Videotron, SaskTel score top marks for 7th time
TORONTO – TV service providers who make it easy for their customers to binge-watch their favourite content score higher in customer satisfaction, according to new data from J.D. Power.
The 2019 Canada Television Provider Customer Satisfaction Study is based on seven factors (in order of importance): performance and reliability; cost of service; programming; communications and promotions; features and functionality; billing and payment; and customer service. The 2019 Canada Internet Service Provider Customer Satisfaction Study measures overall satisfaction with internet service providers and is based on five factors (in order of importance): performance and…
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THE LAUNCH LAST week of Rogers Communications’ new $75/month 10 GB Infinite unlimited wireless data plan has forced the entire Canadian wireless industry to respond.
While Bell and Telus quickly offered what more or less amounts to a matching offer the day after Rogers made its announcement, Telus has since offered additional, new $75 plans and regional carriers Videotron and Eastlink have now matched the pricing.
Only Rogers, however, has said this new pricing is long-term, while the others have set expiry dates on their offers, or have said they are for a limited time, but no…
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BRAMPTON – At a Rogers Communications, Ryerson and ISED cybersecurity announcement on Friday, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains took a moment during the event to thank Rogers for lowering its wireless pricing.
Rogers was announced as one of the founding partners of a new national cybersecurity centre in downtown Brampton that will be known as Ryerson University’s Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst.
A not-for-profit organization owned and operated by Toronto’s Ryerson University, the Catalyst will offer specialized training programs for Canada’s growing cybersecurity sector. Bains pledged $10 million to the venture through FedDev Ontario, a move…
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TORONTO – Organizers were expecting a crowd, but not quite THAT big of a crowd for the Toronto Raptors victory parade.
For most of mid-day Monday, the NBA Champions s l o w l y rolled through the streets of Toronto (it took more than five hours for the team and various dignitaries to cover the approximate six kilometres from the CNE grounds to Nathan Phillips Square), while the estimated two million-strong crowd texted, called, took selfies and videos, and posted those to various social media platforms.
This put serious stress on downtown Toronto’s wireless networks and while they strained under…
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MONTREAL – Videotron’s nascent wireless brand Fizz has tapped Sylvie Charette as its vice-president of marketing and customer experience.
Charette, who was most recently marketing VP at Nespresso Canada, led Videotron’s branding and digital media teams from 2013 to 2014. She has also held senior roles at Rogers, Telus and Bell Mobility.
With Fizz, Charette will head up the digital go-to-market strategy for Fizz mobile and Internet services plus be responsible for customer experience and the development and management of digital operations.
“Her recognized leadership skills and unique expertise make Sylvie the right person to spearhead our teams’ efforts to develop and differentiate…
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Tosses “incoherent” barb back at the industry
TORONTO – ISED Minister Navdeep Bains was the closer at the 2019 Canadian Telecom Summit on Wednesday and his comments made on stage – as well as after – should leave wireless industry leaders and observers more certain than ever that a major regulatory shift, especially when it comes to the long held policy bedrock known as “facilities-based competition,” is going to happen.
For three days, the major carriers did their level best to lay out a case against mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs, or wireless resellers) as well as the reasons why it’s…
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TORONTO – There may have been over a dozen topics on the hit list for this year's regulatory blockbuster session at this year’s Canadian Telecom Summit, but the six panelists kept coming back to one: MVNOs, yea or nay.
Moderator Greg O'Brien, editor and publisher of Cartt.ca, set the tone, commenting, "This panel is often fun, always a little prickly, which is part of the fun
“The industry is being transformed from all sides," he went on. "It's being changed from within, from without, and, crucially, from Ottawa."
Key among the events include the broadcast and telecom legislative review panel, a proposed…
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MVNOs won't work in Canada
TORONTO – Shaw Communications’ Paul McAleese co-founded and ran a successful MVNO in the United States for a dozen years before coming back to Canada to head up Freedom Mobile.
While he’s still a satisfied investor in i-wireless, which runs the mobile offering of the Kroger chain of grocery stores, he said comparing that company and the U.S. wireless market in general to Canada’s is a mug’s game. First, the American market is just so much bigger, where MVNOs can carve out a living with low margins there thanks to American market scale in a way…
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TORONTO – Canadian government and telecommunications carriers have nothing to fear from Huawei's 5G network products, the chief security officer of the company's Canadian division told telecom industry leaders, and it is free from interference from Beijing.
"Huawei operates in over 107 countries around the world, and in each they comply with local rules and regulations," Olivera Zatezalo (pictured) told the Canadian Telecom Summit on Monday during a panel session on cyber security. "All I can tell you is in Canada we are 100% compliant" with whatever the government asks.
Asked specifically about the company's independence, she said Huawei Canada is…
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TORONTO – Telecommunications companies had better drop their deceptive and bullying consumer sales practices before they gets smacked by Ottawa, the head of a consumer group warned industry leaders.
"This will continue to be a political issue for you and it may trip up your other businesses because it resonates with the public," John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), said Monday during a panel discussion on improving customer experience at the annual Canadian Telecom Summit.
"You guys are too big and too important now to think that what you do for business is your only consideration."
His…
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