Search Results for: telus

Cable / Telecom News

Telus to staff up Alberta call centres

VANCOUVER – Telus has announced plans to hire 100 new employees in Calgary and Edmonton by January 2017. The company said Tuesday that the majority of the new positions will provide customer service directly to its mobile customers. “As part of Telus’ unwavering commitment to invest in the future of Alberta, a place that 6,000 Telus team members and 8,000 retirees call home, we are hiring more team members across our local call centre teams,” said Debbie Oster, Telus’ VP of talent acquisition, development & learning, in a statement.  “Amidst a difficult economic time, we’re proud to bring some great career… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

Skinny basic: CRTC only renews BDU licenses for 12 months (UPDATED)

Also offers up new best practices: PIAC says not far enough GATINEAU – While noting Canadian subscription TV carriers are operating within the rules, the CRTC made the unprecedented decision to renew the large carriers' broadcast distribution undertaking licenses for just a single year, as opposed to the usual seven-year term. To the CRTC, this continues its efforts to put consumers at the centre of the Canadian broadcasting system. In the November 21 decision, the Regulator offered what it sees as the best practices that broadcast distributors should undertake to ensure that Canadians are aware of small basic packages, their limits and offers related to them. Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

ANALYSIS: Is the Bell-MTS deal in trouble? Will Shaw be brought into the mix?

Minister Bains wouldn’t say, except perhaps between the lines OTTAWA – It’s been nearly seven months since Bell Canada announced an agreement to buy Manitoba Telecom Services for $3.9 billion and still there has been no official word from the federal government on what it thinks of the deal. The Competition Bureau is the primary regulator Bell has to satisfy with this purchase, but since the Bureau doesn’t do public hearings the way the CRTC does, we really don’t know what it is telling BCE officials about the deal, or the questions it has, but the six-plus… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

CANADIAN ISP SUMMIT: Independents continue to thrive with CRTC help

TORONTO – With more than 350 delegates, a strong group of sponsors and vendors and 21 educational sessions, the 2016 Canadian ISP Summit was the biggest edition yet. Focused on independent ISPs like Teksavvy, Distributel, Sogetel and Execulink, the annual gathering is a place to hear war stories, get the latest and greatest in tech developments, hear marketing successes and, of course, regulatory wins and losses. 2016 has featured a few wins for the independent ISPs on the wholesale wireline front, especially (even though that still isn’t over, yet). The final session… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

Skinny basic isn’t slowing cord-cutting

OTTAWA – Canadians continued to cut the TV cord in record (if still pretty small) numbers since launch of a CRTC-mandated skinny basic TV package on March 1st. In the two fiscal quarters since phase one of the Commission’s new consumer choice policy came into effect (which mandated a $25 skinny basic package of over-the-air stations and must-carry channels and the launch of smaller, theme packs of channels), Canada’s publicly traded TV service providers combined lost approximately 98,500 TV subscribers, according to new research and analysis from Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services. That’s a loss of 11,500… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus adds Netflix 4K programming to Optik TV

VANCOUVER – Telus customers may now access some of Netflix’s big new shows in 4K after launching the Netflix app on its Optik TV 4K set-top boxes. Specifically, the Netflix 4K app is an upgrade that Telus added to its new Optik 4K set-top boxes that debuted this summer.  To access the Netflix 4K programming through Optik, customers require a 4K TV, a 4K set-top box, which Telus offers for no additional cost with a two-year commitment, and a Netflix Premium subscription.  Customers also require a minimum of Telus’ Internet 50 package to support 4K streaming. Netflix content now available in… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Free preview offers taste of Gusto’s new lineup

TORONTO – Food lovers may gorge on Bell Media’s Gusto over the holiday season thanks to a national free preview of the food and lifestyle channel. The exclusive home to all-new Jamie Oliver programming in Canada, programming also features cooking series from lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, including the new Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party where she cooks and entertains alongside her unlikely friend and King of Kush, Snoop Dogg.  Gusto’s lineup also includes superstar British chef Lorraine Pascale in her new series Lorraine’s Fast, Fresh And Easy Food, the perfectly paired exclusive series The Wine Show, plus hours of original Canadian programming,… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus sees Q3 profits dip, despite subscriber growth

VANCOUVER – Higher data revenue and subscriber growth in both wireless and wireline operations helped to lift third quarter revenues at Telus, the company said Friday. For the period ended September 30, consolidated operating revenue grew 2.6% to $3.2 billion year-over-year, while earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 5.8% to $1.1 billion.   When excluding net gains and equity income related to real estate joint venture developments in Q3 2016, as well as restructuring and other costs from both reporting periods, adjusted EBITDA was up 5.5% to $1.2 billion.  This growth reflects higher wireless and wireline… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

DPP Hearing (day 4): Benefits of differential pricing can be felt broadly, but limit use by VI companies

GATINEAU – Differential pricing can benefit a broad range of players in the communications market, Telus told the CRTC on the fourth day of its DPP hearing, but just don’t let the vertically integrated (VI) entities use their “unnatural incentives” to give themselves an advantage. “Since differential pricing practices increase the size of the market, they allow both carriers and content providers to spread these fixed costs over a larger number of consumers. This process has produced, and should continue to produce, newer and better services at stable or falling prices throughout the Internet ecosystem,” said Dr. Jeffrey Eisenach, managing… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News, Radio / Television News

DPP Hearing: Commission must guard against potential abuses; or leave it alone

GATINEAU – Smaller broadcasters warned the CRTC on Wednesday that it must guard against differential pricing practices because they could have a significant negative impact on their content. The Independent Broadcast Group told the Commission Wednesday morning it has to consider potential abuses from media companies which own both content and ISPs. Brad Danks, CEO at OUTtv, noted in his opening remarks to the IBG’s appearance in the DPP hearing that it’s pretty clear that vertically integrated (VI) media companies are able to prefer their own content in ISP distribution. In addition, once the VI’s affiliated broadcast distribution arm gets ISP… Continue Reading