Expect a pressure-packed, high-demand, 3500 MHz auction in 2020
BAY STREET’S TELECOM industry analysts were a little surprised at the $3.47 billion collectively shelled out by Canada’s wireless carriers for 600 MHz spectrum (except for Bell, which shelled out nothing for no 600 spectrum) in the federal government’s just-completed auction.
“(I)t appears the competition amongst (the big three) was far fiercer than expected, driving the price up to $1.89/MHz-pop and leading to a total spend of $2.65B,” wrote Canaccord Genuity’s Aravinda Galappatthige in a note to investors, which said he had expected the trio of Rogers, Bell…
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GATINEAU – During the final regular season game of the NHL season aired on TVA Sports this past weekend, the Quebecor-owned broadcaster warned viewers they were going to lose access to the channel when the NHL playoffs begin – and that it’s all Bell’s fault.
Currently, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau is leading a one-man public campaign decrying the state of affairs when it comes to specialty TV and the wholesale rates his TVA channels receive from carriers (please see our feature interview published here), since they are so much lower than Bell Media channels…
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Reiterates push for “granular data”
GATINEAU – The Canadian wireless market reaps $24.5 billion in annual retail sales, accounts for 155,000 jobs and 31.7 million subscribers (2017 figures*) so the stakes are rather high when it comes to another regulatory review of that market.
Old ways (facilities-based competition) may be thrown out with new ones mandated (MVNOs). The questions surrounding the CRTC’s latest review of the wireless market has created much unease and uncertainty inside Canada’s wireless carriers (and a glimmer of hope among those who want to launch new MVNO-based brands and…
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44% increase in complaints
OTTAWA – The mid-year report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) once again doesn’t look good for Canada’s telecom and TV providers.
The report released this morning shows a 44% increase in the number of complaints it received from Canadian telecom and TV customers between August 1, 2018 and January 31, 2019. This follows a 73% increase for that same period last year, so there has at least been improvement in the rate of growth in complaints at least.
Canadians complained most often about their wireless service, followed in order by…
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OTTAWA – Telus played host to a vital workshop last week called Tomorrow Is Now: A Workshop on 5G Technology, Operations, and Regulation.
Organized by the International Telecommunications Society (ITS) and featuring a strong roster of international speakers providing the perspectives from all angles including operators, regulators, technologists and academics, the workshop set out the current global 5G marketplace.
The race
Michael Murphy, Nokia’s head of technology for North America, provided a local 5G outlook. He reviewed operator launch plans, noting that soft launches began in the U.S. in 2018. He anticipates that all of the U.S. operators will offer 5G mobile…
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OTTAWA – The NDP has kicked off a new policy platform vowing to push the Feds to lower cellular fees and boost broadband coverage “for all Canadians”.
On Friday, the party launched a new site asking Canadians to share their “nightmare stories” of high cell phone and internet bills. Reiterating the “Canadians pay some of the highest prices in the world” lament, the site says that “Canadians deserve leaders who will use every tool available to make life more affordable”.
“For decades, Liberal and Conservative governments have left cell phone and internet companies with very little regulation,” continues the site. “The…
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Our specialty channels are in danger
TVA GROUP’S SPECIALTY CHANNELS, which include amongst others TVA Sports, LCN, addikTV and CASA, are enormously popular with Québec television viewers. We are proud to carry content made by Quebecers for Quebecers, shows that reflect their tastes and expectations. However, as everywhere in the world, the digital revolution and globalization have disrupted an already precarious business model that also suffers from patently unequal treatment of industry players under increasingly obsolete regulations. Today, the survival of our channels is at risk.
All specialty channels depend on subscription revenues from the cable and satellite carriers (such as…
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VICTORIA – Bell and Telus are tied for their ability to offer a consistent quality across their national networks, edging out Rogers by 10%, says a new report from Canadian independent mobile network data company Tutela.
The report, Canada: State of Mobile Networks, March 2019, used over 1.8 billion measurements taken between August 1, 2018 and January 31, 2019, including 13.4 million speed tests and 153 million latency tests collected from more than 1 million mobile devices. Tutela said that while fast top speeds are indicative of a strong network, it believes that reliable network quality is equally, if…
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CANOE VENTURES IS hoping 2019 is the year where it begins to help build video on demand advertising together with BDUs and broadcasters into a $200 million marketplace.
The U.S. company (which is co-owned by MSOs Comcast, Cox Communications and Charter Communications) has been the driver behind huge success Stateside, where the VOD ad business is already a US$1 billion market. Canoe alone delivered 26 billion ad impressions in 2018 on 7,476 ad campaigns. It delivers VOD ads to 36 million American households for broadcast clients such as ABC, A+E, AMC, CBS, Discovery, MTV, NBC, Showtime, Univision and others.
Now,…
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BIDDING IS SET TO GET underway in Canada’s much anticipated 600 MHz spectrum auction. The 12 qualified bidders are Bell Mobility, Bragg Communications, Freedom Mobile, Iris Technologies, Novus Entertainment, Rogers Communications, Saskatchewan Telecommunications, SSi Micro – Consortium, TBayTel, TELUS Communications, Vidéotron and Xplornet Communications.
The 600 MHz band is designated for flexible use for mobile, fixed and broadcasting services. Canada has adopted the same band plan as the U.S., which began to auction off that band more than two years ago. The low-band spectrum is ideally suited for offering mobile services and it is one of…
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