GATINEAU – In the continuing saga of the skinny (a.k.a. lower-cost data only) wireless, the CRTC must be wondering if it would not have just been easier to mandate MVNO.
In the latest request for information, Cartt.ca had noted the tone of the letter and the volume of information requested. The three incumbent national wireless players seem to heed the message and proposed to double the amount of data originally offered.
But what we had missed was the questions asked to the three incumbent national wireless players were also asked of the Competition Bureau.
The Questions
Indicate whether lower-cost data only…
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STOCKHOLM – Ericsson’s sale of the majority stake of its Media Solutions business to private equity firm One Equity Partners is proving to be “more complex” than first thought and will likely not close until year end, the Swedish tech maker said Tuesday.
As part of the ongoing work to close the transaction, an independent brand known as MediaKind has been formed and is developing the business in line with a new business plan. Ericsson announced the sale in January.
“The carve-out of MediaKind from Ericsson’s global structure to create a new company, jointly owned with One Equity Partners,…
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VANCOUVER – Telus Health is joining forces with London-based digital health company Babylon to provide doctors and patients in Canada with access to virtual healthcare technology solutions and services.
Designed to complement existing healthcare services across the country, the service is aimed at people in rural areas or living with mobility issues, those who are unable to access non-emergency healthcare on evenings, weekends or holidays, and for the five million Canadians who do not have a family physician.
The virtual care technology will be made available to Canadians via a version of the mobile app developed specifically for Canada. Powered…
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GATINEAU – After many public complaints and a Commission letter which all but threatened wireless rate regulation, Telus, Rogers and Bell responded to the CRTC’s request for a better skinny wireless package by doubling the amount of data originally offered.
Earlier this year, in a multi-faceted wireless decision, the CRTC demanded each of Rogers, Bell and Telus come up with low-cost data-only wireless plans for the Canadian market. The plans can not be tied to customer income; must be made available on the latest network (4G), must be nationwide, and be available on post- and pre-paid plans. Those plans, said…
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TORONTO – More than CAD$162.7 million has been pledged collectively so far in connection with Friday’s star-studded Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) "roadblock" fundraising telecast in Canada and the United States, organizers said Monday.
The live show was SU2C's sixth biennial fundraising telecast since the organization was launched in 2008 and marks ten years of impact in the fight against cancer. The telecast, which also streamed live in Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square on Bell Media's Astral large-format digital screens and the Citytv Big Screen, featured a cast of celebrated figures from the worlds of entertainment, music, sports, and science, as…
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THE NINE CREE AND FOUR francophone communities that ring James Bay in Quebec’s far north may be nearly 1,000 kilometres from major cities, but the rest of the world is only fractions of a second away in most of them thanks to a recent partnership between the Eeyou Communications Network (ECN), the locally run nonprofit which oversees telecommunications in the vast, sparsely populated territory, Toronto-based independent carrier Distributel and several other public and private partners.
Alfred Loon is president and founder of ECN. He says the project was first conceived a decade ago as an economic development project with…
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Les communautés cries et francophones parsemées autour de la Baie-James, au nord du Québec, sont à des centaines de kilomètres des grands centres, mais le reste du monde se trouve à quelques clics dans la plupart d’entre elles, grâce à un partenariat public-privé novateur entre le Réseau des communications Eeyou (RCE) , l’organisme qui gère les télécommunications dans les neuf communautés de la nation crie, le distributeur torontois Distributel, et plusieurs autres partenaires publics et privés.
Alfred Loon est président-fondateur du RCE. il raconte que le projet a été conçu il y a une décennie dans le cadre d’un…
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TORONTO – Telus Health has bought Montreal-based corporate healthcare service provider Medisys Health Group. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 1987, Medisys Health Group provides preventive and corporate healthcare solutions nationally through a network of wholly-owned clinics.
A blog post by Telus Health president Paul Lepage described the acquisition as “two Canadian companies with solid, decades-long track records in technology and clinical services are coming together to help support healthcare transformation in this country.”
“At Medisys Health Group clinics across Canada, we’ll deliver employee-centered care, backed by Telus’ world-leading broadband networks and supported by digital tools…
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TORONTO – All four of Canada's English-language network broadcasters will once again simultaneously air a Canadian-inclusive Stand Up To Cancer special next month.
For the third time, Stand Up To Cancer Canada will simultaneously broadcast a Canada-inclusive telecast across CBC, Citytv, CTV, and Global, as well as Canadian services AMI, A.Side, BBC Earth, CHCH, CHEK, Cottage Life, Fight Network, Game TV, HIFI, Hollywood Suite, Love Nature, Makeful, NTV, OUTtv, Smithsonian Channel Canada, T+E, YES TV, in addition to streaming live on the CBC TV App, cbc.ca/watch, CBS All Access, CTV GO and CTV.ca, Global GO and GlobalTV.com, and available on-demand on Telus…
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Customers can keep TiVo though
MONTREAL – Cogeco Connexion will roll out the MediaFirst IPTV platform from MediaKind (previously Ericsson Media Solutions) to its Canadian cable customers starting next year.
The company said Tuesday that the MediaFirst platform will offer customizable video content, wireless receivers, voice activated controls, and access to Android Google Mobile Services “for a complete video offering”. MediaFirst is the same video platform deployed by Bell Fibe, Telus Optik, and SaskTel's MaxTV, and this decision from Cogeco diverges from the path set by Shaw, Rogers and Videotron, who chose Comcast's X1 platform for their next generation TV offering.
It…
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