TORONTO – With the inaugural CommTech East Show just weeks away, organizers have confirmed an engaging lineup of speakers and diverse sessions.
Scheduled for April 15 and 16, 2014 at the Mississauga Convention Centre, the more than 25 sessions will include topics such as:
– If FTTH is the Future, What Happens Before Then?;
– LTE Interference on Broadband Cable TV Services;
– Damage Prevention by the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance;
– Why Batteries Fail – Backup Battery System Testing and Maintenance; and
– Wireless Interference 101.
The exhibitor forum will showcase over 2,000 products and services from more than 80 North American manufacturers and…
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OTTAWA – Industry Canada has blocked a request by NextWave to transfer 83 spectrum licences to Rogers and Bell-owned Inukshuk, citing competitive concerns.
Industry Minister James Moore issued the decision Thursday, saying that after considering this request under the new spectrum licence transfer framework, Industry Canada determined that this licence transfer would “lead to unacceptable levels of concentration of spectrum in the hands of incumbent carriers that negatively affects competition in our wireless sector”.
“We will not approve any spectrum transfer request that results in excessive spectrum concentration for Canada's largest wireless companies, which negatively affects competition in the telecommunications sector”,…
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TORONTO – Shaw Media launched the new History Go app Thursday, just in time for season two of the hit series Vikings which airs Thursdays at 10:00 PM ET/PT, beginning February 27.
Available on iOS, Android, and history.ca, History Go offers History subscribers almost 300 hours of programming, including season one of Vikings, and popular series Yukon Gold, Ice Pilots NWT and Pawn Stars. The app is available now with Shaw, Shaw Direct, Rogers and several CCSA distributors, and will be available to Telus Optik TV and Cogeco Cable Canada subscribers next month.
“History Go is a strong addition to Shaw’s…
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OTTAWA – Let’s get this out of the way right now… Most of us were wrong. Many had assumed we would have a nice orderly, low-priced auction once there were no wild cards left in the bidding.
Analysts and other observers (us, too) made the mistake in thinking that these ultra-competitive companies would somehow quietly and quickly divvy up spectrum which boasts such excellent distance and barrier-penetrating properties as yet unseen in wireless telephony in Canada, spending only perhaps half of what was spent in the last auction – the $4.2 billion for AWS spectrum in 2008.
Not. Even. Close. Rogers…
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OTTAWA – Bell Media has announced the recipients of its first Bell Media Producer Accelerator Lab, a two-part program designed to assist the career advancement of mid-level Canadian producers.
Eight participants will begin on March 10 with a six week broadcaster internship at Bell Media headquarters in Toronto. They will also attend an industry event or conference, as well as participate in case studies and coaching sessions. After the internship, two producers will be selected for a production apprenticeship with a top independent Canadian production company or Bell Media In-House Productions, in order for them to become more familiar with executive producer roles…
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OTTAWA – Quebecor doesn't mince words in its complaint against the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund: "The decisions made by the board of directors of the Bell Fund in regard to three projects submitted in 2013 and set to be broadcast on TVA channels were not made in an objective manner and were discriminatory against TVA."
In a letter to the CRTC dated February 5 and made public on Monday, Quebecor's regulatory affairs director Peggy Tabet argues that the fund's decisions to refuse the three projects were made for "non-justified reasons" and concludes that they were made in a…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian government got its wish for four wireless carriers in each region of the country in its recently completed 700 Mhz spectrum auction, which netted federal coffers $5.27 billion.
Overall, the results of the auction show that it was the Big Three that divvied up the majority of the spectrum even though they were limited on buying prime spectrum in the B, C, C1 and C2 blocks. While Rogers Communications focused on the prime B band and the A block, Bell Canada and Telus licence purchases appeared to complement each other in the C2 and the unpaired…
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OTTAWA – The 700 MHz spectrum auction has ended and Industry Minister James Moore will announce the results late Wednesday.
A statement issued by Industry Canada Tuesday evening invited media to a 30 minute lock-up to be followed by the official announcement by Minister Moore in Ottawa at 5:00 PM ET on Wednesday. Cartt.ca will be there.
Reuters appeared to break the news in a story that quoted unnamed sources who claimed that the “main thrust of the auction had been finished at least a week ago”. Industry Canada said prior to the auction that it would publish the winners, their licence packages and…
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GATINEAU – Rogers Communications refuted accusations of charging unjust wholesale rates for Canadian wireless carriers and denied undue preference for U.S. Wireless carriers in its 32-page reply to the CRTC’s proceeding investigating domestic wholesale wireless roaming rates.
The Commission is investigating whether there has been discrimination in higher wholesale rates charged to domestic wireless companies while American carriers receive preferential deals.
The CRTC received interventions and replies over the past two weeks from Bell Canada, Quebecor Media, Telus, EastLink, Wind, Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), Benjamin Klass, Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc. (CNOC), Commissioner of Competition, Fibernetics, Lynx Mobility Inc., MTS…
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OTTAWA – Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) announced a new name and logo change on Wednesday. It will now be known as Canadian Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) to better reflect its enlarged mandate to help bridge gaps for women to be more successful participants and leaders in Canada’s burgeoning digital economy.
“We’re delighted by the new opportunities for growth and development this presents for everyone involved with Canadian Women in Communications and Technology,” said Joanne Stanley, executive director, in a release. “Adding technology brings interdependence and convergence between two sectors: content and creativity; and information and communications technology…
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