TORONTO – Concerns over data security and a limited knowledge of cloud computing are putting Canada's economic competitiveness at risk, according to a Telus and IDC Canada study released Thursday.
The study, commissioned by Telus, found that 71% of Canadian businesses are not open to alternative IT delivery models that may bring new levels of productivity and enhanced customer service to their organizations. Security was found to be the top concern and barrier to cloud deployment, with business leaders saying that their own organizations do a better job of securing data than cloud providers.
In addition, when it comes to their…
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OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada is allowing a class action suit valued at $19 billion to proceed against Canada’s biggest wireless companies.
According to a Globe and Mail report, the suit centres around monthly “system access fees” charged by Bell, Rogers and Telus that the companies falsely led subscribers to believe were required by federal regulators.
The suit was first launched in 2004 in Saskatchewan’s Court of Queen’s Bench. The high court declined to hear an appeal by the companies of a decision that certified the suit in 2008.
The matter could turn into Canada’s largest-ever class action,…
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OTTAWA – Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and MTS Allstream have all told the CRTC that they are opposed to BCE and Rogers’ proposal to take control of sports channels Leafs TV, NBA TV Canada and Gol TV Canada from parent Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE).
The interventions filed by the independent distributors claim that the move, which comes as part of the BCE/Rogers $1.32 billion bid for a majority stake in MLSE, “are bad for the Canadian broadcasting industry, further extending the control exerted by these large vertically integrated conglomerates”.
“Increasing the already extensive market power enjoyed by vertically integrated programming…
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TORONTO – It might be a sign of the ingrained competitive spirit of the telecom industry in Canada that even when wireless carriers manage to agree on a vital issue – the need for a national code to protect wireless consumers’ interests – they still manage to bicker with one another.
During the Canadian Telecom Summit’s “regulatory blockbuster” panel discussion on Tuesday morning, moderated by Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O’Brien, regulatory experts from the big three incumbents – Rogers, Bell and Telus – along with MTS Allstream, Wind Mobile Canada and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), appeared to…
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OTTAWA – Add law professor Michael Geist to the list of stakeholders who support relaxing foreign ownership restrictions in the Canadian telecom market.
In his appearance Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications as part of its pre-study on the changes to the Telecommunications Act contained in Bill C-38, Geist, who is also Canada Research Chair in Internet law and e-commerce, called Canadian rules on telecom foreign ownership “the most restrictive in the developed economy world”.
Citing a recent OECD study that ranked Canada the second most restrictive market for both communications and mobile telecom behind only China, Geist…
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TORONTO – “With legal and regulatory certainty, the time for Wind on the defence is at an end. The big three no longer have the luxury of a distracted and artificially crippled new competitor,” Globalive chairman and CEO Anthony Lacavera said on the final day of the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto. “The time for Wind on offence has arrived.”
But it isn’t only the big three incumbents – Rogers, Bell and Telus – that Wind Mobile is suiting up to take on. Wind is also looking to differentiate itself from its fellow new entrants by shifting its marketing and…
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TORONTO – Chris O’Neill believes that Canadians worry too much about failing.
O’Neill, managing director of Google Canada, said failed high-tech ventures are actually a badge of honor in Silicon Valley, where Google is headquartered. Speaking in Toronto at the Canadian Telecom Summit late Monday afternoon, the native Canadian and Western University grad argued that failed ventures by entrepreneurs increase their odds of succeeding the next time around.
“Canadians view failure as something to be ashamed of,” he said. “That’s not true.”
Concerned that Canada won’t take steps to create a lasting digital economy, O’Neill rattled off statistics about the rapid growth…
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TORONTO – Machine to machine communications, the mobile wallet and mobile video (mmmm…) are the three most exciting opportunities on the immediate horizon for the Canadian wireless industry, but only if we get a few things done first, Rogers' communications division president Rob Bruce told the Canadian Telecom Summit this morning.
Bruce explained in his opening keynote how machine to machine (M2M) technology is transforming health care, security, government and energy, among other things. He predicted the Canadian M2M market would be providing $400 million in network revenue by 2015.
The mobile wallet, on the other hand, will alter the way…
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TORONTO — With more and more companies of all stripes shifting their data workloads to the Internet, the outlook for the cloud is sunnier than ever these days. Several key obstacles remain, however, before cloud-based services prevail in all sectors of the economy.
That was the consensus of a breakout session on “Performance Cloud” at the Canadian Telecom Summit here on Monday morning. Three of the four panelists exhorted telecom carriers, cable operators, wireless providers and other telecom service providers to start offering cloud-based services to commercial customers now, if they aren’t doing so already. But they also warned of…
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TORONTO – Sony Pictures Television Networks announced today that Canadian broadcaster Hollywood Suite will be the exclusive home of Sony Movie Channel and AXN Movies in Canada.
The two channels will launch September 4, 2012 as part of Hollywood Suite’s four HD movie channels, two of which will be rebranded. Hollywood Festival will re-launch as Sony Movie Channel and Hollywood Storm will re-launch as AXN Movies.
“Sony Movie Channel is Sony Pictures Television’s movie network created specifically for the Hollywood movie fan, with access to Sony Pictures’ vast feature film library, while AXN Movies delivers high octane, edge-of-your-seat movies,” reads the…
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