VANCOUVER – Telus’ Optik TV customers have a new option for their set top boxes – an Xbox 360.
With the gaming and entertainment unit, Optik TV customers can use it to enable PVR Anywhere features, such as scheduling the recording of up to three shows simultaneously on one PVR unit. The Microsoft Mediaroom software that powers Optik TV now also supports delivery of Optik TV to the Xbox 360 to provide functionality for watching television anywhere in the home, as well as all the gaming.
“We are blazing a trail as the first provider in North America to offer this…
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MANY OF THE SUBMISSIONS to the digital economy consultation offered recommendations on what the federal government should do, or not do, to ensure every Canadian household has access to high-speed Internet services. Rogers suggests that mobile spectrum can efficiently and effectively complete the rural broadband effort.
“We recommend a joint government/industry initiative aimed at extending broadband access to remaining unserved rural and remote communities in Canada as soon as possible. The emphasis here, we suggest, should be on mobile broadband networks which will simultaneously bring both mobile and broadband service to rural communities,” Rogers says in its comments….
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GATINEAU – The CRTC’s proposal to include broadband as part of the basic service objective (BSO) for telcos is getting lukewarm support, at best. The Commission proposed the idea in a broad consultation on a variety of telecom matters, referred to as the “Obligation to Serve” proceeding.
MTS Allstream Inc. and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) are two that have said making broadband part of basic service would represent a logical extension of the current regime. Presently the BSO only applies to local voice services.
“Including broadband access in the Commission’s universal service objective would also recognize the…
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TORONTO – While one wireless company is warming up its lawyers in response to the launch of chatr by Rogers Communications, another was welcoming it to the Canadian wireless scene (once such a placid, “rational” playground with three big player, which has become one still with those three biggies, but with many more little guys kicking them in the knees).
To Mobilicity’s COO Stewart Lyons, however, chatr is illegal: A low-price brand formed by Rogers whose only goal is to put his company out of business. Company founder John Bitove threatened legal action when news of chatr leaked out,…
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CARTT.CA’S UPDATED STORY on the Shaw/Canwest deal seeks to fill in “incomplete data” on Shaw’s proposed benefits package of $23 million for a transaction reported at $2 billion. That’s not a typo. We estimate that this comes to 1% of the value of the transaction. Since Commission policy dictates 10% for benefits it’s fair to ask: Are we missing $177 million? Let’s look at the numbers.
In their main application, Shaw ascribed a value of the transaction at $475 million. At that point, they were proposing a benefits of $23 million, which would be spent on the conversion to…
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TORONTO – While Rogers Communications’ Q2 2010 financial results are expected to be pretty good when they are released on Tuesday, at least one industry analyst is expecting to see some competitive impact on the wireless side.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Dvai Ghose told investors last week he expects RCI will report consolidated revenue of $3.026 billion or 4.7% year-over-year growth. He pins his adjusted EBITDA estimate at $1.172 billion, “slightly above consensus of $1.163 billion,” meaning a solid YOY increase of 8.2%.
However, strong wireless margins are due to weak subscriber growth. “We only expect 90,000 Q2/10 wireless net additions, compared…
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TORONTO – When Rogers Communications comes to market with its new low-cost brand Chatr (which it says it will, soon), it can expect some legal haranguing from one of its wireless competitors.
Mobilicity chairman John Bitove told Cartt.ca on Friday that since the new brand from the big red machine is aimed solely at killing new competitors like his, he will file a complaint with the Competition Bureau when Chatr launches.
“If they were building a whole new company, a whole new network on their own, that’s one thing, but they’re obviously going to use all the leverage they can…
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TORONTO – Koodo Mobile added HSPA phones to its handset lineup Monday, and rolled out a new way to help customers pay for them.
Over the coming months, Koodo said that it will launch “several exciting HSPA phones that will offer exceptional value and social media connectivity”. The company also said that customers can put a portion of the purchase price on their Koodo Tab, an alternative to fixed-term contracts that allows customers to ‘charge’ up to $150 of a phone’s price. 10% of each monthly bill is then credited to the Tab, and should the customer decide to terminate…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications is preparing for the launch of another new wireless brand this fall, say several reports.
The story was originally broken by the Boy Genius Report late last week and cbcnews.ca added a story here. Others have since done reports, too.
The new brand is said to be aimed at wireless newcomers such as Wind, Mobilicity, Public Mobile and Videotron and will add an additional option for consumers in the low-cost segment of the market. Ostensibly, it will be even lower-priced than Rogers’ Fido – and will put pressure on Bell’s Virgin brand as well as…
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MONTREAL – The federal government’s plan to increase foreign ownership in the telecommunications sector will not result in cheaper wireless service, and could serve to undermine plans for universal access, says Canada’s largest telecommunications union.
Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP), said that CEP-commissioned research actually disputes claims that wireless services are more expensive in Canada than in other countries.
"Existing studies compare pricing in markets that have very different usage, that don’t have special plans with unlimited minutes, or free phones, for example, like we do in Canada," Coles said. "When taking all of that…
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