OTTAWA – Let’s get this out of the way right now… Most of us were wrong. Many had assumed we would have a nice orderly, low-priced auction once there were no wild cards left in the bidding.
Analysts and other observers (us, too) made the mistake in thinking that these ultra-competitive companies would somehow quietly and quickly divvy up spectrum which boasts such excellent distance and barrier-penetrating properties as yet unseen in wireless telephony in Canada, spending only perhaps half of what was spent in the last auction – the $4.2 billion for AWS spectrum in 2008.
Not. Even. Close. Rogers…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Bell Media has announced the recipients of its first Bell Media Producer Accelerator Lab, a two-part program designed to assist the career advancement of mid-level Canadian producers.
Eight participants will begin on March 10 with a six week broadcaster internship at Bell Media headquarters in Toronto. They will also attend an industry event or conference, as well as participate in case studies and coaching sessions. After the internship, two producers will be selected for a production apprenticeship with a top independent Canadian production company or Bell Media In-House Productions, in order for them to become more familiar with executive producer roles…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Quebecor doesn't mince words in its complaint against the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund: "The decisions made by the board of directors of the Bell Fund in regard to three projects submitted in 2013 and set to be broadcast on TVA channels were not made in an objective manner and were discriminatory against TVA."
In a letter to the CRTC dated February 5 and made public on Monday, Quebecor's regulatory affairs director Peggy Tabet argues that the fund's decisions to refuse the three projects were made for "non-justified reasons" and concludes that they were made in a…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Canadian government got its wish for four wireless carriers in each region of the country in its recently completed 700 Mhz spectrum auction, which netted federal coffers $5.27 billion.
Overall, the results of the auction show that it was the Big Three that divvied up the majority of the spectrum even though they were limited on buying prime spectrum in the B, C, C1 and C2 blocks. While Rogers Communications focused on the prime B band and the A block, Bell Canada and Telus licence purchases appeared to complement each other in the C2 and the unpaired…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The 700 MHz spectrum auction has ended and Industry Minister James Moore will announce the results late Wednesday.
A statement issued by Industry Canada Tuesday evening invited media to a 30 minute lock-up to be followed by the official announcement by Minister Moore in Ottawa at 5:00 PM ET on Wednesday. Cartt.ca will be there.
Reuters appeared to break the news in a story that quoted unnamed sources who claimed that the “main thrust of the auction had been finished at least a week ago”. Industry Canada said prior to the auction that it would publish the winners, their licence packages and…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Telus announced Friday that it will purchase up to 5.33 million of its common shares through private agreements with three arm’s-length third-party sellers.
The company said the common shares will be counted towards the 16 million common shares for a maximum purchase price of $500 million under its normal course issuer bid announced December 12, 2013.
The transactions must take place prior to September 30, 2014, as ordered by the Ontario Securities Commission.
www.telus.com
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Rogers Communications refuted accusations of charging unjust wholesale rates for Canadian wireless carriers and denied undue preference for U.S. Wireless carriers in its 32-page reply to the CRTC’s proceeding investigating domestic wholesale wireless roaming rates.
The Commission is investigating whether there has been discrimination in higher wholesale rates charged to domestic wireless companies while American carriers receive preferential deals.
The CRTC received interventions and replies over the past two weeks from Bell Canada, Quebecor Media, Telus, EastLink, Wind, Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), Benjamin Klass, Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc. (CNOC), Commissioner of Competition, Fibernetics, Lynx Mobility Inc., MTS…
Continue Reading
Vancouver, B.C. – Telus finished 2014 with another strong quarter that saw double digit percentage growth in net profit and a 3.4% increase in operating revenue.
Telus announced Thursday its consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013 was at $2.95 billion, driven by increases in both its wireless and wireless business. EBITDA increased by 3.6% to $951 million. Net profit rose 10.3% to $290 million, while earnings per share rose by 17.5% to $0.47, compared to $0.40 in the same period a year earlier.
Wireless network revenues increased by $56 million or 4.1% to $1.43 billion in the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) announced a new name and logo change on Wednesday. It will now be known as Canadian Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) to better reflect its enlarged mandate to help bridge gaps for women to be more successful participants and leaders in Canada’s burgeoning digital economy.
“We’re delighted by the new opportunities for growth and development this presents for everyone involved with Canadian Women in Communications and Technology,” said Joanne Stanley, executive director, in a release. “Adding technology brings interdependence and convergence between two sectors: content and creativity; and information and communications technology…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – A Senate committee turned to a former broadcast regulator for insight on how to address the challenges facing CBC/Radio-Canada in light of its loss of Hockey Night in Canada to Rogers Communications last year.
Appearing via video conference from Florida, former chair of the CRTC Konrad von Finckenstein told the Standing Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications what he believes could be done to improve the chances for success of Canada’s public broadcaster. He pointed to unloading the corporation’s vast over-the-air broadcast network, refocusing of the public broadcaster’s content as well as changing the governance structure and oversight…
Continue Reading
