TORONTO – It’s not just about choice, it’s about how that choice is defined.
According to the Canadian Independent Distributors Group (CIDG), which lost its final offer arbitration dispute against Bell Media just over a week ago, the CRTC appeared to agree with the communication giant’s definition of choice which, simply put, is the more television channels that Canadian viewers can buy, the better.
But is choice about volume, or is it the ability to pick only the channels that viewers actually want to watch?
According to the CIDG, made up of Cogeco, MTS and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA), their consumers…
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HALIFAX – Telus will invest $8.4 million and hire 65 new employees over the next three years to expand its 4G LTE network in Atlantic Canada.
As part of this investment, Telus said Wednesday that it will invest $5 million in Nova Scotia alone, including $3.8 million in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
"Telus’ $8.4 million investment in Atlantic Canada over the next three years supports the enhancement and expansion of our wireless service, which is based on the most advanced, fastest wireless technology available in the world today," said Ken Power, director of Atlantic Canada, in the news release. "The demand…
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VANCOUVER – Telus says that it has always been compliant with Canada's foreign ownership restrictions for telecommunications companies, and called on the CRTC to dismiss the “misleading allegations” made by Globalive and Mason Capital.
In a formal response to the Commission on Monday, the telco reported that as of June 29, 32.59% of its voting shares were held by non-Canadians, an amount that falls just below the federal limit of 33.3%. This includes the holdings of its shareholder Mason, a New York-based hedge fund, which recently reported that it held a 19.98% ownership stake of Telus’ common shares.
"Globalive relies on…
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OTTAWA – While Friday’s CRTC rulings may indeed eventually pave the way towards more choice for consumers in the selection of TV channels, what remains unclear is whether that “choice” will truly be driven by Canadian viewers or continue to be shaped by the country’s biggest broadcasters and television service providers.
Friday’s CRTC decision, which chose Bell Media’s final offer over the one presented by the Canadian Independent Distributors Group (CIDG), noted that “both parties’ offers moved in the direction of providing more consumer choice”, plus contained “incentives to provide a wide choice of programming in the broadcasting system, and…
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OTTAWA – Communications giant Bell Media was batting .500 Friday after the CRTC awarded it a win, and a loss, in two final offer arbitration disputes between it and the Canadian Independent Distributors Group (CIDG) and Telus.
In its decision on Bell Media versus the CIDG, a group consisting of the CCSA, Cogeco and MTS, the Commission noted that both sides made “significant strides” to resolve the issues between them, and that both offers provided commercially reasonable terms and more consumer choice.
The CIDG final offer affiliation agreement, however, was “inconsistent” with the standstill rule of the Commission’s vertical…
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TORONTO – Telus has rolled out its 4G LTE network in six more Ontario communities.
The telco said Thursday that the network is now available in Barrie, Bolton, Kingston, Muskoka, Orangeville and St. Thomas with more locations to come this year. Click here for an updated coverage map.
When in Telus’ 4G LTE coverage areas, customers may enjoy manufacturer’s rated peak download speeds of up to 75 Mbps with an expected average speed of 12 to 25 Mbps. If users travel outside the 4G LTE network coverage areas, they will move seamlessly from 4G LTE to 4G, with no…
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NEW YORK – Vocal Telus shareholder Mason Capital Management LLC is taking issue with a research report written by a well-known Canadian telecom analyst.
The U.S. hedge fund distributed a public statement to Telus shareholders on Monday in response to “misleading statements” contained in a research report sent out last week by Canaccord Genuity analyst Dvai Ghose. According to Mason, the report incorrectly states that Telus could remove the voting rights associated with Mason's voting shares of the telco in order to remedy a potential failure by Telus to meet the Canadian ownership requirements.
As Cartt.ca has reported, Mason is pushing Telus for details on how…
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OTTAWA – The Supreme Court sided with the likes of Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Telus, and Apple Thursday in a number of copyright cases related to the use of music on the Internet.
In the first case, the court determined that Internet service providers (ISPs) and other digital providers that offer music services should not have to pay copyright fees when music is downloaded, but that artists should be compensated when their music is streamed online.
In another case, broadcasters, TV service providers and movie theatres won’t have to pay fees for the music used in a film or a television show that they air. That’s…
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VANCOUVER – Telus shareholder Mason Capital Management LLC has upped the ante in its quest to force the telco to disclose its current foreign ownership levels.
The U.S. hedge fund filed a petition with the Supreme Court of British Columbia this week seeking full disclosure of unredacted copies of the proxies submitted by Telus shareholders at its May 9 shareholder meeting. Mason said that Telus is obligated to disclose how shareholders voted on the now-withdrawn proposal to eliminate its dual-class share structure.
At that time, Telus said that it decided against the move in large part because of a…
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MONTREAL – Telus’ Wi-Xi squad will be peddling along the streets of Montreal this summer to provide free access to its 4G LTE network.
Telus will be decking out Bixi bike’s (used in the city’s bike sharing program) in Telus colours and transforming them into Wi-Fi access points via a 4G LTE modem linked to a battery that is recharged by pedal power. The Telus Wi-Xi allows up to 10 users per bike to connect to Telus' 4G LTE network. Telus says the pilot project exploits the power of the Internet to offer the best technological solutions for households and…
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