A hard-nosed businessman, he made a brilliant cable territory swap, competed ferociously with Telus and pulled Global television from the Canwest inferno
FEW OCCASIONS BETTER illustrated the cultural divide between the world of the western bottom-up entrepreneur and that of Ottawa’s top-down public service bureaucracy than when Jim Shaw and Konrad von Finckenstein crossed swords in a hearing room.
There, front and centre of the raised platform bearing commissioners, would be the multilingual von Finckenstein, a six-foot-something-awesome lawyer who was chief legal adviser on the original North American Free Trade negotiations, served as head of the Competition Bureau, became a Federal…
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Sells off B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan customer accounts to Telus
MONTREAL and VANCOUVER – Bell has concluded its purchase of Canadian security and monitoring company AlarmForce Industries and will align it with its existing assets in Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada and Manitoba to offer enhanced connected home services in those provinces.
"Bell welcomes AlarmForce as we build on our position as Canada's most trusted name in residential communications with an accelerated focus on Connected Home technology and services," said Bell’s residential and small business president Rizwan Jamal, in Friday’s announcement. "Building on our leadership and scale in broadband networks and residential services…
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CALGARY – Shaw Communications vice chair and former CEO Jim Shaw has died at the age of 60, the Shaw family announced today.
“It is with great sadness that the family of James R. Shaw (Jim Shaw) announces his passing on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018 after a brief illness,” reads a statement from the family.
“A leader and visionary who never stopped caring for others,” says the statement, Jim is survived by his wife Kathryn, his mother Carol, his father JR, his children Haley (Fred), Parker (Megan), Kennedy, Kathryn’s children Monty, Katelyn, Carly, his mother-in-law Janet, his sisters Heather (Jim) and…
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GASPÉ, QC – Telus has pledged to forge ahead with its fibre optic deployment in Eastern Quebec after receiving financial support from both the federal and provincial governments.
Telus said Tuesday that it was granted $31 million by the feds’ Connect to Innovate program and the Quebec government's Québec branché program to continue deploying its PureFibre broadband network in the province. This amount is in addition to the $13.7 million that Telus has already committed to investing in its incumbent territory.
"Thanks to the support of the federal and provincial governments, we will be offering high-speed Internet access to 99% of the…
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Massive demand for more data, lower prices, as incumbents respond to Freedom with sales of their own and are overwhelmed with response
MILLIONS OF CANADIANS constantly exceed their data limits, so it’s no wonder the wireless carriers’ sale exploded this weekend.
Canadians lined up (in stores, online and on the phones) in droves as thousands of them attempted to opt into a 10Gb for $60/month sale on offer Saturday through Monday from Rogers, Fido, Bell, Virgin, Telus and Koodo in BC, Alberta and Ontario. The sale price was available to existing customers who already have devices.
However, social media was ablaze Sunday…
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EDMONTON – Telus hit wireless speeds faster than 2 Gbps during recent tests in Edmonton, the company announced Friday.
Telus said that the tests used 3.5 GHz spectrum, demonstrating how important this spectrum is to enabling 5G networks of the future. 3.5 GHz spectrum provides increased capability to cover wide urban and suburban areas as well as inside buildings to deliver true 5G speeds, and Telus said that its tests prove that speeds up to three times faster than current LTE networks are not only achievable, but will become mainstream over the next three years.
"For Canada to remain a leader in…
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CANADIAN CABLE SYSTEMS Alliance CEO Jay Thomson knows Canadian networks and media inside and out. How could he not? Before the CCSA, he worked for the Canadian Cable Television Association, the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Media Producers Association (Telus and the CRTC, too).
The long-time Ottawa executive was hired as CEO of the CCSA in January 2017, replacing Alyson Townsend, who was let go in the summer of 2016. Thomson is steeped in the business and, as importantly, knows government – especially an Ottawa whose politicians and bureaucrats tend to be…
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LE PDG DE LA CANADIAN Cable Systems Alliance, Jay Thomson connaît les réseaux et les médias canadiens de fond en comble. Comment pourrait-il en être autrement ? Avant de travailler à la CCSA, il a travaillé à l’Association canadienne des télécommunications par câble (ACTC), Canadian Association of Internet Providers, l’Association canadienne des radiodiffuseurs et la Canadian Media Producers Association (également à Telus et au CRTC).
Ce dirigeant de longue date d’Ottawa a été embauché comme PDG de la CCSA en remplacement de Alyson Townsend qui a quitté son poste à l’été 2016. Thomson est à l’aise dans ce secteur et, de manière aussi…
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Whatever the future of TV may hold
GATINEAU – The rise of online TV distribution platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others are upending the delicate balance of the Canadian broadcasting system and that means the federal government and the CRTC need to change the way they regulate the sector. In a nutshell, Canadian broadcasters, producers and distributors want these platforms treated the same way they are.
In comments to the CRTC’s consultation on new TV program distribution models (which was requested by the federal government ostensibly as the first step towards modernizing the Broadcasting Act and Telecom Act), many…
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VANCOUVER – Telus announced Wednesday a new, enhanced app for Optik TV which will allow customers to watch their favourite shows at any time, on any device.
Besides watching live TV on the go, app users can now access thousands of on demand titles as well as set and manage recordings from their smartphone, tablet, or computer. The revamped app also features improved accessibility features including closed captioning and described video pass-through.
Users can access up to 185 channels in home and 155 on-the-go, which is the most live TV channels available on mobile devices in Western Canada, says the…
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