ROGERS COMMUNUCATIONS' BLOCKBUSTER NHL deal puts a direct focus on the sheer costs of sports programming for distributors and their customers, the Canadian consumer.
Cartt.ca interviewed several executives across the Canadian television industry (including some distributors who spoke to us on the condition they not be identified) to discuss the impact sports is having on broadcasting in Canada and whether or not the business can survive the spiralling costs of this rich content.
Alyson Townsend, president of the independent cable group Canadian Cable System Alliance, said no one should be surprised by the consistent price increases consumers have paid for cable…
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TORONTO – Telus has teamed up with Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian on a new white paper that explores the challenges associated with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives.
More than 27 million Canadians use mobile computing devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets and that number continues to grow. Canadian enterprises outpace their global counterparts in BYOD, though fewer than half (33%) of Canadian organizations have mobile device management policies and practices in place to mitigate the many security and privacy risks associated with BYOD. Further, more than half (58%) of Canadian organizations lose sensitive corporate…
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OTTAWA – Just 11 companies remain in the running to participate in next month’s auction of 700 MHz wireless spectrum.
The latest to withdraw is Toronto’s Catalyst Capital Group, a private equity investment firm which is one of the largest shareholders of the struggling Mobilicity, which is operating under the court’s protection. No reasons were given for its withdrawal, which leaves Bell, Eastlink, Feenix Wireless (Mobilicity founder John Bitove), Globalive (Wind), MTS, Novus Wireless, Rogers, SaskTel, TbayTel, Telus, and Videotron still in the running. See the full list here.
The auction is slated…
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OTTAWA – The Competition Bureau has officially sanctioned Telus’ proposed acquisition of Public Mobile.
The Bureau said Friday in a statement that it has issued a No Action Letter (NAL) with respect to the acquisition after determining that “the proposed transaction is unlikely to substantially lessen or prevent competition in the sale of mobile wireless telecommunications services in Southern Ontario and Greater Montreal." Such a letter confirms that the Bureau has reviewed a specific proposed transaction and concluded that it will not, at this time, challenge that proposed transaction before the Competition Tribunal under the merger provisions of the Competition…
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TORONTO – Telus is partnering with Ericsson on the development and deployment of an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), the foundation for communication services over LTE and other accesses.
The implementation of Ericsson's IMS technology will enable Telus to offer advanced, convergent services in voice, data and video calling over both wireline and wireless networks to its customers across Canada. The contract includes comprehensive systems integration services and technology based on Rich Communication Services (RCS) and Voice over LTE (VoLTE).
"We have a relentless focus on delivering to Canadians world-class entertainment and communication experiences”, said Eros Spadotto, Telus’ EVP of technology strategy…
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TORONTO – Rogers’ new 12-year $5.2 billion broadcast and multimedia deal with the NHL may have grabbed headlines across the country, but will likely have little impact on the company’s bottom line, say industry analysts.
Rogers Communications executives said Tuesday the deal will be immediately EBITDA-accretive to its Media division, predicting an influx of $25 – $35 million in the first year, rising to more than $60 million per year after that. But Dvai Ghose, managing director/head of research for Canaccord Genuity, pointed out that Rogers Media only accounted for 4% of the parent company’s 2013 third quarter adjusted EBITDA.
In…
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TORONTO – Ethnic Channels Group said today it has launched ProSiebenSat1. Welt on Telus on November 4, 2013. This is the first west coast launch of the German-language channel.
ProSiebenSat.1 Welt offers a wide program selection to German-speaking viewers with content from around the globe featuring top general entertainment programming, 24 hours a day, selected from the most popular programs of SAT.1, ProSieben, and Kabel Eins.
"We are very excited to add another great service and build on our current partnership with Telus. The addition of ProSiebenSat.1 Welt will help Telus continue to grow their subscriber base by…
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TORONTO – Telus said Monday that it is on track to implement all necessary requirements of the CRTC’s new Wireless Code of Conduct by the end of the month.
The code, which comes into effect on December 2nd, establishes a common set of rights for all wireless consumers in Canada.
Telus said that it adopted many of these customer-friendly provisions long before the Code was drafted. It is currently modifying policies and procedures to add domestic and international data caps and notifications at $50 and $100 respectively; and, customers who purchase a device outright…
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DID THAT HEADLINE get your attention? I can already hear irritated e-mails disputing that claim being tapped out in response, but bear with us for a few paragraphs.
“What!?” some of those running popular specialty video brands might be asking, “Isn’t Galaxie just that group of sleepy music channels which are a throw-in with everyone’s digital cable box?” Well, they may be a value-add which come automatically with most digital TV subscriptions, but some comprehensive recent measurement shows the suite of music channels (anywhere from 40 to 100, depending on the BDU) is anything but sleepy. This is…
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OTTAWA – Industry analysts and a journalist duked it out over wireless pricing and government policy in Canada during a session at the annual International Institute of Canada conference on Monday.
Jeff Fan, research analyst at Scotia Capital, presented some figures that countered many of the arguments which have been made by the federal government and others who say that competition in Canada’s wireless market is lacking. Fan noted that the elimination of three-year contracts as mandated by the CRTC earlier this year in its Wireless Code of Conduct has actually made things worse for consumers by leading…
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