MONTREAL ? With a three-hour break mid-day (we were told someone had to go to a funeral, so quit complaining&), yesterday?s long hearing day featured a ton of back and forth between Bell executives and the panel of CRTC commissioners.
Long lovely narratives explaining each exchange would be nice but time restraints mean we?re going for the bullets only of some of the highlights. We think we?ve hit some of the main points with our bulleted rundown here.
* In his first public appearance as chair of the CRTC, Jean-Pierre Blais acquitted himself well, nailing a few biting comments throughout the…
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TORONTO – Radio and TV personality Marc Saltzman will host Canada's biggest B2B tech, telecom, and wireless networking event, the 2012 Canadian Wireless Trade Show. The international event is at the Direct Energy Centre, Hall D, from September 12th – 13th between 9am – 5pm in Toronto.
Saltzman has gained widespread notoriety within the tech industry for his syndicated tech columns with Gannett ContentOne, USAToday.com, CNN.com, Yahoo!, Toronto Star, URmagazine, and even Playboy.
Tickets are free and all attendees can network face-to-face with…
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FREMONT, CALIF – Cellphone-Mate, a provider of cell phone boosters/amplifiers and accessories, is launching a cellular signal booster designed for the Canadian market just ahead of this week’s Canadian Wireless Trade Show (CWTS).
The SureCall Tri-Flex LTE, which retails for $899, is a self-contained booster that is the first tri-band consumer cellular amplifier to cover LTE on the AWS band and 2G/3G on the Cellular 850 MHz and PCS 1900 Mhz band says Cellphone-Mate. The manufacturer claims it provides the highest integrated cellular amplifier ever introduced claims the manufacturer. The booster covers all bands and technologies in Canada for…
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MONTREAL – The SayNoToBell.ca campaigners claim that nearly 50,000 Canadians, both consumers and industry leaders, have signed their petition urging the CRTC and government to deny the Bell/Astral merger. CRTC hearings into the proposed deal are poised to begin next week.
SayNoToBell.ca says 42 of the 60 interveners to be heard have already publicly opposed the deal or questioned the transaction. Notable industry presentations include:
• Québécor – Monday, September 10
• Eastlink – Tuesday, September 11
• Cogeco Cable – Wednesday, September 12
• Rogers Communications – Wednesday, September 12
• Telus – Wednesday, September 12
• Canadian Cable Systems Alliance – Friday, September 14
Notable…
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TORONTO- Building on successful launches in the U.S. and U.K., Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has announced its Sony Movie Channel and AXN Movies will launch in Canada today on Hollywood Suite as part of Hollywood Suite's four HD movie channels.
Sony Movie Channel is SPT's movie network features award-winning films, cult favorites, family comedies and dramas, while all-movie network AXN showcases action and epic adventure films.
With access to Sony Pictures' library of feature films, Sony Movie Channel offers a variety of programming selected from more than 3,500 Sony Pictures movies.
Already the exclusive home of WarnerFilms and MGM Channel in Canada,…
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WE DRILL DOWN into the analytics of our content quite a lot at Cartt.ca, studying what resonates with our valued readers and what doesn’t. We learn a lot and try adjust our coverage accordingly. So, to give you a peek at what the folks in the cable, radio, television and telecom business have been paying the most attention to for the past year, we publish the top 25 stories of the past 12 months on the day after Labour Day.
As those in the TV business will tell you, September is really the beginning of the year – and September…
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CALGARY – Intriga Mobility has finalized a new partnership with Rogers dealer Imagine Wireless that will allow it to offer Rogers products to its customers across Canada.
With offices in Calgary and Edmonton, Intriga Mobility is a corporate mobility provider that boasts 100 customers and 20,000 end users. It also has partnerships with authorized SaskTel, Telus and Bell dealers.
"This partnership ultimately allows us to improve hardware delivery to end users”, said president Jeff Hayter, in the announcement. “We are excited to be partnered with this impressive organization. Together we will be able to improve customer service and build a…
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TORONTO – There is a growing awareness among Canadians that they can use their smartphones to pay for products and services at the point of purchase, says a new report from Solutions Research Group.
In fact, among those who are already reaching for their phones to do their banking – current users of mobile banking apps, who represent 36% of all Canadian smartphone users, accounting for nearly 4 million people – awareness has reached critical mass.
Of those users, 56% of them are aware of an upcoming service that would allow them to swipe their phone to pay for goods and…
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DESPITE THE OPPOSITION to its planned purchase of Astral Media, Bell Canada remains steadfast that this deal is good for Canada and Quebec – and will foster innovation and competition to the benefit of Canadian media consumers.
In its reply comments submitted to the CRTC last week (the final paper stage before the public hearing in Montreal starting September 10th, Bell takes a hard line especially against those standing utterly opposed to its $3.4 billion purchase of the company which owns such brands as The Movie Network, Super Écran, HBO Canada, Family Channel, Virgin Radio, NRJ Radio, Rouge FM and…
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QUISPAMSIS – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) has added its voice to those speaking out against the proposed merger of Bell and Astral.
Describing the matter as “profoundly a consumer issue”, CCSA president Alyson Townsend said that should the deal be approved, Canadian TV viewers will continue to be denied the ability to buy and pay for only the channels they really want. In addition, small cable and telephone TV distributors presently serving rural and remote communities in Canada would most likely be put out of business or gobbled up by Bell.
Citing her organization’s experience as a member of the…
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