HALIFAX – Bell Aliant grew operating revenue 0.8% to $815.3 million for their third quarter, compared to the same period a year ago, the company said in a release this week.
The growth came primarily from Information Technology (IT) and Internet revenues which offsetting declines in local, long distance and other revenues.
The company press release also announced a long-term agreement with controlling shareholder Bell Canada to provide an enhanced transport network connecting Bell Mobility’s cell sites in Atlantic Canada and regions of Ontario and Quebec. This investment will add "HSPA" technology to the existing network, and support Bell’s…
Continue Reading
SAVE FOR THE CONVENTIONAL broadcasters who wanted their new fee, many in the industry are, if not slapping the Commission heartily on the back, recognizing that coming up with new regulatory frameworks for BDUs and discretionary TV channels wasn’t likely an easy task and that the Regulator has done a decent job in addressing the myriad issues.
Click here for our summary of Thursday’s release.
Sure, cable, satellite and telco TV companies don’t want to divert another 1% of revenue to yet another programming fund, the broadcasters’ bet on fee-for-carriage didn’t come through and many wish advertising in…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – A mini new media hearing took place yesterday at the St. Andrew’s Club and Conference Centre as delegates at Insight Information’s Entertainment Industries Summit practiced advocating their positions in preparation for the real thing when the CRTC’s new media hearing begins in February 2009.
Stakeholders from the arts community predictably called for cultural protections and funding mechanisms in any new media broadcasting legislation, while broadcasters – equally predictably – advocated an industrial strategy for new media that is separate from any arts strategy discussion.
What all delegates seemed to agree on is that a review of new…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – While firmly believing the protection of content creators’ rights is vital to the future growth of Canada’s Internet economy, Telus does not support the idea that ISPs should be responsible for any copyright infringement that occurs on their networks.
“I do believe we can’t create a really serious Internet economy around things like digital music and entertainment without better ways to protect rights holders,” said Michael Hennessy, vice-president of wireless, broadband and content policy for Telus.
“It’s just we don’t want to have that responsibility thrust on us in a way that we end up in the…
Continue Reading
QUEBEC CITY – Telus said today it will retrofit the legacy building located at 300 St-Paul St. West in Quebec City according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standard.
“The site will become a state-of-the-art eco-friendly building that will bring together hundreds of Telus’ Quebec City-based employees, currently working from a number of locations across the city. The new Telus office will be a building that is good for the environment, celebrates innovation and inspires business growth in the community,” says the press release.
"Today’s unveiling is a tangible demonstration of Telus’ determination to deepen…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Claiming “abusive, arbitrary” tactics by parent company Bell Canada that have caused a “decline in customer service and will force layoffs in stores,” Bell Canada’s independent retailers have launched new lawsuits against the big telco.
The dealers – members of the Independent Communications Dealer Association of Canada (ICDAC), and representing over 80% of Bell’s independent dealer stores – say that Bell has broken its contract with the dealers in several ways, according to a press release the group issued yesterday.
“This is the result of a downward spiral in our relationship that has escalated under Bell’s current…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – It’s a marketing plan sure to make a splash – and raise both awareness and subscription levels of digital television in Canada.
HBO Canada began to greet Canadians from coast-to-coast on Monday via an extensive national campaign from Astral Media’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada). Set to launch next Thursday, October 30, HBO Canada is a new multiplex channel of The Movie Network and Movie Central that will offer subscribers a full slate of HBO’s renowned programming, as first reported by Cartt.ca last month, and further profiled here….
Continue Reading
SAN DIEGO – The CDMA Certification Forum, in partnership with operators and vendors around the world, has announced the next evolution of its device certification process.
This evolution gives operators and vendors of all sizes access to the world’s most efficient and consistent CDMA device certification process.
The early focus of CCF was to deliver the fastest and most reliable device certification solution to emerging markets. Merging the former CDG-recommended test guidelines into the efficient CCF process now gives operators and vendors in all markets a single, comprehensive, affordable, and clearly defined device test process. This new process certifies…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER and MONTREAL – Canada’s two biggest telcos put out separate press releases today touting their impending wireless network upgrades to HSPA and eventually LTE, but buried within them both, Telus and Bell say they’ll be working together on the upgrade, expected to cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Telus was finally mentioned in the ninth paragraph of the Bell release and Bell in the eighth paragraph of the Telus release. They’ve jointly selected Nokia Networks and Huawei as their primary technology suppliers.
Both of the telcos currently offer mobile services over their CDMA/EVDO networks, which work…
Continue Reading
PAUL TEMPLE SUGGESTS that the current economic crisis should give The CRTC pause to consider whether the world has changed in the 6 months, since the CRTC’s hearings on BDU and Specialty services. No doubt.
As he writes in his commentary from this morning, entitled: “Is the economic crisis a cautionary tale for our broadcasting system?”
“As governments around the world pour money into the financial sector to correct the sins of the past, you can be sure it’s too little too late. You can’t roll back history. Are we headed for the same crisis in Canadian broadcasting? Will we…
Continue Reading