NEW YORK, N.Y. – U.S. hedge fund Mason Capital Management says the B.C. Court of Appeal will hear its challenge of a recent ruling that favoured Telus.
The appeal of the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruling that prevented Mason from holding a rival meeting of Telus shareholders next month has been fast-tracked to October 4, 2012, in order to decide the matter prior to the October 17 meeting of Telus shareholders.
Mason has been locked in a bitter dispute with Telus over the telecom’s proposed plan to eliminate its dual-class share structure without paying a premium to voting shareholders, including…
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MONTREAL – It was almost a game of regulatory Call Of Duty for Bell Canada on Friday as company executives brandished figurative pistols to whack as many of its enemies claims as it could while defending its position on its deal to buy Astral Media for $3.38 billion.
While the company recommitted itself to providing everything it promised earlier in the week, and reiterated how the combined company’s level of ownership and audience share would not “come anywhere close to any reasonable or customary assessment of dominance in any developed country,” said…
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TORONTO – Businesses can connect with leading charities and philanthropic organizations to learn how investing in their communities can lead to success at Telus’ Celebration of Giving breakfast SMB event this September 20.
Marc Kielburger, co-founder and co-CEO, Me to We and Free The Children and Tal Dehtiar, President and Founder, Oliberté Footwear will educate small-and medium-businesses on how investing in your community can not only improve employee morale, but positively impact your business, while creating a powerful force for positive change.
Strengthen Your Business with Social Responsibility – A Celebration of Giving takes place on Thursday, September 20. Registration…
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OTTAWA – The Competition Bureau announced Friday it’s launching a $31 million lawsuit against Bell Canada, Rogers Communications and Telus Corporation and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). The Bureau alleges that the telcos promoted premium texting services while giving the impression that they were free. It’s also demanding that they cease the misleading advertising and provide full refunds to customers.
The lawsuit, which seeks penalties of $10 million from each telco, and $1 million from the CWTA, follows a five-month investigation. It concluded that Bell, Rogers and Telus, in conjunction with the CWTA, “facilitated the sale to their own…
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MONTREAL – “If we had realized last year how Bell would behave once it acquired CTV, we would have opposed that application and proposed even stronger safeguards in the Vertical Integration proceeding,” said Rogers vice-president of regulatory affairs Pam Dinsmore in kicking off Rogers Communications’ opposition to the Bell-Astral merger on Wednesday morning.
“However, we know the Commission cannot turn back the clock back on the CTV transaction now. That ship has sailed.”
The RCI presentation told a tale of how CTV has changed since being acquired by Bell Canada, a story where multiplatform rights are routinely held back and that…
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WINNIPEG – Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. and its Board of Directors have announced a wide-ranging strategic review of its Allstream business division, a strong sign that it is positioning itself for a sale.
The company indicated in a news release Thursday that legislative changes by Ottawa that allow increased foreign investment in smaller telecommunications companies are a “positive development” that will “strengthen the Canadian economy.” As a result the company says it will “consider a full range of alternatives that could be undertaken to further enhance Allstream's growing competitiveness, which in turn could improve the long-term position of the company's…
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MONTREAL – Telus is another in the line of companies who want the purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada killed.
But, if it is approved, the industry needs better rules to govern the behaviour of it and other vertically integrated companies (but especially Bell…), Telus told the CRTC Thursday morning in Montreal.
The best example of Bell’s intransigence, said Telus executives, is its dealings on multiplatform content. “It has been mentioned by many parties in this proceeding that Olympic coverage on mobile was only available to Bell Mobility subscribers,” said Telus director of broadcast regulation and corporate affairs, Ann Mainville-Neeson….
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MONTREAL – Sometimes it’s hard to put a finger on the reasons why we decide to pull something out of the tens of thousands of words spoken at CRTC hearings and turn it into a story.
Other times, such as Cogeco Cable CEO Louis Audet’s focused, furious appearance Wednesday, it’s easy to figure out why we cover some submissions instead of others…
We know everyone works hard on their presentations and the job they all do is commendable. However, as I often tell people, we can’t write about everyone. That said, there are frequent portions in every CRTC hearing that stick…
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MONTREAL – We have a real soft spot in our hearts for those regular citizens, the ones with no industry background, with nothing to gain financially, who are concerned enough about a broadcasting or telecom, issue before the CRTC that they choose to appear publicly to make their case officially.
A few years ago, it was Ottawa’s Marjorie Lemieux at the fee-for-carriage kerfuffle. Thursday in Montreal it was Rahul Majumdar, just a regular Montrealer who doesn’t want to see TSN Radio 690 (formerly 990) turn into RDS Radio. The Montreal sports fan bears the French sports…
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MONTREAL – There’s little doubt of who’s the biggest fish in the Quebec media pond. Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau is a rock star here, drawing reporters, photographers and others like kids to free candy floss.
We’re hard pressed to think of an executive in English Canadian media whose mere arrival at a CRTC hearing would be akin to a red carpet walk, as the assemblage of shooters blasted away when Péladeau walked in with Group TVA president Pierre Dion and Vidéotron president Robert Dépatie. After their appearance a the hearing, more than a dozen microphones and numerous still and…
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