OTTAWA – The country’s free cell phone recycling program is encouraging Canadians to recycle their old cell phones and accessories during Earth Week 2011 via its free ‘Recycle My Cell’ program.
Run by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) in conjunction with cell phone carriers and handset manufacturers, the goal of the program is to keep handsets and accessories from entering Canada’s landfills. Proceeds from the recycled devices are donated to charity, and close to $1 million has been raised since the program launched two years ago.
A visit to the bilingual website allows consumers to enter their postal code to locate the…
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CALGARY – Mobilicity said Wednesday that it will launch its wireless service in Calgary on April 28, marking the last of its current market rollouts.
“It’s time Calgarians stopped paying among the highest wireless rates in Canada,” said president and CEO, Dave Dobbin, in the announcement. “A better alternative to Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and Telus Mobility is on its way. Mobilicity provides reliable talk, text and data capabilities – without outrageous extra charges and fees that eat into people’s savings.”
Calgary-based consumers will be able to purchase plans and name-brand handsets like BlackBerry and Android at over 70 points of…
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VANCOUVER – Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) have agreed to the terms of a tentative collective agreement covering approximately 12,100 employees across the country.
Telus and the TWU said Monday that they will not release further details of the agreement pending finalization of contract language, which is expected to be completed later this week. The TWU did confirmed that it will present the tentative agreement to its membership in the coming weeks and recommend their members vote in favour of it.
Telus president and CEO Darren Entwistle described the process of negotiations as “constructive and conducted in a professional…
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GATINEAU – The Independent Broadcast Group has called on the CRTC to establish a new, flexible framework for smaller and independent Canadian broadcasters.
Appearing before the CRTC last Thursday during the group-based license renewal proceeding, the independents insisted that it’s only fair to provide competitive parity for the unaffiliated broadcasters.
“The CRTC needs to be prepared to provide similar or greater flexibility to independent broadcasters within months of this happening to at least maintain some competitive parity in the short term,” said Naomi Zener, director of business and legal affairs at Channel Zero (owners of CHCH, CJNT, Movieola and Silver…
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VANCOUVER – Telus confirmed Wednesday that in early 2012 the company will launch its ultra-fast Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.
LTE technology boasts of download speeds of up to 150 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 70 Mbps. Following field testing in 2011 and the completion of an RFP process currently underway, construction on Telus’ next generation, 4G+ LTE network will begin in the latter half of 2011 in major urban markets across Canada.
(Ed note: Ever since the International Telecommunications Union reclassified – downwards – what kind of network could be labelled 4G to include deployed…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC must give broadcasters the flexibility to compete against over the top (OTT) competitors such as Netflix, Google and Hulu, Shaw Media told the CRTC during the third day of the group-based licence renewal hearing.
“The threat today from over-the-top television is alarming,” said Paul Robertson, group VP of broadcasting and president of Shaw Media. “It stems from major structural shifts in technology and rights exploitation that are permanently reshaping the global broadcast landscape.”
Emerging OTT services have maintained that they aren’t competitive with existing broadcasters, but Shaw says nothing could be further from the truth….
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CALGARY – Telus announced this week it will hire 250 new employees in Calgary over the next three months to support the growth of its Optik TV and wireless services.
By this summer, the new recruits will join the 3,000 Telus employees who already call Calgary and surrounding area home.
To help the hiring, the company will host a job fair on Saturday, April 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Telus House Calgary (411 – 1st St. SE).
“Optik TV is a game-changer – the customer response has been terrific and, as a result, we’re hiring in Calgary,” said…
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KELOWNA and RED DEER – Telus has revived the long-dormant Clearnet brand in two western Canadian cities, Red Deer, Alta. and Kelowna, B.C.
However, the company is mum on what it plans to do long term, if anything, with the brand and the concept being tested. “It’s a limited market trial,” is all a Telus spokesperson would tell Cartt.ca.
Readers will recall that Telus purchased Clearnet in 2000, a move which dramatically changed the fortunes of a telco which had been relegated to just its home B.C. and Alberta markets. That $6.6 billion acquisition (Clearnet was launched and run by current…
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RIMOUSKI, QC – Telus customers in Quebec can now browse Facebook from their televisions without missing a minute of their favourite TVshows.
The company’s new Facebook application, available free to Optik TV customers, allows subscribers to share what they are watching on their Facebook wall, view status updates, write messages, and display photo albums from Facebook on their TVs in full-screen slide show mode.
"We have pulled out all the stops with Optik TV, which reflects the company’s commitment to innovation, inspiration and change. The result is amazing. Seeing is believing," said Clément Audet, VP of consumer marketing, in the announcement….
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CALGARY and EDMONTON – CBC broadcasts on its Calgary and Edmonton affiliates shift to high definition starting Friday, the ‘pubcaster said.
Viewers in the two Alberta centres will be able to watch HD CBC programs on Shaw Cable channel 209 starting April 1st, while Telus TV subscribers will have access on May 27 through channel 600 in Calgary and channel 621 in Edmonton.
“With Calgary and Edmonton as Canada’s third and fourth largest English TV markets respectively, we’re really pleased to be adding these important members to Canada’s CBC HD family,” said Alan Dark, CBC’s executive director of media sales and…
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