Videotron, SaskTel ranked tops again
TORONTO – Canadians with smart home devices are willing to pay more for their internet but are quick to switch internet providers, according to new data from J.D. Power.
The 2018 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 reliability; cost of service; communication; billing; and customer service. The 2018 Canada Television Provider Customer Satisfaction Study is based on six factors (in order of importance): performance and reliability; cost of service; programming; communication; billing; and customer service. Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The communications needs of most Canadians are met with land-line telephones (still) and wireless plans. But if you’re a deaf, deaf-blind or hard of hearing Canadian (DDBHH), wireless video is essential. It offers mobility and efficiency, but of course video consumes a lot more data than voice.
So, when the CRTC determined the gap in the wireless service market was low-cost data-only service, or skinny wireless, and asked the big wireless companies to file new prices and capacities, the deaf community paid attention.
First, for them, the voice portion of any package is hardly useful, neither is voicemail service….
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Competition Bureau invokes Sugar Wireless as a model to follow
GATINEAU – “Generally, the Bureau does not favour price controls. However, the presence of market power in this industry; the natural experiment offered by Sugar Mobile’s attempted entry into the wireless services industry; and the fact that similar LCDO Plans have arisen without government intervention in some foreign jurisdictions informs the Bureau’s view that LCDO Plans can increase economic welfare and consumer choice in Canada’s wireless industry.”
So says the Competition Bureau of Canada’s submission to the CRTC about the low-cost data only wireless plans submitted to…
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Stingray pledges to investment profits in local music video production
MONTREAL – Stingray is teaming up with the Association québécoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ) on a new music video TV channel spotlighting French-language Quebec and Canadian music videos.
PalmarèsADISQ par Stingray is already available to Videotron’s customers and will soon roll out to Bell Fibe TV, Telus, and Cogeco subscribers.
Programmed by Stingray’s team of in-house curators with the support of ADISQ experts, PalmarèsADISQ par Stingray presents themed blocks, exclusive countdowns, and best-of lists. The companies said Friday that the channel was born from a…
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TORONTO – As the Canadian wireless landscape continues to feel competitive heat from the likes of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile, Rogers CFO Tony Staffieri remains confident any impact is manageable.
“We’ve competed with Freedom, and the prior names of Freedom for upwards of 10 years now,” Staffieri said, speaking Wednesday at Scotiabank’s Telecom, Media and Technology Conference. “We compete not only on price, but also on network quality and points of distribution, among other factors. Getting the customer is one thing, but keep the customer is something else.”
Despite the Q4 2017 price war which saw Freedom disrupt…
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OTTAWA – The Federal Government has ordered a public inquiry into the alleged high-pressure sales tactics used by the country’s biggest telecommunication companies.
Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, said Thursday that the Feds have directed the CRTC to conduct the inquiry and ensure that “Canadians have an opportunity to be heard and these issues are carefully considered”. The Commission will have until February 28, 2019 to complete the inquiry and file a report that must contain potential solutions to ensure Canadian consumers are treated fairly.
The Minister Bains also asked the Competition Bureau to assist the…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications confirmed today it has hired former Apple Canada senior managing director Brent Johnston to be president, Rogers Wireless.
He stepped down from his position at Apple last week and starts at Rogers on Monday. Johnston is rather familiar with Rogers CEO Joe Natale, having worked under Natale (when Natale was Telus' second in command and then CEO) for 11 years as VP channel marketing, VP mobility solutions and SVP consumer marketing. Johnston left for Apple in February of 2016.
Bringing Johnston in is the headline of a bit of an executive shift where Phil Hartling, who had…
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TORONTO – Telecom companies are eager to leverage the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to process big data, improve operations and increase revenue, and it isn’t as new as we think it is.
AI is already used in various ways such as automating customer service inquiries, routing customers to the proper agent and routing prospects with buying intent directly to salespeople. However, the massive growth of Internet of Things (IoT) and the exabytes of big data being produced thanks to connected everything has renewed interest in how AI can provide real value to that data.
AI has the ability to fix…
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TORONTO—As might be expected, Canadian telecom executives are already choosing up sides for the forthcoming battle over the CTRC's proposals for reshaping how the feds regulate and tax traditional and new media across the country.
That much was evident at the Canadian Telecom Summit here late Tuesday. Speaking during the annual "Regulatory Blockbuster" panel moderated by Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O'Brien, execs representing industry incumbents and upstarts battled it out over the Commission's new recommendations to "develop better regulatory approaches that engage all audio and video services and for each to participate," producing plenty of verbal fireworks.
Generally backing the…
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TORONTO – Rogers, Telus and SaskTel were quick to endorse Connecting Families, the new initiative designed to help make the Internet affordable to low income Canadians, announced Wednesday by Innovation, Science and Economic Development minister Navdeep Bains at the Canadian Telecom Summit.
Connecting Families will invest $13.2 million over five years, starting in 2017-2018. For $10 per month, up to 220,000 qualifying households will receive an Internet package of no less than 10 Mbps download speeds (or the fastest available) and a minimum of 100 GB of data usage each month, with no equipment or installation fees. Families must…
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