Search Results for: telus

Cable / Telecom News

Bell Canada CEO George Cope to keynote at CTS

TORONTO – The speaker list at the Canadian Telecom Summit gets better and better. Bell Canada CEO George Cope will give the lunchtime keynote address on Thursday, June 2nd, the organizers, Mark Goldberg and Michael Sone, announced today. Cope joins the likes of CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, Videotron president and CEO Robert Dépatie, Rogers Communications’ Rob Bruce, Telus’ CFO Robert McFarlane, Nokia Siemens’ CTO Hossein Moiin, Microsoft Canada president Eric Gales and a host of others (including Cartt.ca editor and publisher Greg O’Brien, who will moderate the Regulatory Blockbuster Panel on Wednesday, June 1). To learn more or to register, click… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Vertical Integration Primer: “We need new rules” vs. “No, we don’t”

THE INCENTIVES FOR THE great, big vertically integrated Canadian cabletelbroadcellcasters to act unfairly towards everybody else has become too great to ignore and new protections against potential perils are needed, say many companies in their submissions to the CRTC ahead of June’s hearing into vertical integration. (Editor’s note: This preview originally ran on April 29th. We’re re-running it here as a preview of the hearing, which gets under way Monday in Ottawa with Rogers first up. As usual, Cartt.ca will be there. But if you can’t be there, it will be streamed live on cpac.ca – and available for… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Without an open 700 MHz auction, Canada will be left behind, says Rogers’ Mohamed

TORONTO – During his speech to shareholders on Wednesday, where he also announced the company’s planned 2011 LTE launch, Rogers Communications CEO Nadir Mohamed pressed whomever will form the new federal government for leadership on the digital front.  A big part of which, for him, means a 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction in 2012 free of any rules favouring new wireless companies, or ones which constrict the established carriers. That spectrum is currently in use by Canadian analog TV broadcasters and is well known as prime low frequency spectrum which is excellent for distance coverage (great for rural) and… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

UPDATE: Rogers to launch LTE network this year, but with a partner?

TORONTO – Rogers confirmed Wednesday that it will launch its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network this year and roll out commercial services in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa. The company then plans to launch in what it described as “the top 25 markets across Canada” by 2012. "The world is moving to LTE and we’re thrilled to be leading the way by bringing this next generation technology to our consumer and business customers", said Rogers Communications president and CEO Nadir Mohamed, in a statement on Wednesday morning.  "LTE is the critical foundation to deliver a world increasingly being defined by connected… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Recycle old cell phones to mark Earth Week

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… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Mobilicity launches in Calgary this month

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… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Threat from OTT real, says Shaw; regs should apply equally: “If it looks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

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…. Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Clearnet’s back… sorta

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… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CBC goes HD in Alberta

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… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Other carriers ponder AVP, but still back UBB

OTTAWA – As Bell Canada stole the show with its usage-based billing (UBB) backdown earlier this week, the fact that the cable companies also suggested that billing on an aggregate use basis might be a more palatable approach was overlooked.  Under this type of model, the independent ISP which leases network capacity from a facilities-based carrier would be charged for a pre-determined amount of bandwidth that it could then offer to all of its customers. If the small ISP exceeds this amount, it would be charged additional fees. The current UBB approach contemplates charging independent ISPs on per-customer basis…. Continue Reading