OTTAWA – Just 11 companies remain in the running to participate in next month’s auction of 700 MHz wireless spectrum.
The latest to withdraw is Toronto’s Catalyst Capital Group, a private equity investment firm which is one of the largest shareholders of the struggling Mobilicity, which is operating under the court’s protection. No reasons were given for its withdrawal, which leaves Bell, Eastlink, Feenix Wireless (Mobilicity founder John Bitove), Globalive (Wind), MTS, Novus Wireless, Rogers, SaskTel, TbayTel, Telus, and Videotron still in the running. See the full list here.
The auction is slated…
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A FEW YEARS AGO, when digital video recorders first appeared on the scene, many predicted big trouble for the TV industry. Broadcasters sued or threatened to.
After all, if people could record their favourite shows and zip through commercials when watching them hours or even days later how long would it take advertisers who want their messages to be seen and acted on rightnow to lose faith in television's all-encompassing power?
But while many feared the power of the DVR (or PVR), those on the sports side almost welcomed it as an affirmation of the drawing power of that content. They…
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TORONTO – Rogers’ new 12-year $5.2 billion broadcast and multimedia deal with the NHL may have grabbed headlines across the country, but will likely have little impact on the company’s bottom line, say industry analysts.
Rogers Communications executives said Tuesday the deal will be immediately EBITDA-accretive to its Media division, predicting an influx of $25 – $35 million in the first year, rising to more than $60 million per year after that. But Dvai Ghose, managing director/head of research for Canaccord Genuity, pointed out that Rogers Media only accounted for 4% of the parent company’s 2013 third quarter adjusted EBITDA.
In…
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DID THAT HEADLINE get your attention? I can already hear irritated e-mails disputing that claim being tapped out in response, but bear with us for a few paragraphs.
“What!?” some of those running popular specialty video brands might be asking, “Isn’t Galaxie just that group of sleepy music channels which are a throw-in with everyone’s digital cable box?” Well, they may be a value-add which come automatically with most digital TV subscriptions, but some comprehensive recent measurement shows the suite of music channels (anywhere from 40 to 100, depending on the BDU) is anything but sleepy. This is…
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OTTAWA – Industry analysts and a journalist duked it out over wireless pricing and government policy in Canada during a session at the annual International Institute of Canada conference on Monday.
Jeff Fan, research analyst at Scotia Capital, presented some figures that countered many of the arguments which have been made by the federal government and others who say that competition in Canada’s wireless market is lacking. Fan noted that the elimination of three-year contracts as mandated by the CRTC earlier this year in its Wireless Code of Conduct has actually made things worse for consumers by leading…
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TORONTO – Under creditor protection since September, wireless carrier Mobilicity has won Ontario Superior Court of Justice approval to pursue the formal sale of the company.
On Wednesday, the company’s debtors received a sale procedure order from the court approving the sale of “substantially all of the business and assets or shares” of the company (known legally as Data & Audio Visual Enterprises, or DAVE).
Click here for all the documents related to the Mobilicity creditor protection and sale process.
Any parties interested must formally declare their intentions to the sellers by December 2,…
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OTTAWA – Use it or lose it. That was the gist of Industry Minister James Moore’s message to Canadian spectrum holders on Thursday.
Following up on a Throne Speech promise that Canadians living in rural areas have greater access to high-speed Internet services, Minister Moore said that Industry Canada will begin renewing 2300 MHz and 3500 MHz spectrum licences next March, but will deny extension requests from holders whose licence conditions – especially deployment – have not been met.
"Our government will only renew spectrum licences for those holders that have met all conditions of licence. Those that have not used the…
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OTTAWA – In the third quarter of 2013, Canada’s publicly traded television service providers combined to add subscription TV customers, thanks to the record growth of IPTV, reversing a trend of cumulative losses in each of the previous three quarters.
New research from Ottawa-based research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services shows that the publicly traded TV service providers (cable satellite and telcoTV) added an estimated 14,145 TV subscribers combined in Q3 in what is traditionally a strong quarter for TV subscriber growth – and all of it was a result of record IPTV subscriber…
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OTTAWA – Industry Canada made public the list of fully qualified bidders on Friday and little has changed.
Three applicants who entered the auction process, Birch Hill Equity, Vecima Networks and a numbered Alberta company headed by CCI Wireless CEO Amir Bigloo have withdrawn, leaving a dozen others, all well-known telecom industry players still in the game.
They are: Bell Mobility, Bragg Communications (Eastlink), Feenix Wireless (Mobilicity founder John Bitove is leading this one), Globalive Wireless (whose CEO, Tony Lacavera, runs Wind), MTS, Novus Wireless, Rogers Communications, SaskTel, TBayTel, Telus, The Catalyst Capital Group (one of the original Mobilicity financiers), and…
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OTTAWA – Wireless services once again topped the list of complaints made to Canada's Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) for the fifth straight year, according to its 2012-2013 Annual Report ‘When You Need Help’ released Wednesday.
The CCTS handled 14,036 customer complaints in 2012-2013, well up from 10,678 in the previous year, which is not surprising as more and more Canadians ditch feature phones for rich smartphones. Wireless services complaints comprised 60.4% of all complaints, followed by 19.5% for Internet access, 16.4% for local telephone service and 3.7% for long distance.
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