TORONTO – In light of Industry Minister Clement’s comments on foreign investment on Monday, it wasn’t long before the topic du jour came up again at Tuesday’s ‘Regulatory Blockbuster’ panel, an annual highlight of the Canadian Telecom Summit.
And while all six of the panelists supported the idea in theory, sparks flew, albeit in a good natured way (well, most of the time), on how best to loosen Canada’s foreign ownership restrictions.
Mirko Bibic, Bell’s senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs, said his company favours the approach put forth by CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein to boost foreign ownership…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – With Canadian consumer adoption of smart phones still relatively low, meaning tremendous market opportunity right now, one device maker says he’s concerned about a shift in focus toward consumer-oriented mobile applications at the expense of the kinds of productivity apps that drive enterprise business growth.
Jeff McDowell, senior vice-president of business marketing and alliances for Waterloo, Ont.-based Research In Motion, said individual employees within organizations are increasingly influencing corporate policies regarding smart phone adoption and usage. Instead of simply accepting a new mobile device their employer wants them to use, many employees are expecting their companies to…
Continue Reading
TORONTO and OTTAWA – Reaction to this week’s new draft copyright legislation was swift and predictably varied.
A coalition of Canada’s telecommunications, retail, Internet and technology companies and organizations, known as the Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright, largely supported the bill. But some parts of the legislation unfairly restrict consumer freedom and need to be revised before being passed by Parliament, such as the inability to circumvent digital locks for private use, the organization said in a statement.
The group includes the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, Bell Canada, Cogeco Cable, Rogers, Telus, Google, the CCSA and the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, among others.
The…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – CRTC commissioners were given a lesson in basic cable architecture on Wednesday as Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco, Videotron and EastLink faced the panel considering CRTC 2009-261, the wholesale high-speed access services proceeding.
The overall message appeared to be a detailed reminder to the Regulator from cable that “we’re different. Cable is a shared network that can’t be unbundled.”
Some have asked, for example, that a single 6 MHz channel (the space in which one analog TV channel is transmitted but which can be crammed full of digital and IP data and is by MSOs) be set aside for wholesale access by…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Nokia’s Ovi Store is open for business in Canada.
Touting itself as the easiest way to find content for Nokia’s devices, the Ovi Store allows Canadians to download and personalize their Nokia mobile device with a range of free and paid apps, games, themes and ringtones with content that supports more than 30 languages.
Thanks to integrated billing with Bell, Rogers and Telus, the cost of purchased apps will appear on a customers’ wireless provider bill.
“We are proud to be one of the first manufacturers and Nokia offices in the world to offer integrated billing with all major carriers,”…
Continue Reading
KELOWNA, B.C. – Every May a few hundred of telco and cable industry tech types gather at the Coast Capri Hotel in Kelowna for the CommTech Trade Show and Seminars.
A total of 77 exhibitors fill the show floor while 25 seminars educate the industry folks in attendance. The Tuesday golf tournament was a success as well.
Cartt.ca is here of course. Editor and publisher Greg O’Brien is taking snapshots (below) and moderating a DOCSIS 3.0 session Thursday afternoon.
Sun Country Cable’s Jay Bobrowich (above left) and Arcom Labs Basil Dillon Malone
Continue Reading
LOS ANGELES–In a continuing break with their long-time public stance, North America’s largest cable operators are now openly racing to embrace IP video technology for their expanding portfolios of video offerings.
In a panel discussion at the Cable Show here this week, the chief technology officers and senior engineering executives of five major MSOs said they’re all looking to switch their cable systems to IP video so they can offer more video fare, reach more display devices, and cut delivery costs. At least one of the large MSOs, Time Warner Cable, is reportedly gearing up for an IP video…
Continue Reading
WHY DO THE OLD TV sets in the living rooms, garages, kitchens or at the cottages of millions of Canadians deserve to go digital?
As the transition to digital over-the-air TV deadline grows closer and the industry is awakening to the need to act, the question has been asked in some quarters: Why bother?
We can keep fibbing if we want but as an industry we already know it’s now impossible to update our over-the-air television broadcasting system to digital by the August 31, 2011 deadline set years ago by the CRTC. Not “virtually impossible.” Not “challenging.” It is not…
Continue Reading
THE LEADERS OF SHAW Communications took a look at the media landscape around us and decided that if they’re going to be a player in the new always on, video on demand culture, one which is expanding by the second, they had better own some hit shows. Some good brands.
And Monday it announced a $2 billion deal to purchase the TV assets of Canwest Global outright – a move that will cement it as the leading media and distribution company in Canada. The prior deal Shaw announced earlier this year was to purchase just 20% of the company.
Rogers…
Continue Reading
FREDERICTON – Bell Aliant has won a court injunction preventing Rogers from claiming to have the ‘fastest and most reliable’ high speed Internet product.
Tuesday’s ruling in a New Brunswick court ordered Rogers to stop using phrases like the “fastest speed,” “most reliable speed,” or “fastest and most reliable speed” in its advertising. Bell Aliant president and CEO Karen Sheriff said that the company “very pleased with the judge’s ruling”.
“We undertook this action to ensure that our customers have access to clear and accurate information”, Sheriff said in a statement. “We understand that marketing and advertising in a competitive industry is…
Continue Reading
