VANCOUVER – Telus, through its Optik Local community programming, is awarding more than $3.2 million in funding to support some 60 new local content projects in Western Canada this year.
Optik Local supports compelling, original storytelling in British Columbia and Alberta by providing funding and training to filmmakers, as well as a platform to share their content with new audiences. Content is distributed for free on Telus Optik On Demand as well as online.
"Optik Local is unique in the Canadian content funding space. It's an innovative model that enables diverse voices to be heard and local stories to be told,"…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Hollywood Suite’s four HD movie channels are officially now known as Hollywood Suite 70s Movies, Hollywood Suite 80s Movies, Hollywood Suite 90s Movies and Hollywood Suite 2000s Movies, after being relaunched on Monday.
The independent broadcaster announced in September that the rebrand would include a streamlined look that brings a single Hollywood Suite identity to the four on-air HD channels, On Demand, the Hollywood Suite Go app, and its web and social media properties.
Subscribers can still find the big pre-1970 films with programming blocks dedicated to the essential classics from the golden age of Hollywood. All movies will remain uncut…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Adding packet-switched voice calling to LTE networks (VoLTE) is in some ways the holy grail of true 4G wireless.
By enabling an all-IP based communications system, not only will it improve the quality of voice calls compared to legacy networks, VoLTE will ultimately also make network stacks simpler.
But on Wednesday a consultant warned Canadian carriers about to implement VoLTE they will need to work closely with older 2G and 3G networks – which will have to handle voice calls when users drift out of LTE coverage – to get the benefits of the new technology.
“The message here is…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus must disclose their interim wholesale wireless rates within the next week after the CRTC found in favour of a disclosure of information request from Vaxination Informatique.
Vaxination filed a request for disclosure of all the confidential information in the wholesale wireless roaming interim tariffs issued on June 4, 2015 by the national wireless carriers, part of the Commission’s decision on wholesale mobile wireless services issued last May.
In a letter to the big three wireless carriers dated October 27, the CRTC said that it rejected submissions opposing the request, saying that the disclosure is…
Continue Reading
PEOPLE ARE ALREADY CALLING Justin Trudeau our first “selfie” Prime Minister. Images of him on the campaign trail – and the day after the election – mugging with various Canadians who have one arm outstretched and the other around our PM-to-be number in the hundreds of thousands. He’ll apparently even click it for you, if you like.
Of course, those snapshots are then uploaded to the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other sharing platform to display to followers around the country and the world. Just Google “Justin Trudeau selfie”.
Invariably, those images ride…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Canadian Telco TV companies Telus, SaskTel and MTS hosted their 10th annual fall forum at the Toronto Telus headquarters for about 200 programming and other partners, outlining their growth so far and plans for 2016.
Telus reported 954,000 Optik TV subscribers with coverage of 90% of B.C. and Alberta households. They claimed an industry leadership position in HD channels with 233. Research showed that over 40% of their customers were already consuming over the top services and they have embraced that with Netflix, TEDtv, NFB and CraveTV all available to subscribers through their set…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – There’s not yet a cabinet and he’s not even sworn in as Prime Minister, but Bell Canada is putting Justin Trudeau’s federal government to work, quickly.
Cartt.ca has learned the company filed an appeal to cabinet late Tuesday to overturn the July CRTC decision which grants third party broadband resellers access to newly built fibre to the home or premises (FTTH/FTTP) infrastructure (CRTC 2015-326). Tuesday, October 20th (90 days after the decision) was the final day Bell was eligible to file the appeal, under CRTC rules. A well-placed Bell source with direct knowledge of…
Continue Reading
WHEN JUSTIN TRUDEAU is sworn in as Prime Minister his Liberal party will face a number of key telecommunications issues in the next 12 months.
These include meeting the challenge of an increasingly digital world, innovation, privacy regulations, wireless competition, dealing with the rural-urban broadband divide and increasing access to our digital future with poor Canadians.
One of the most obvious problems with trying to read how the new government might deal with these issues is that telecom and broadcast policies didn't figure largely in the leaders' debates or their major speeches.
Still, the Liberal platform makes a few promises:
Repeal of "problematic…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – New digital media offerings certainly have problems fitting into the various interpretations of the well-worn Acts and Regulations which the CRTC must attempt to apply to emerging new services and their packaging plans.
The latest target is Videotron’s Unlimited Music service. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s complaint about the service which launched in August by the Quebecor-owned cable and wireless company has found a number of supporters. Rogers Communications is standing alongside its media arm and other radio broadcasters in calling the streaming music service anti-competitive.
Rogers and its allies argue…
Continue Reading
NEW ORLEANS – With the Gigabit Era clearly upon us, cable operators are now fervently searching for the best way to enter that era and the best next-gen technologies to make that entry successful.
This search was very much in evidence at last week's SCTE Cable-Tec Expo show in New Orleans. Over the course of three days, teams of MSO technologists marched from booth to booth on the exhibit floor, hoping to uncover the right mix of equipment and software that would enable them to introduce gigabit speeds sooner rather than later (here in Canada, Rogers and Eastlink – not…
Continue Reading
