IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE all-hands on deck round of public pleading from our big wireless companies will not shake our meddlesome federal government from its wireless policy path. After all, there are no votes in it for Ottawa to alter course – and potentially big, big money in simply plowing ahead.
As everyone knows, the most recent Canadian spectrum auction in 2008 brought five new wireless companies to life in Wind Mobile, Public Mobile, Mobilicity, Videotron Wireless and EastLink Wireless. Regulatory intervention set aside some spectrum then which was purchased more cheaply than that which…
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TORONTO, MONTREAL, and VANCOUVER – Industry Minister James Moore made it official yesterday that Ottawa was not going to budge on its wireless policy framework, but that hasn’t put an end to the public lobbying campaign mounted by Canada’s Big Three incumbents, who issued new pleas today calling on the federal government to close what they say are loopholes that give preferential treatment to major US wireless carriers.
Bell, Rogers, and Telus each issued press releases Thursday urging Ottawa to reconsider the wireless rules that currently would allow a U.S. carrier like…
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OTTAWA – Saying the Minister of Industry has no right to change the policies governing the 2008 Advanced Wireless Spectrum auction now, Telus has filed an application in Federal Court asking for a judicial review of the June 28th spectrum transfer policy framework released by then-Industry Minister Christian Paradis.
(We predicted such a legal backlash in April when Industry Canada told the Canadian wireless companies then that it wanted to add new restrictions on the sale of wireless spectrum that had been cleared to be sold after a…
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TORONTO –Telus’s new two-year phone plans are available as of today, effectively replacing all previous three-year plans from the carrier.
The new Telus SharePlus plans feature unlimited nationwide talk and text and the ability to share data with multiple subscribers on the same account. Customers can choose their own mobile device (which comes with unlimited talk and text), and then select from a range of data plans starting at $15 for 250MB.
Since first announcing the new plans two weeks ago, Telus has actually reduced rates for its higher-end 3GB, 6GB, and 10GB data…
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WATERLOO, ON – BlackBerry announced Tuesday that its latest BB 10 smartphone, the BlackBerry Q5, will be available in Canada on August 13.
First announced at BlackBerry’s annual conference in May, LINK LINK LOINK the new Q5 features a re-engineered QWERTY keyboard for faster and more accurate typing.
Available in black or red, the Q5 features a dual core 1.2GHz processor, a 3.1-inch touchscreen, 8GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, and 4G/LTE network support.
The…
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OTTAWA – A non-partisan group made up of 150 CEOs from Canada’s leading companies is appealing to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to makes changes to federal telecommunications policy to ensure it does not discriminate against Canadian companies and unduly favour foreign wireless carriers.
In a letter sent Friday by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, council president John Manley (who is also a Telus board member) called on the PM to consider levelling the wireless playing field by amending policy to grant Canadian incumbents the same access to bid on wireless spectrum as it…
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NETWORK EXPANSION NEWS
Recent launches:
Bell Aliant continues FibreOp expansion with $20 million investment in North Bay, Timmins
NORTH BAY and TIMMINS, ON – Bell Aliant’s new $7 million fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) expansion in Timmins announced Wednesday brings the total of the regional telco’s recent investments in Northern Ontario to $20 million. The FTTH network will reach approximately 15,000 premises in Timmins.
Last week Bell Aliant also announced it is investing $13 million to launch its FibreOP network to about 20,000 households and business in North Bay.
While both communities are part of Bell Aliant's operating…
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Vancouver, B.C. – Taking aim at standard TV remotes, Telus says its Optik Smart Remote app turns users of Android or Apple devices into power surfers by enabling them to swipe when browsing the guide and tap to change the channel once they link their mobile device with their digital box.
Telus claims you can also spend less time channel surfing by using guide filters to show only what you’re looking for including your favourite shows or what is most popular. You can also navigate the interactive program guide without interrupting the show you are viewing…
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VANCOUVER – Telus announced Tuesday it is doubling the scope of its share buyback program to $1 billion from $500 million.
The company’s board of directors approved an increase in Telus’ normal course issuer bid previously announced on May 21 to $1 billion, to be completed by the end of this year. Telus will repurchase approximately 4.9% of the company’s outstanding shares (about 31.9 million common shares).
As of June 30, Telus had bought approximately 8.4 million shares for a total of about $281 million, at an average of $33.40 per share.
In a…
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TORONTO – While recent events, including the possible entry of US behemoth Verizon into Canada and Monday’s cabinet shuffle, have left many in the investment community wondering how these will affect the regulatory landscape, the telecom sector won’t see an impact on the bottom line just yet.
Financial results for the second quarter of 2013 will not reflect any of these regulatory concerns, says BMO Capital Markets Second analyst Tim Casey.
“We expect Verizon will continue to quietly negotiate with the owners of the existing new entrants – Wind and Mobilicity – with…
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