blamed the problem on faulty software and said that no messages were lost.
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Telus has estimated that tens of thousands of consumers and businesses across Canada have recently received fraudulent automated phone calls informing them that they have won a prize.
The recorded announcement instructs the listener to press 9, 0, number sign to claim their prize.
Pressing 9, 0, # on many business switchboards will transfer the incoming call to an outbound line, allowing the fraudsters responsible for the automated calls to pick up the line and make expensive overseas long distance calls at the business’ expense.
Residential telephone lines are not vulnerable to this phone scam. This scam can…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Telus has added the Migo, a simple wireless phone for pre-teens to its handset lineup.
It’s "specifically designed for parents who want to equip their pre-teens with a simple mobile communications device for safety and security," says today’s press release.
Instead of a regular phone keypad, the Migo has only four programmable speed-dial keys and one programmable emergency key, all of which parents can pre-set to phone numbers they choose and protect with a pass code. Parents can also program specific ringtones to correspond with up to four different callers.
The oval-shaped Migo weighs 70 grams (2.5…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER- Western telco Telus reported revenues of $2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2006, a 5.1% increase over the first quarter of 2005.
"(C)ontinued strong wireless performance and excellent high speed Internet and wireless subscriber growth," was behind the results, says the company’s press release.
EBITDA increased 1% (to $862.7 million) due to strong wireless growth, largely offset by decreased wireline profitability this quarter. Free cash flow increased 13% to $640 million during the quarter, a $74 million increase primarily due to the receipt of a cash tax recovery.
"Telus achieved strong growth in high-speed Internet additions of…
Continue Reading
EDMONTON – Independent digital specialty channel Wild TV has debuted on Telus TV.
The 24-hour hunting and fishing television channel will be seen for the first time in Alberta in its linear format (its programming has been available on demand with Telus until now and is available on demand with Shaw Cable).
Edmonton-based Wild TV is dedicated to Canadian hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts, "offering original programming that captures the thrill of hunting and fishing in the Canadian wilderness as well as the best outdoor programming from across North America," says the company.
"With an estimated eight million hunting…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – TELUS announced today that it’s joining forces with Visto Corporation to offer secure two-way wireless email.
Business Inbox offers instant access to email via mobile devices, powered by Visto Mobile. The application can be downloaded over the air to any supported wireless data device, allowing clients to send and receive wireless email, and access their calendar and contacts files. It works with both Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino. The service will be free to TELUS email and Web monthly data subscribers.
"TELUS continues to expand its e-mail services portfolio with sophisticated wireless applications such as Business Inbox,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – TELUS today launched its high-speed wireless service in Ottawa, bringing broadband speeds to handheld devices.
The service began rolling out last November across the country and besides the nation’s capital is available so far in Vancouver, Whistler, Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, Toronto and Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe region, Montreal, Mont-Tremblant, St. Jovite, and Quebec City. Other cities will get the service through the year, the telco said.
“TELUS is excited to bring wireless high speed to Ottawa, a city recognized for the past three decades as being at the forefront of the wireless revolution and a leader in…
Continue Reading
SEATTLE – Canadian telco Telus, along with manufacturer Cisco, have invested US$16 million in Widevine Technologies, a provider of downloadable content protection and digital forensics solutions aimed at IP video operators.
Widevine’s products enable the acquisition of premium broadcast and video-on-demand (VOD) content from all major studios and broadcasters. The company currently has over ninety telco, cable, satellite and internet service operator customers.
"When we looked at the overall market for content protection it became clear that Widevine was by far the most advanced vendor in the space. Widevine provides Telus with maximum flexibility with a proven solution spanning…
Continue Reading
